Australia in the 1950’s

When the reluctance of the USA to commit itself to the defense of the Pacific before the European reconstruction and the consolidation of the Atlantic Pact was manifested in some contacts at the government level, the Australia he decided to concentrate his efforts in the sense of a more intimate collaboration with New Zealand and England (he had contributed substantial financial gifts to the latter’s economic recovery). An unofficial conference of diplomats took place in Camberra (November 10, 1949), with the aim of formulating a common policy of the Commonwealth in the Pacific, both regarding communist activity in Southeast Asia, and regarding the future of Japan, of which the ‘TO. he feared rebirth as a military power. Failed, in the negotiations for the elaboration of the peace treaty with Japan (1950), the attempt to prevent the Japanese rearmament, the Australia was reassured by the subsequent tripartite treaty for the Pacific with the USA and New Zealand (ANZUS, San Francisco, September 1951), which essentially aimed at protecting the Australia and New Zealand against an aggressive Japanese comeback. Inside, meanwhile, the normal parliamentary situation, due to the friction between the coalition of liberal and peasant parties (mostly in the House of Representatives) and the Labor party (mostly in the Senate), virtually paralyzed legislative activity. Among the very few laws approved, the law that declared the Communist Party illegal (19 October 1950) is of particular importance, later invalidated by the High Court of the Australia (March 9, 1951). At the end of new elections, the ruling coalition was able to control both houses with a reduced majority. THERE. he collaborated with large financial contributions and with technical assistance in the execution of the Colombo plan. After the “boom” of prosperity which coincided with the beginning of the Korean conflict, the sudden drop in wool prices in 1952 caused a serioustrade balance deficit (subject for structural reasons to wide and frequent fluctuations), which forced the government to decide, among other things, to slow down the planned pace of immigration (for Italy set in the five-year Italo-Australian agreement of 29 March 1952). Active – although sometimes not very cordial – diplomatic relations were re-established with Japan, crisscrossed by disputes over pearl fishing rights off the Australian coast. For Australia 2018, please check ethnicityology.com.

Relations with the USSR deteriorated until the breakdown of diplomatic relations following the Petrov affair, which revealed an espionage organization headed by the Soviet embassy (April 1953; resumed in March 1959). To complete the constellation of regional defense pacts for the Pacific was the South-East Asia-Treaty-Organization (SEATO, Manila, 2 September 1954), whose establishment the Australia collaborated. The worsening of the differences regarding the attitude to be taken towards communism, associated with personal issues regarding the “leadership”, caused in 1955 the definitive split of the Labor Party into two groups: the Australian Labor Party, headed by Erberto Evatt, and the Democratic Labor Party, headed by Robert Joshua. In the international field, the government chaired by Robert Gordon Menzies manifested a new trend in the sense of cultivating friendly relations with the non-communist districts of Southeast Asia, with which dialogue had hitherto been impeded by serious reasons for dissent, such as the strong pro- Western Australia in contrast to their neutralist stance, Asian immigration bans and other particular issues. In fact, relations with Indonesia improved considerably, temporarily overcoming the previously existing disagreement regarding the status of western New Guinea, which the Australia he wished to keep under Dutch sovereignty and Indonesia, on the other hand, claimed it (joint communiqué, 2 November 1955); in addition, it refrained from taking measures to prevent Japanese flotillas from fishing near its shores. At the time of the Suez conflict, Menzies fully endorsed Anglo-French action by frequently criticizing US and UN policy in this regard. A new major disturbance in the balance of payments, due to decreased wool revenues, resulted in severe restrictive measures on imports and stronger Australian pressure aimed at obtaining the revision of the now disadvantageous preferential agreements of Ottawa, of 1932: the result was a treaty agreed in the nov. 1956 and signed in February 1957 between the to. and Great Britain, which provided for the reduction of customs preferences granted from the first to the second. The federal government further advanced on the path of a relaxation policy with Japan; a tangible expression of this trend was the commercial agreement concluded on July 6, 1957, inspired not only by political-strategic reasons, but mainly by economic reasons. The profound change undergone by the Australian economy, following the rapid rise and development of manufacturing industries, made it necessary to seek commercial integration with neighboring Asian countries, through the gradual overcoming of traditional politics (in this regard the pressures are strong of some economic and financial circles for the recognition of People’s China).

Australia’s “status quo” policy for Western New Guinea, in response to the most recent statements by Indonesian leader Australia Soekarno, has been reinforced and expressed in vigorous diplomatic action.

Australia in the 1950's