Battle Of Singapore Essay

The Battle of Singapore, also known as the Fall of Singapore, was fought in South-East Asia during the Second World War. It occurred when the Empire of Japan attacked the Allied stronghold of Singapore, which was being defended by Australian and British troops. Singapore fell to the Japanese Army on the 15th of February1942, after a conflict, which lasted only a week. Because the British and Australian armies both played significant roles in the fall, and Australia was a dependent territory of Great Britain, Australia’s government and its relationship with Britain were tested severely during and after the Fall of Singapore. This was due to numerous decisions from the British government regarding the importance of Australia’s dense, which included

Britain exercised quite a lot of control over Australia due to Australia being in the Commonwealth and because Britain was seen to many Australians as ‘the mother country’. Throughout the war, Britain was ignorant and selfish towards the Australian government and the needs of the Australian nation, never listening to their opinions or ideas (Sydney). The inadequate defense of Australia proved to the Australian government that Britain no longer provided Australia with the defense it required. This was evident in the high number of troops fighting in Britain rather than in Australia itself (many of whom were in fact Australian) with troops who travelled back and forth from Australia and Britain taking up to four months. Australia and Britain were very extremely close, mainly due to the fact that Britain founded Australia, and Australia considered them their "mother country". However in World War 2, the relationship started to differ, and it started with the British Prime Minister Churchill diverting Australia's 6th and 7th Divisions to reinforce their own troops in Burma, when Australia needed them for their own national defense due to the Japanese advance. This was done without consultation, and was not the only incident where such an incident

The defeat of the large British garrison at Singapore in January 1942 came as a very unwelcome shock to the Australian government and people, and caused a defining period of Australia becoming a fully independent nation (Murdoch, Lindsay. "The Day the Empire Die in Shame."(22 March 2002), waking Australia up to its responsibilities as an independent nation in the British Commonwealth. At the beginning of the Second World War, Australia had no real international responsibilities as it was a young nation. The fall of Singapore forced Australia to reassess its place in the world and question their place in the Empire, especially their deference to Britain (Primeministers.naa.gov.au,. 'In Office - John Curtin - Australia's Pms).(17 December 2010) .The fall of Singapore exposed the weakness of Britain and its decline as a world power, and led Australia to seek much closer ties with the US and greater