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80 Years Ago in Australia & Oceania

Turkish trops are preparing an attack at Capa Helles in the picture. In 1901, Australia brought in the Immigration Restriction Act, also called the "White Australia policy". The act limited the amount of immigration from Asia--especially China as thousands of Chinese labourers had been brought into Australia after the 1850s to work in the gold mines.

Australia and New Zealand fight their first major war as nations during the First World War. The horrors of trench warfare are brought to home after the disastrous battle of Galipoli in 1916. This was a British-led invasion of Turkey planned by Winston Churchill, using a large number of Australian and New Zealand troops. The invasion was defeated with heavy losses.

During the First World War, Japan had taken the former German colonies in the South Pacific, but was only allowed to keep those north of the equator as protectorates, including Palau, the Marianas and the Caroline islands. Australia occupied the remaining former German colonies, Papua-New Guinea and the Pacific islands south of the equator.

The Great Depression of 1929 brought an end to the high levels of immigration to Australia and New Zealand. During the 1930s, Australia began to fear Japanese economic and territorial expansion in Asia and the South Pacific. In 1934, a three-year rearmament plan was put into action.

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