PDF (Whole Thesis) - USQ ePrints - University of Southern ...

Although often mediated through the experience of Great Britain, there are isolated sections
of the textbook whereby the discourse of an independent Australian nation is expressed.
Here, specific references to Australian traits and leaders are used such as, “magnificent
heroism” and “General Birdwood commanded the Anzacs” (Dunlop & Palfrey, 1932a, p.
110) articulate the beginning of an emergence of an Australian-ness, hitherto not seen in the
textbooks outside of an interior or domestic context (for example, through narratives of early
exploration). Whilst the examples of phrases provided here are only minor, later this
developed into a stronger argument, and as evidenced from the extract below (Dunlop &
Palfrey, 1932a, p. 159), WWI is overtly attributed to Australians creating a sense of
nationhood, from the perspective of patriotism. Here, nationhood is attributed not to a
separation of Australia from the emotional ties to Great Britain, but rather because all the
separate states (which only two decades previously had been separate colonies not part of one
nation) became closer as a result of this unifying event. The textbook describes:
It has been said that the Great War made Australia a nation. Before 1914, the
majority of Australians were inclined to think of themselves as Queenslanders, or
Victorians, or Tasmanians, and so on, rather than as Australians. The war changed
that. (Dunlop & Palfrey, 1932a, p. 159)
The connection to Great Britain is still maintained, and a quote from Henry Parkes, widely
regarded as the ‘Father of Federation’ (he died before 1901, but was a significant and active
supporter of the Federation movement) is used to justify and maintain an Australian
connection to Great Britain, by stating:
The sacrifices made by every part of the Commonwealth in the terrible conflict made
Australians realize more fully the meaning of Sir Henry Parkes’ historic phrase, “the
crimson thread of kinship runs through us all”. (Dunlop & Palfrey, 1932a, p. 159)
Whilst Australian states came together to form a nation, the British-ness of Australians was
still maintained. The idea of the birth of a nation as a result of Australia’s participation in
WWI is given further weighting in an extract on the Gallipoli campaign (see Source 5.5).
172