William Hughes: Australia

Carl Bridge

05/2011 · Haus Publishing

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The First World War marked the emergence of the Dominions on the world stage as independent nations, none more so than Australia. The country's sacrifice at Gallipoli in 1915, and the splendid combat record of Australian troops on the Western Front not only created a national awakening at home, but also put Great Britain in their debt, ensuring them greater influence at the Peace Conferences. Australia was represented at Versailles by the Prime Minister, the colourful Billy Hughes, whom Woodrow Wilson called 'a pestiferous varmint' after their repeated clashes over Australia's claims to the Pacific Islands its troops had taken from Germany during the War. Hughes was also the most vociferous (though by no means at all the only) opponent of the racial equality clause put forward by Japan. Indeed, it was fear of Japanese expansion that drove Australia's territorial demands in the Pacific.

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Carl Bridge is Head of the Menzies Centre for Australian Studies at King's College, London. He has both a PhD in History and a Diploma in Education from the Flinders University of South Australia and is also a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society. His current research falls into four areas: the history of Australian diplomacy and defence; war and society in 20th-century Australia; Australian historiography; and the history of the British world. He is co-editor of London Papers in Australian Studies and Reviews in Australian Studies. His publications include (with Bernard Attard) editing Between Empire and Nation: Australian External Relations from Federation to the Second World War (Australian Scholarly Publishing, 2000) and contributing 'Anzac Day' to the Oxford Companion to Australian Military History (OUP, forthcoming).