Government controlsduring WW2

Government controls

• Over the next few lessons we are going to be looking at the following war time controls that the government imposed on Australians on the home front.– Conscription– Manpower controls– Rationing– Censorship

Government controls• On the 1st of September

1939 world war two was declared on Germany and her allies.

• Australia knew from the first world war that this was not going to be over quickly.

• However the Australian government did not impose government control over much of the Australian home front.

Government switch

Government switch• John Curtin in 1941 became

the Prime minister of Australia.

• During his period he was faced with the immanent threat of Japan waging war in the pacific.

• Prime minister Curtin then directly turned the attention of the second world war towards the pacific.

Pacific Theatre• We look for a solid and impregnable barrier of the Democracies against the three

Axis powers, and we refuse to accept the dictum that the Pacific struggle must be treated as a subordinate segment of the general conflict. By that it is not meant that any one of the other theatres of war is of less importance than the Pacific, but that Australia asks for a concerted plan evoking the greatest strength at the Democracies' disposal, determined upon hurling Japan back. The Australian Government, therefore regards the Pacific struggle as primarily one in which the United States and Australia must have the fullest say in the direction of the Democracies' fighting plan. Without any inhibitions of any kind, I make it clear that Australia looks to America, free of any pangs as to our traditional links or kinship with the United Kingdom. We know the problems that the United Kingdom faces. We know the dangers of dispersal of strength, but we know too, that Australia can go and Britain can still hold on. We are, therefore, determined that Australia shall not go, and we shall exert all our energies towards the shaping of a plan, with the United States as its keystone, which will give to our country some confidence of being able to hold out until the tide of battle swings against the enemy.

Curtin’s changes• After the fall of Singapore, it

became apparent that Britain could no longer provide Australia with the support we needed.

• Conscription hadn’t been introduced yet, but as the pacific theatre came to the forefront of Australia, Prime Minister Curtin changed his stance.

• These changes that were rolled out over the next few years, meant that there was an increasing need for every Australian to contribute to the war effort

Conscription• Conscription is mandatory

(compulsory) military service for a certain group of a country's citizens, for example all men between the ages of 18 and 35

• Upon the outbreak of World War II, Prime Minister Robert Menzies instituted conscription for militia operating in Australia and her territories

• All unmarried men aged 21 and over were required to attend three months of compulsory military training.

• Many influential Australians appealed to the government to introduce conscription.

The change• The labour government who John

Curtin was a part of was strongly opposed to conscription.

• However when the american troops came to defend our shores and around the pacific, the picture that Australia was sending out to the rest of the world was weak.

• Curtin knew conscription had to be introduced, not only to seem serious to the rest of the world but also to raise numbers and ensure defeat of Japan.

• On February 19th 1943 conscription was passed and soldiers were now allowed to fight overseas.

Manpower Controls• As men were leaving for the

war, Australia was faced with a dire shortage in all industries.

• There was a major shortage of resources and human labour

• Women became one of the most important asset to the struggling Australian home front.

• The directorate of manpower was created to ensure Australia could support the troops abroad and keep peace at the home front.

Rationing• Rationing was introduced to

the Australian public during 1942.

• As the war effort dragged on, there were shortages to control civilian consumptions.

• It was also a strategy to curb inflation by reducing consumer spending

• Rationing was administered by the rationing committee

Censorship• Censorship is control by the

government of what information they display to the public.

• They introduced censorship to– Prevent valuable information

getting into the enemy hands– To prevent false impressions

of Australia overseas– To maintain high morale on

the home front

Todays activity

• Today we are going to look at all areas of government control

• The worksheet you will be given have questions on them related to government controls

• There are numerous websites provided on the wiki spaces page for you to find the answers for these questions.

• Your own research can be done to answer these questions as well.