Year 12 IB Extended Essays 2018

Extended Essay – fyw899

evidence gives significant weight to the geo-strategic situation facing Hughes. In particular,

the proximity of Japanese and Australian mandates, which were the former German territories

of the South Pacific. After reviewing the evidence, I conclude that there were two motivating

factors of equal importance that, when combined, are a rational explanation. First, Hughes did

not want racial equality because that would impact on Australia’s policies for its own

indigenous people. This factor had popular appeal in Australia and therefore was widely

publicised at the time in newspapers. However, a second geo-strategic factor is equally

relevant. The impending mandates of former German territories in the South Pacific were to

be divided between Australia and Japan. Australia was strategically vulnerable because its

security relied on the military power of the British Empire. Hence, for strategic reasons Hughes

wanted the resources of the Empire to remain centrally controlled by Britain, thus ensuring a

strong Royal Navy to defend Australia. However, unlike the populist white anti-Asian pretext,

the geo-strategic rationale was not publicised by Hughes at the time.

The strategic rationale was not publicised because it would be an explicit admission that

Australia’s security was vulnerable, and that Australia was relatively powerless to deal with

the problem. Thus, this second factor has unfortunately not been recognised by mainstream

historians. The omission of the strategic argument, which is based on an absence of evidence,

means that historians often portray Hughes as a very one-dimensional, parochial politician.

This essay will present evidence for a more balanced historical interpretation of Hughes by

revealing both the ostensible and real reasons for the scuttling of the Covenant’s racial equality

article. Perhaps Hughes was more of a statesman than credited by recent historians.

Racial Equality - Japan’s Objective at Versailles

Before analysing the role played by Hughes at the Paris Peace Conference, it is important to

outline the diplomatic objectives of the Japanese delegation in 1919. Unlike Australia, Japan

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