The deadly anniversary that reminds a nation of its vulnerability — RT World News

The Second World Conflict was undoubtedly the primary conflict of the skies. When one thinks of the aerial battle, the Battle of Britain, the carpet bombing of German cities, the assaults on Gorky, V1 and V2 rockets, Pearl Harbour, and the atomic bombs all spring to thoughts. But February 19 marks the eightieth anniversary of one of many lesser recognized aerial assaults of the conflict: the bombing of Darwin.

Most individuals exterior Australia should not conscious that the Australian mainland was the topic of a lethal air raid. On the morning of February 19 1942, 188 Japanese planes attacked Darwin, killing 235 folks and injuring greater than 400. Certainly, 30 allied plane had been destroyed, and 11 ships had been sunk. Extra bombs had been dropped on Darwin that day than fell on Pearl Harbour in December 1941.

The assault on Darwin additionally marked the start of a wider aerial marketing campaign in opposition to northern Australia. There have been an additional 63 assaults, though none was as massive or as devastating because the bombing of Darwin. The Japanese had been in a position to assault as a result of they’d gained management of a lot of New Guinea, which is just 80 nautical miles (150km) from Australia’s northernmost tip.

Though the Japanese by no means had any critical intention of invading Australia, primarily resulting from its dimension, the federal government and public thought it a definite chance. Certainly, the specter of a Japanese invasion appeared so actual that the Australians determined to return their forces from the Mediterranean theatre, a lot to the anger of British PM Winston Churchill, who wished them despatched as a substitute to Burma to guard British India.

The bombing of Darwin and the concern of a Japanese invasion additionally lastly satisfied the Australians that they might not depend on the British Empire for defense. Britain’s assets by this level had been already stretched to the restrict, with its cities ravaged by German bombs, in addition to combating Axis forces in North Africa, and Japanese within the Far East. Because of this, Australia turned to the US for defense.

US troops started arriving in Australia in early 1942, and through the conflict a couple of million would go via the nation. Relations between Australia and the US turned ever extra cordial, and Britain was supplanted as its principal defender. The ties to the ‘Mom Nation’ had been loosened and Canberra now regarded to Washington, somewhat than London, for help. The bombing of Darwin subsequently had geopolitical penalties and was a nail within the coffin of the British Empire and British affect within the area.

The assault on Darwin, and the concern of Japanese invasion, has additionally been burned into the Australian psyche and its results can nonetheless be felt at the moment. The one distinction is that wariness of Japan has been changed by issues over one other East Asian powerhouse, China. Now, I’m not suggesting for one second that China goes to assault Australia just like the Japanese did, as a result of clearly it gained’t. However China’s potential financial and army domination of the area could be very actual.

Because the flip of the century, China has been making critical financial inroads within the South Pacific. Certainly, because the millennium there was a 12-fold improve in Chinese language commerce within the area.  A variety of the islands, that are the primary on the planet to see the dawn every day, are more and more aligning themselves with China. Furthermore, 30% of New Zealand’s exports now go to China and the 2 international locations just lately introduced that they’ve upgraded their 2009 Free Commerce Settlement.

New Zealand’s relative closeness to China is regarded upon with suspicion and is seen by some as a menace to the 5 Eyes intelligence-gathering program. Though New Zealand’s PM Jacinda Ardern has acknowledged that there are points round which the 2 international locations “don’t, can not, and won’t agree,” she has argued that the variations shouldn’t outline her nation’s relationship with China

Whereas New Zealand has been ready to cope with China, the Australian authorities has began to take a extra hostile stance. In recent times, Australia has been ‘decoupling’ from Chinese language financial reliance and has torn up potential investments in its infrastructure. Australia clearly views Chinese language affect within the area with suspicion, and although China stays Australia’s largest buying and selling associate, the 2 international locations are concerned in a protracted commerce conflict.

The mistrust, nonetheless, shouldn’t be solely confined to commerce, as there are additionally army issues – primarily over the fast enlargement of China’s navy. Between 2015 and 2019, China constructed 132 new vessels, in comparison with the US’ 68 and Australia’s 9. China additionally has an estimated 40 assault submarines, of which six are nuclear-powered. By comparability, the US has 21 primarily based within the Pacific and Australia solely six comparatively out of date Nineteen Nineties Swedish-made submarines.

The steadiness of energy within the Pacific is on a knife-edge, and this goes some option to explaining why Australia ditched an settlement with France to buy 12 diesel-powered submarines in favour of US constructed nuclear-powered alternate options. The controversial deal, generally known as AUKUS, because it additionally consists of the UK, is clearly designed to counter rising Chinese language army power within the area. Furthermore, earlier this week a brand new £25 million safety bundle was signed between Australia and the UK to “strengthen resilience in our on-line world, state threats and maritime safety.”

The perceived menace of China has additionally seeped into political discourse in Australia, and it is going to be a serious concern within the run as much as Might’s federal election. For instance, final week, Prime Minister Scott Morrison accused the deputy chief of the Labor Occasion, Richard Marles, of being a “Manchurian Candidate.” The premise of this was that Marles had beforehand spoken of his respect for China when visiting Beijing in 2019. I feel it’s honest to imagine that claims and counter-claims of this nature shall be widespread because the election approaches. 

Though the bombing of Darwin is comparatively unknown exterior Australia, it has had a profound impact on the world we stay in at the moment. And for that cause, it deserves to be each remembered and extra extensively acknowledged. It signalled the collapse of British affect within the South Pacific and its substitute by the US because the dominant energy. The scars of Darwin are additionally etched into the Australian psyche, and it may very well be argued that the nation’s perspective in direction of China is an extension of what occurred eighty years in the past at the moment.