Churchill and Australia: The Anxious Dominion

Abstract This article focuses on Winston Churchill's relations with three Australian prime ministers, Robert Menzies, Arthur Fadden and John Curtin, between 1940 and 1942. In doing so, the article reflects on the historiographical debate about Churchill and Australia during the Second World War and what Australia's dominion status meant at the time. In the interwar period, Australia generally resisted the efforts of Canada, South Africa and the Irish Free State to move quickly in the direction of greater autonomy. It is the argument of this article that Australia's outlook on its dominion status changed dramatically during the Second World War. Fear of invasion by Japan impelled its leaders to demand that it be treated as an equal with the right to a greater say in allied strategy and the disposition of its military forces. This outlook frequently placed the three Australian leaders at odds with Churchill, whom they resented as treating Australia like a colony. At the same time, Churchill's attitudes to Australia were paradoxical. Despite his firm views on imperial strategy and the proper role of Australia in supporting it, Churchill and his wartime government ultimately deferred to Australia's strongly expressed wishes and treated Australia as an independent country.