1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910878976703321

Autore

Rippon Lee

Titolo

Australia's Forgotten Soldiers in the Empire, 1939–1947 : Prisoners of War, International Diplomacy and Australian Foreign Policy / / by Lee Rippon

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Cham : , : Springer Nature Switzerland : , : Imprint : Palgrave Macmillan, , 2024

ISBN

9783031638060

9783031638053

Edizione

[1st ed. 2024.]

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (358 pages)

Collana

Britain and the World, , 2947-7190

Disciplina

940.5470994

990

Soggetti

Australasia

History

International relations - History

Imperialism

Military history

Great Britain - History

World history

Australian History

Diplomatic and International History

Imperialism and Colonialism

Military History

History of Britain and Ireland

World History, Global and Transnational History

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Nota di contenuto

Chapter 1. Introduction: Prisoner of War Diplomacy -- Chapter 2. Prisoners of War in Law, War and Foreign Policy -- Chapter 3. ‘Going in the Bag’ -- Chapter 4. Australia, Britain and Empire Prisoner of War Policy in International Politics, 1939-1942 -- Chapter 5. Detention -- Chapter 6. Punishing the Prisoners: Reprisals, Manipulation, Manacles, and Maltreatment -- Chapter 7. Employing the Enemy: Prisoner of War



Labour -- Chapter 8. Wartime Exchange and Repatriation -- Chapter 9. The Beginning of the End: Armistice to Peace -- Chapter 10. Conclusion.

Sommario/riassunto

This book explores how Australia managed the prisoner of war issue throughout the Second World War and the immediate post-war period. It examines how the Australian government responded to the captivity of thousands of Australians in Italy and the detention of an even greater number of Italians in Australia. The war, it finds, created a series of diplomatic and political challenges for belligerent governments, including Australia. The author contends that Australia’s response was guided not only by other pragmatic considerations such as reciprocity, the practicalities of war and, importantly, national interest. The Australian government was not the only one to manage its prisoner of war policy in this way. By exploring the Australian government’s relationship with Britain as part of the British Empire, this book clarifies under what circumstances and to what extent Australia sought to assert a level of independence in pursuing its national interest, even when that approach did not align with British policy. Lee Rippon is an early career historian and academic tutor at Flinders University in Adelaide, Australia. Her research focuses on Australia’s military and political contribution to the empire during the Second World War.