Year 12 IB Extended Essays 2018

Extended Essay – fyw899

At the end of the First World War, both Australia and Japan were trying to establish themselves

diplomatically on the world stage. Japan wanted recognition and acceptance by Western

Powers as a major colonial power. Meanwhile, Australia was a British dominion and needed

to balance its independence with being a member of the British Empire. Consequently, both

Japan and Australia had a collision of strategic interests and this was evident in the contest for

the ownership of mandates. Hughes’ recognizing the importance of the control of New Guinea

in terms of national security and heavily opposing Japan for it as it “challenged the essence of

Australian Defence and foreign policy”. 26 This importance was also later acknowledged by

historians who noted “the rings of these South Pacific Islands encompasses Australia like a

chain of fortresses… and any Power which controls New Guinea, controls Australia.” 27

So, for reasons of national security, “it was a moral imperative for Hughes to scrap Japanese

proposal, even if it was watered down eliminating any reference to migration”. 28 This suggests

that one of the main motivations of Hughes’s decision to veto the Japanese proposal of racial

equality was due to the geo-strategic cover provided by the mandated territory of New Guinea.

However, it should be noted that there is an intersection between these two motivational

factors. The strategic expansion by Japan was viewed through the prism of racism and a

conviction for the White Australia Policy. Thus, Japan was not seen as a future ally, but as a

threat to Australia’s security. Ultimately, despite popular opinions siding with Hughes’s

domestic motivation being the primary force it is evident that the fear of invasion and national

security is also a compelling motive.

26 Hiromatsu Iwamoto, South Pacific Study Vol.17, No. 1 (1996) 27 Owen F, Tempestuous Journey: Lloyd George His Life and Times (1954) pg. 550 28 Grattan C.H, The Southwest Pacific to 1900; a modern history: Australia, New Zealand, the islands, Antarctica (1964) pg. 65

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