Best We Forget: WW1 for White Australia

Best We Forget: War for White Australia, 1914–18 was the title chosen by author Peter Cochrane. "Lest we forget" was a phrase commonly used in WW1 memorial services in British countries. “Best we forget” is a sad but clever pun.

White Australia music: march of the great white policy

composed by W. E. Naunton, 1910

 National Library of Australia

The publishers’ summarised the book itself. “In the half-century pre­c­eding WW1 there was a dramatic shift in the mindset of Australia’s pol­itical leaders, from a profound sense of safety in the Empire’s em­brace to a deep anxiety about abandonment by Britain. Coll­ective mem­ory now recalls a rallying to the cause in 1914, a total id­entific­at­ion with British interests and the need to defeat Germany. But there is an underside to this story: the belief that the newly fed­­erated nat­­ion’s security, and its race purity, must be bought with blood. Be­fore WW1, each Federal government was concerned not with European enem­ies in Europe but with Pacific perils. Fearful of an Awak­ening Asia and worried by opposition to the White Australia pol­icy, they prepared for defence against Japan”. It was almost too worrying for me, an Australian, to continue.

Austral­ia's WW1 stories have always concentrated on the heroics of the ANZAC legend. So mixing the terms White Australia and Anzac seemed senseless. Yes, most Aus­t­ral­ians were per­­fectly aw­are of the horrible, racist treat­ment of aborig­in­als in our history, but that had noth­ing to do with WW1 against Germany. The book ripped away the lay­ers of myth to show that for Aus­tralian leaders, WW1 was a White ra­cial str­uggle, with fear of Japan and distrust of Brit­ain, as much as loath­ing of Ger­many at its core.

Being from non-Christian, non-English speaking Europeans who came to Australia to escape oppression, I did not believe Cochrane could est­ab­lish the important motive for sending our lads to WW1 was to pres­erve White Australia from Asian contamin­at­ion. Despite any other crit­icism of this young nat­ion’s his­t­ory, I still believed most Aust­ral­ians rallied to the war cause in 1914, TOT­ALLY identifying with Brit­ish interests and the need to defeat Germany.

Soon after Australia Federated in Jan 1901, the 2nd prime min­is­­ter/P.M Alfred Deakin introduced legisl­at­ion called the Immig­rat­ion Restrict­ion Act aka White Australia Policy. This was a set of historical rac­ial policies that prevented people of non-European ethnic origin from immigrating to Australia. And from staying here.

Cochrane acknowledged that there was no place in the national hist­ory today for 1] Australia’s obsession for race purity or 2] the fear of Japan that drove the national lead­ers’ strategies, before and during WW1. Yet the defence of White Australia was at the core of their an­xieties and politics. The author started with the first official and most influential war historian C.E.W Bean. Bean was as steeped in race fear as were Australia’s second P.M Alfred Deakin; wartime P.M William Hugh­es; deputy P.M George Pearce; P.M  and other Common­weal­th leaders.

Peter Cochrane's book, 

with PM Billy Hughes' portrait on the cover

Bean believed that Austral­ia’s destiny would be played out in the Pac­if­ic. He believed that a formidable challenge facing Australia was the racial challenge i.e the threat of Japan to the survival of White Aus­tralia. And that Australia was the Last Land open to the White man, the last bastion of pure Anglo-Saxon blood. This was a problem for Bean who was well aware that fear of Japan was the strategic motive behind Australia’s preparation pre-war, 1902-14, and its commitment throughout WW1. Yet Japan was a loyal ally, so Bean was cautious writ­ing about safeguarding Australia against race pollution from Japan.

Andrew Fisher, three times P.M between 1908-15, was deeply disturbed by Japan’s expansionist activities in the Pacific, by the diplomatic pressure for trade concessions, by fear of British acquies­cence to Japan, by the recurring worry that Japan might switch sides, and by the weight of that nation’s leverage in London.

Having deep anxiety about abandonment by the Motherland (Britain) was like no longer trusting beloved parents. The Australian government was hugely frustrated by Japan’s rise to power under the aegis of Bri­t­­ain and by London’s lack of understanding of Australia’s peril.

One of the concerns behind the talk of Japanese invasion or British betrayal was the surge of anxieties about the Pacific. There was a rum­­our about the 1915 Anglo–Japanese talks re ren­ewing their Treaty. Renunciation would free the Japanese of oblig­ation to the British Emp­ire, perhaps freeing them to support Germany instead. In fact the prime minister publicly spoke of the issue in 1916, urging his able-bodied country men before his vital conscription referendum: “I bid you go and fight for White Australia in France”.

Racist, anti-German conscription poster, 1916

Pro-British conscription poster, 1916

So commitment to WW1 was driven by White Aust­ral­ia's sense of vulner­ability locally; leaders feared nightmare scenarios in which Australia could be left to fend for itself, unaided by Britain. So when the war arrived in 1914, the strategy was thus: by prom­is­ing tot­al support for the Motherland, the Aust­r­alians hoped to secure Brit­ain's unequ­iv­oc­al sup­p­ort for a safe, White Australia in return.

The last question was why did Australia’s leaders’ obsession with Japan and race purity, stretching from colonial times (i.e pre-Federation) to the Paris Peace Conf­er­ence of 1919-20, disappear from our history books? Simple! No-one wanted to expose and acknowledge the uncomfort­able rac­ial truth at the heart of Australia’s role before/in WW1.

Illuminated address from returned soldiers in Brisbane, presented to P.M Hughes in 1919, 

thanking him for his work for the preservation of a White Australia.