Question

Explain how the Pacific War (i.e. WW II in the Pacific Theatre) fostered growth in Australia. Was this a uniquely Australian experience?

Answer 1

Taking witness to the tremendous pain and deprivation faced by Australian prisoners of war, has made us fully understand how fortunate we are to live in a country without fear of being denied our basic human rights. We are very fortunate to live in a free country where we have freedom of choice, convenient access to food and safe shelter and mutual respect. Most of the time we take for granted these basic luxuries and we can not fully comprehend how important these things are to our lives until we see what life without them might be like.

Within Australia, Japan's harsh, cruel stance towards war prisoners evoked intense feelings of anger and outrage. In the end, these feelings led to the decision to drop the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki-Australia did not fight against the efforts of the U.S.A. to put a final stop to the horrific actions of Japan. The then Prime Minister, John Curtin, made a controversial decision to join the United States and split 'The Mother Land' from Britain because he thought it was the most practical path to winning the Pacific war.

The top priority of the Australian Government was to protect the own people of their country, at home and in struggle overseas. They knew that if they did not take a more defensive approach, they would continue to suffer from Australian people. The anger of Australia at the Japanese and the devotion to saving its own citizens helped determine the decision to drop the bombs. The major bombings completely devastated Japan and ultimately led to its surrender and the end of the Pacific War. Unless such steps had not been taken, Japan would possibly have escalated its inhumane policies and perhaps even surmounted the allied powers culminating in complete Japanese colonization in Australia and the Pacific.