Critically Assess Australian foreign policy in the 1930's.
During the 1930's, Australia struggled to find itself a foreign policy that would not only protect its interests in the Pacific region, but would also enable it to gain prestige and standing within the international community. Consequently, Australia's foreign policies during this period oscillated to suit the turmoil that enveloped the world, particularly during the late 1930's. This paper will attempt to critically evaluate the various policies employed by Australia, and the reasons behind the use of each. This will be done by detailing the foreign policies of Australia, and why they were enacted.It has been said that the principal aim of Australian foreign policy during the inter-war years was to preserve peace, and its secondary objective was to ensure that if war came, the Empire was well prepared. The logic behind this was that the League of Nations could not be trusted, but the Empire could. Australia had matured greatly as a result of the Great War, and was now recognised internationally as a more independent, developing nation, which was a result of Hughes' efforts at the Paris peace conference. However, its links to the British Empire were still very much prevalent and as will be seen this was to have a profou
Once the Australian governments of the time realised that British interests were dominated by European affairs, they decided to appease Japan in order that she might move north-west instead of south, but messed this up by offending Japan with the Trade Diversion policy in1936. By 1935 there was a general feeling in Australia that we could not trust the United States and rely on them to come to our aid. The Ottawa Agreements of 1932 were to have serious repercussions for Australian foreign policy in the years to come. As a result of the base being located at Singapore, the Royal Navy could support any threat that might occur in Asia. The agreements meant that there were lower tariff barriers against some and preference given to other British goods. During the inter-war period, Australia's role in international affairs was affected both by a reluctance to become involved in another conflict as well as our heavy reliance on British imperial policy. The reason behind this was that if Australia could assist in maintaining peace in Europe, Britain would be free to aid Australia in the Pacific, and thus prevent Japanese expansion southwards. During the later stages of the 1930's, Lyons' government saw the need to promote a policy of appeasement in Europe. This was done to accommodate as far as possible the powers with whom Britain and Australia would ultimately go to war. Initially fears of Japanese expansion were put to rest with the advent of the British Singapore strategy which would offer 'a deterrent to the Japanese such that they could not contemplate war'. Although this strengthened and ensured trade connections with the Empire, it also had the effect of causing rising prices and costs within Australia. ' Mansergh believes that the Australian foreign policy towards Britain was a restraining one in order to stop Britain becoming totally preoccupied with European affairs. It was widely believed that 'Japan would not embark on a career of large-scale aggression unless and until the Western Powers were heavily committed in Europe. However, it has been said that we still did not act independently on foreign policy issues in the 1930's, and were firmly entrenched within the alliance system of imperial defence , hence our continued policy of appeasement in line with Britain. Millar sees the Australian reaction to Manchuria as "a triumph of immediate self-interest and pusillanimity over principles of any kind, of political and economic appeasement.
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