Year 10 History: Australians at War (WWII) and Migration Experiences

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering the key terms, policies, figures, and events of Depth Study 3 (Australians at War: WWII) and Depth Study 5 (Post-WWII Migration Experiences).

Treaty of Versailles (1919)

The peace treaty that ended WWI which blamed Germany, forced it to pay reparations, and took away its land, creating widespread anger and resentment.

Appeasement

The policy of giving in to an aggressive country's demands to avoid war, practiced by Britain and France with Hitler (such as the Munich Agreement in 1938).

Axis Powers

The WWII alliance consisting of Germany, Italy, and Japan.

Allied Powers

The WWII alliance consisting of Britain, France, and later the USSR, USA, Australia, and others.

Second AIF

The Second Australian Imperial Force; volunteer troops raised during WWII who could serve overseas.

Militia (CMF)

Part-time citizen soldiers, originally intended for home defence only, who were pejoratively nicknamed 'Chocos'.

Empire Air Training Scheme

A program that trained thousands of Australian airmen who flew with the RAAF and RAF, including with Bomber Command.

Rats of Tobruk

The defenders (primarily the Australian 9th Division) who held the Libyan port of Tobruk against Rommel's German Afrika Korps from April to December 1941, adopting a German propaganda insult with pride.

Fall of Singapore

The 15 February 1942 surrender of the British fortress to Japanese forces, resulting in the capture of about 130,000 Allied troops, including around 15,000 Australians.

Statute of Westminster Adoption Act (1942)

Australian legislation adopted in 1942 (backdated to 1939) that granted Australia complete legal control over its own foreign affairs and defence.

Bombing of Darwin

The largest single attack on Australian soil, occurring on 19 February 1942, in which more than 200 Japanese aircraft killed roughly 240 people across two raids.

Battle of the Coral Sea

A naval battle fought 4–8 May 1942 entirely by aircraft in which ships never sighted each other; Allied forces stopped the Japanese sea invasion of Port Moresby.

Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels

Papuan carriers who transported supplies and carried wounded Australian soldiers across the Owen Stanley Range along the Kokoda Track.

Battle of Milne Bay

An August–September 1942 battle that marked the first land defeat of Japanese forces in the Pacific War, fought by Australian troops and the RAAF.

Burma–Thailand Railway (1942–43)

A jungle railway built by forced Allied POW and Asian labour under brutal conditions, causing the deaths of over 12,000 Allied POWs and about 90,000 Asian labourers.

Weary Dunlop

An Australian military surgeon on the Burma–Thailand Railway who saved many lives and became a lasting symbol of leadership and courage.

Sandakan Death Marches

A series of forced marches in Borneo in 1945 involving roughly 2,400 Australian and British POWs, of which only 6 Australians survived.

Total War

A condition in which a country's entire society and economy are mobilised and directed towards the war effort.

Home Front

The experiences, efforts, and contributions of the civilian population at home during a war.

National Security Act (1939)

Legislation passed by the Australian government giving it wide-ranging powers to control citizens, industry, and property for the war effort.

Uniform Taxation (1942)

A wartime economic reform whereby the Commonwealth government permanently took over the power to collect income tax from state governments.

Australian Women's Land Army (1942)

An organisation established in 1942 where civilian women worked on agricultural farms to maintain national food production during WWII.

Reg Saunders

An Indigenous Australian soldier who, in 1944, became the first Aboriginal commissioned officer in the Australian Army.

Dunera Boys (1940)

About 2,000 mostly Jewish refugees from Germany and Austria who were transported to Australia aboard HMT Dunera and interned at Hay as 'enemy aliens'.

Cowra Breakout

A mass escape attempt on 5 August 1944 by approximately 1,100 Japanese POWs in New South Wales, which resulted in the deaths of 231 Japanese and 4 Australians.

White Australia Policy

The collection of laws and attitudes originating in 1901 designed to exclude non-European people, especially Asians and Pacific Islanders, from settling in Australia.

Dictation Test

A 50-word test in any European language selected by immigration officials, designed to be deliberately failed to exclude non-European migrants under the Immigration Restriction Act 1901.

Populate or Perish

The post-WWII slogan and policy rationale stating Australia needed a significantly larger population to defend against future invasion and expand its economy.

Ten Pound Poms

The nickname for British migrants who travelled to Australia under the Assisted Passage Scheme by paying a nominal fare of only £10 for adults.

Displaced Persons (DPs)

Refugees from across Europe who were left homeless by WWII, the Holocaust, and Soviet occupation, about 170,000 of whom were resettled in Australia between 1947 and 1953.

Bonegilla

A major migrant reception and training centre in Victoria that operated from 1947 to 1971, characterised by basic army-hut accommodation and harsh conditions.

Snowy Mountains Hydro-Electric Scheme (1949–74)

A massive civil engineering project in south-eastern Australia that employed over 100,000 people from around 30 countries, the majority of whom were post-war migrants.

Colombo Plan (1950)

An international development program that brought Asian students to study at Australian universities, building regional connections and goodwill.

Assimilation

The official policy of the 1940s to 1960s that required incoming migrants to shed their previous cultural identities and blend fully into Anglo-Australian society.

Integration

The 1960s policy framework that permitted migrants to preserve aspects of their native cultures while being expected to adjust and fit into Australian society.

Multiculturalism

The government policy adopted from the 1970s that actively recognizes, respects, and supports cultural diversity within the Australian population.