Lyon government in Australia

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Length: 2,250 words Weight: 50% of the unit Question: Compare the Lyons government's attitude and policy recommendations to London towards the Sudetenland crisis of September 1938 with the Menzies government's attitude and policy recommendations to London towards the Polish crisis of September 1939? Were these governments following the same broad policy in each crisis? What is your judgment of the policy adopted by these two Australian governments towards these two crises? These are not alternative questions: you must answer all the questions in writing your essay. Students are encouraged to make an early start on the essay and not leave it until all classes have finished. I will be happy to talk with students on an individual basis about their plans and reading for their essays. In writing this essay students must make extensive use of the primary source documents contained in the Reader. You must use the documents both in constructing your narrative of the story and in your analysis. Students who fail to make considerable use of these primary source documents in writing their essays will be penalised severely. Students must also undertake some reading in the secondary sources listed below. It will not be sufficient to rely only on the secondary sources reproduced in the reader. You must supplement the readings in the reader with the use of some of the references listed below. The essay must be thoroughly footnoted in the Oxford style and include a full bibliography. Please note that essays which fall more than 10% short of the word limit will be penalised. SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER REFERENCES Further Reading for essay Australia E.M. Andrews, ‘The Australian Government and Appeasement' Australian Journal of Politics and History, vol. 13, (1967), pp. 34-46. E.M. Andrews, Isolationism and Appeasement: reactions to the European crises, 1935-1939 (Canberra, 1970). David S. Bird, J.A. Lyons, the tame Tasmanian: appeasement and rearmament in Australia, 1932-39 (North Melbourne, Vic., 2008). Carl Bridge and Bernard Attard (eds) Between Empire and Nation: Australia's External Relations from Federation to the Second World War (Melbourne, 2000) especially chapters four and eleven. Carl Bridge ‘Appeasement and After: Towards a Reassessment of the Lyons and Menzies Governments' defence and Foreign Policies, 1931-41', Australian Journal of Politics and History, vol. 51, no. 3 (2005), 372-9. Paul Hasluck, The Government and the People, 1939-41, (Canberra, 1952), pp.149-58. Ritchie Ovendale “Appeasement” and the English speaking world: Britain, the United States, the dominions and the policy of “appeasement” 1937-1939 (Cardiff, 1975). Cameron Hazlehurst, Menzies Observed (Hornsby, NSW, 1979). W.J. Hudson, Casey (Melbourne, 1986). Alan Martin, Robert Menzies: A life: volume one, (Melbourne, 1993). R.G. Neale (ed.) Documents on Australian Foreign Policy 1937-49: volume 1, 1937-38, (Canberra, 1975). R.G. Neale (ed.) Documents on Australian Foreign Policy 1937-49: volume 2, 1939 (Canberra, 1976). Waters, Christopher, ‘‘Understanding and Misunderstanding Nazi Germany: Four Australian visitors to Germany in 1938', Australian Historical Studies, 41/3 (2010), pp. 369-84. Waters, Christopher, ‘The Menzies Government and the Grand Alliance during 1939', Australian Journal of Politics and History, 56/4 (2010), pp. 560-73. Garry Woodard, ‘The Diplomacy of Appeasement', Quadrant, vol. 43, no. 1-2, (1999), pp. 48-53. General P.M.H. Bell, The origins of the Second World War in Europe (London, 1986). Robert Boyce and Esmonde M. Robertson, Paths to war: new essays on the origins of the Second World War (London, 1989). Andrew J. Crozier, The causes of the Second World War (Oxford, 1997). Martin Gilbert and Richard Gott, The appeasers (London, 1963). Victor Mallia-Milanes The origins of the Second World War (Basingstoke, 1987). Wolfgang J. Mommsen and Lothar Kettenacker The Fascist challenge and the policy of appeasement (London, 1983). Ritchie Ovendale “Appeasement” and the English speaking world: Britain, the United States, the dominions and the policy of “appeasement” 1937-1939 (Cardiff, 1975). R.J. Overy The origins of the Second World War (London, 1987). R.A.C. Parker Chamberlain and appeasement: British policy and the coming of the Second World War (Basingstoke, 1993). Keith Robbins Appeasement (Oxford, 1988). A.J.P. Taylor The origins of the Second World War, (Harmondsworth, 1964). Telford Taylor Munich: the price of peace (Garden City, N.Y., 1979). Gerherd L. Weinberg The foreign policy of Hitler's Germany: starting World War 2, 1937-1939 (Chicago, 1980). Anthony Eden Facing the dictators: the Eden memoirs (London, 1962). Winston Churchill The Second World War, volume 1 (London, 1948).

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Contents TOC \o "1-3" \h \z \u Introduction PAGEREF _Toc334962411 \h 3Appeasement PAGEREF _Toc334962412 \h 3The Lyons government and the policy recommendations for the Sudeten Crisis PAGEREF _Toc334962413 \h 5The Menzies government and policy recommendations PAGEREF _Toc334962414 \h 5Analysis of the Situation PAGEREF _Toc334962415 \h 7Conclusion PAGEREF _Toc334962416 \h 7References PAGEREF _Toc334962417 \h 10
Introduction
The Lyon government was in power in Australia from 1932 to 1939 while the Menzies government was in effect from 1939 till 1941 and then again from 1949 to 1966.[A Martin, Robert Menzies: A life: volume one, Melbourne, 1993.]
Both the Menzies and Lyons governments have been under world scrutiny for using appeasement as a diplomacy tool.
Many researchers have critiqued them and many papers have been written about their policy tools but recent analysis has yielded that their policies were more profound than they were made out to be under the given circumstances.
Before going on to discuss the policy recommendations given by both governments to London for two crises that were similar in nature and very close together chronologically, it is important to consider some elements of diplomacy that have been popularly used by the governments.
Appeasement
Appeasement is termed as the main policy that the governments of Australia followed in time of the Second World War. Appeasement does not mean that the government of Australia sided with the views of Hitler and were likely to condone him in his measures.[Garry Woodard, â€˜The Diplomacy of Appeasement`, Quadrant, vol. 43, no. 1-2, 1999, pp. 48-53.]
But it does mean and has included the fact that Australia thought it fit to give in to the demands of the dictator in order to try and avoid a world war which was more detrimental to the world at large, and this would be their diplomatic overture in order to avoid the war.
Many authors have criticised the two governments of Australia in their soft stance and for their policy recommendations that suggested fulfilling a dictator`s demands in order to maintain peace in the world.[C Waters, â€˜Understanding and Misunderstanding Nazi Germany: Four Australian visitors to Germany in 1938`, Australian Historical Studies, vol. 41, no.3, 2010, pp. 369-84.]
However what these critics do not notice is that the government of Australia was not actively involved in the decision making process and its suggestion were rarely heeded. Moreover much of what the Australian learnt about the progress of the war and the preceding crisis was through second hand sources such as newspapers and meetings with British counterparts.[S Aster, â€˜Appeasement: before and after revisionism` Diplomacy and Statecraft, vol.19, 2008, pp. 443-480.]
In such an event the Australian policy makers cannot be given to have known the full impac...

Updated on January 26, 2024

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Lyon government in Australia

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