World War 2 made a significant impact on Australia

World War 2 made a significant effect on Australia and its individuals. It opened the eyes of society and made Australian people realise where they fit into the international view of the world. Although much of the history of WW2 focused on politics, diplomats, military and marine battles, it touched all Australian lives. Some of the crucial problems in World war 2 were the female's contribution in the war, government modifications to the economy and the diplomacy in the war. These are the topics this essay will be discussing.

When war was declared in 1939, Australia realised she was at war too given that Great Britain had stated war on Germany. Four months later on the very first convoy set off with 20 000 army volunteers. As the war progressed it was apparent that increasingly more guys were needed for battle overseas and the male tasks back home required to be taken control of. There was a severe requirement to bring ladies into the labour force, the government motivated ladies to take over the male tasks.

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Some individuals could not concern terms with this. Ladies from all over Australia took control of agriculture/farming tasks, ended up being mechanics and went into factories by the thousands. In July 1942 the ladies's land army was produced. Over 3000 ladies joined the land army and worked on farms grazing livestock, collecting crops and doing the typical farming jobs. Prior to WW2 society thought that a woman could never ever can doing a male's task, but world war2 began to change the views of society.

Although females were taken part in exactly the very same jobs as men, they were still paid nearly half of what men got and it was not until the 1970's that ladies's contribution in WW2 was even acknowledged. When WW2 ended females were expected to go back to their everyday responsibilities of being mothers and good wives. Some women were delighted to go back to living the method they did before but on the other hand some women understood that they ere efficient in carrying out these tasks and wished to remain, obviously that was not permitted. Females played a substantial role in the war effort and it was a big change from WW1 when they were informed by the federal government the only method they could assist was by knitting socks and cooking Anzac biscuits.

During World War 2, Australia had been a commonwealth for less than 40years and the states still had many responsibilities for law including taxation. Since Australia was directly under threat the federal government gained greater power and began to have a greater say in what would be produced by industry. In august 1940 the federal government announced rationing and restrictions on petrol, clothes and some food products. Around this time the National security act was amended to give the federal government to require all citizens to contribute their labour and property to assist the defence of Australia.

This war was becoming a great expense for the government, it expenditure had risen 10 times the level of 1939-1940. To help the war effort an income tax rate was introduced equal to that of the old federal tax plus the state tax. The federal government promised to return some of the revenue to the states if they agreed to drop their own income tax system. In this time period the federal government also controlled the banking system, wages and prices. People were paid in rationing cards so they could buy clothes, petrol and a number of food products such as sugar, beef etc. If you did not obtain these cards you would not be able to purchase some of the goods that you needed.

All these changes in the government structure increased the Federal Government's power during and after the war.

Since the beginning of the century Australia had identified America as a great white ally and as the war progressed and it was evident that Great Britain would not be able to protect Australia from Japanese invasion, so Australia turned to America for protection. Before American troops were sent off into Australia, the two nations knew little about each other and the arrival of the Americans brought unquestioning relief and gratitude. There was some conflict between the Australian and American soldiers. The main differences between them were the uniforms they wore and the amount of pay they received. Americans received a considerable amount more and the Australian soldiers were embarrassed to march with the Americans due to the way the Australian uniform looked like. But even through the differences, Australia and America developed a long lasting friendship that exists to this day.

World War 2 effected the lives of everyone. As a nation the whole country was expected to contribute to the war effort and through the dropping of the atom bomb and the ending of the war Australian people widened their knowledge of the world. World War 2 was the beginning of society in Australia changing their view towards women and helped unite Australia with the rest of the world.