From the history of australia

Australia has long been little known to most of the people of the world, and this is probably due to its geographical position. It is situated so far away from the places where most of the world live.(Sydney, Australia’s largest city, is about 23000 km from London by sea, and it takes two days and nights to cover the distance between Sydney and London by air).

It is probably also due to its geographical position that Australia was 1he last continent to be inhabited the white men. It was just a little over 380 years that Australian continent was discovered. The first landing by Europeans continent took place in 1606. More than a century and a half later an expedition headed by the British explorer James Cook added the land to the possessions of the British crown.

During the War of Independence the former British colonies in America declared themselves independent. The British ruling circles tried to make up for this loss by the capture of new territories. Besides, the convicts could no longer be transported to the American colonies (which had served this purpose for over a hundred years) and British prisons were more then badly overcrowded a plan to establish penal settlements in the region was advanced. The first contingent of the convicts landed where Sydney stands today, on January 26, 1788. It was so-called "First Fleet", and these people were called "first fleeters". Now Australia Day is celebrated on January 26. Gradually more and more people arrived (they were convicts as well as free settlers) and a number of settlements were founded along the southern and eastern coasts. The discovery of gold in 1851 marked the beginning of a 1remendous wave of immigration, which tripled the population in ten years. Since that time the transportation of the convic1B has been stopped. The economic and political effect of the gold rush in Australia was considerable. Quick development of trade union began, which was significantly accelerated by the arrival of the Chartists, revolutionary refugees from Germany and workers from other countries. As the result the trade unions gained considerable rights for the working people. It was in the 1870s that the Australian workers were the first in the world to gain an eight-hour working day.

The exploration of the outback was completed by the end of the 19^th century. A great number of sheep stations were established there. Some of these stations cover the thousands of kilometres. The natural conditions of the country were favourable for development of sheep farming and grain growing. The discoveries of mineral resources have stimulated development in many parts of the country and made Australia an important source of raw materials in the capitalist world.

In 1901 the separate colonies in Australia joined together and became the States of the Commonwealth of Australia, which had the status of a dominion of Great Britain. The Armed Forces of Australia figured significantly in the various British military campaigns in France and in the Middle East.

Australia benefited from the effects of World War I because the prices on its exports to post-war Europe increased considerably. Then came the economic crisis of the late 1920s and early 1930s. Those were vary hard years for the common people of Australia: their wages were reduced one-third of the workers became unemployed. After 1933 Australia began to benefit from the improving conditions in the world market.

Aus1ralia took part in World War II. In 1939 its troops join the British forces in the Middle East, later in the Western Europe in the North Africa and in the Pacific. In 1942 Australian ruling circles began to seek for military alliance, the Australian government now has to take into consideration the decisions of Washington.

The Aborigines were the only inhabitants when the Dutch came in the 1620s and named the land New Holland. In 1770 Captain Cook took eastern coast for Britain and named it New South Wales. The British arrived in January 26, 1788, after loss of the American colonies and founded penal colonies. Many of the settlers of Australia were convicts or soldiers.

English navigator Flinders /1774-1814/ charted the coast of Australia in 1795-1803 and introduced the name Australia for the whole continent.

Settlement developed with introduction of merino sheep. Self-government was granted in 1850. The aborigines lost their food-gathering grounds and dwindled.

With the discovery of gold in 1851 the number of free men immigrating to Australia increased. Thousands of prospectors could not pay their passage home and became farmers. Population grew twice 400,000 in 1850 and 1,100,000 in 1860.

A "White Australia" policy was adopted in the separate colonies in 1855 and embodied in the Immigration Restriction Act (1901). In 1901 the 6 colonies agreed to federate in the Commonwealth of Australia to which were added the NT 1911 and the Australian Capital Territory 1917.

Australia fought in both world wars as an ally of Britain. Anzacs (Australia and New Zealand Army Corps) won a reputation for outstanding bravery. In WWI 59,000 were killed. Anzac Day is a national day of mourning.

Australia entered WWII on September 3, 1939. On February 19, 1942, Japanese planes bombed Darwin. Japanese troops landed in New Guinea. 925.000 men and 65,000 women served in Armed Forces during WWII. Over 29,000 Australians died in battle.