Australian history and overview

Australia's earliest inhabitants - the Aboriginal Australians - initially lived in complex social systems and followed traditions that reflected their deep connection to the land and environment. Many things have changed in Australia since then. From that time to the arrival of the earliest European explorers, convicts, free settlers and more recent immigrants, Australia weathered depressions, wars and political scandals, creating vibrant cities and 'bushlands' (the Legends such as "Bush" and "Aussie Battler" have given people from all over the world a new beginning and experienced the decline and revitalization of Aboriginal culture.

History before the 20th century

Australia’s earliest inhabitants – the Aboriginal Australians – have the world’s longest continuous cultural history, with origins dating back to the last Ice Age. Although mysteries and controversy obscure many aspects of Australia's prehistory, it is generally accepted that the first humans crossed the ocean from Indonesia to Australia about 70,000 years ago.

In the 16th century, Europeans began to explore Australia. First came the Portuguese navigator, then the Dutch explorer and enterprising English pirate William Dampier. In 1770, Captain James Cook sailed along the entire east coast, stopping at Botany Bay; he soon claimed the continent for Britain and named it New South Wales.

In 1779, Joseph Banks (naturalist aboard Cook's ship) suggested that the British exile prisoners to New South Wales as a way to solve the problem of overcrowding in British prisons. In 1787, the First Fleet, consisting of 11 ships and carrying 750 male and female prisoners, set sail for Botany Bay. The fleet arrived at Botany Harbor on 26 January 1788, but soon headed north to Sydney Cove, which had better land and water. To the new arrivals, New South Wales was a hot, desolate place of horror, and the threat of starvation loomed over the colony for many years. Fighting against harsh elements and an oppressive government, these new Australians forged a new culture that became the basis of the legend of the 'hard-working Australian'.

Free settlers began to be attracted to Australia over the following decades, but it was the discovery of gold in the 1850s that changed the colony forever. The influx of huge numbers of immigrants and the discovery of several large gold mines stimulated economic growth and changed the social structure of the colony. Aboriginal people were brutally driven from their tribal lands as new settlers occupied the land for farming or mining.

By the late 19th century, many people tended to idealize the 'bushland' (i.e., any place far from the city) and bush people. The very popular Bulletin magazine is a large forum for this ‘bush nationalism’. The magazine was full of humor and emotion about everyday life, and its most famous contributors were jungle legends Henry Lawson and Benio Peterson.

Twentieth Century History

On January 1, 1901, Australia's six independent colonies formed Federation and Australia became a country. Australian troops fought alongside the British Army in the Boer War and World War I. The country has been hit hard by a recession triggered by plummeting prices for wool and wheat - two pillars of the Australian economy. In 1931, almost one-third of wage laborers were unemployed, and poverty pervaded the country. By 1933, however, Australia's economy was recovering. When World War II broke out, the Australian army fought alongside the British army in Europe. However, in the end it was the United States that defeated the advancing Japanese air force in the Battle of the Coral Sea and helped protect Australia.

After World War II, there was a large influx of immigrants from Europe. Since then, they have made a huge contribution to Australia, enlivening the country's culture and broadening its horizons. The post-war era was a period of prosperity for Australia, with strong demand for its raw materials. Australia followed the United States into the Korean War and in 1965 committed troops to support the United States in the Vietnam War. However, its participation in the war did not receive absolute domestic support. In 1964, conscription (compulsory military service) was introduced in Australia, much to the distress of many young Australian men.

Civil unrest over conscription was one of the contributing factors when the Australian Labor Party came to power in 1972 under the leadership of Gough Whitlam. The Whitlam government withdrew Australian troops from Vietnam, abolished military conscription, abolished tertiary education fees, established free and universal health care, and supported Aboriginal land rights.

However, the government was constrained by a hostile House of Lords and numerous accusations of mismanagement. On 11 November 1975, the Governor-General of Australia (the representative of the British monarch in Australia) took the unprecedented step of dissolving Parliament and establishing an interim government led by Malcolm Fraser, leader of the opposition Liberal Party. In the following election, a coalition of the conservative Liberals and the Nationalist Party won.

It was not until 1983 that Labor won an election and returned to power under the leadership of former union leader Bob Hawke.

Recent History and Australia Today

After the recession and high unemployment period of the early 1990s, electors finally lost faith in the Labor government, and in early 1996, Led by John Howard, who remains Australia's Prime Minister to this day, the Conservative Alliance won the election, defeating Labor leader Paul Keating. Australia's parliamentary system is a two-tier parliamentary government system based on the Westminster system. The country has three levels of government: federal, state, and local government. The Federal Parliament consists of the House of Representatives and the Senate. The party with the largest majority of seats in the House of Representatives forms the government. For more information, visit www.australia.gov.au/govt-in-aust.

In the late 1990s, the issue of peacemaking - replacing the Queen as head of state with an Australian president - dominated Australian politics. More and more people, especially younger Australians, feel that the constitutional link with Britain is no longer of great significance and that the only way forward is to declare Australia a republic. However, a referendum held in 1999 resulted in maintaining the status quo.

In the last half century, the less recognized sectors of Australian culture and history have begun to gain wider recognition, particularly through art, literature and film; thus, the symbolic 'Hard worker' becomes less relevant. Immigrants brought their own stories, culture and myths with them and blended them with the culture of colonial Australians. It is also finally acknowledged that Aboriginal Australians are fundamental to the true definition of Australian culture today.

The 'Australian Dream' of owning a house began in the prosperous 1950s and continues to this day, leading to massive suburbanization of Australia's towns and cities, especially in Sydney and Melbourne. very. Australian architecture doesn't really have a distinct style today, with overseas trends often dominating large-scale projects. In many cases, the most striking ‘modern’ buildings are actually converted buildings from the Victorian or other eras. There are exceptions, the most famous ones being the Convention Center in Darling Harbor, Sydney, the Melbourne Museum and the Cultural Center in Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park in central Australia, which was designed by consultant Traditional owners of the park. Melbourne's Federation Square complex stands tall in the city center with its distinctive geometric shapes, becoming a representative example of challenging modern architecture.

Today, the Australian economy is running well, the value of the Australian dollar is relatively high, the trade volume with China has increased significantly, and the profits of local enterprises have reached new highs. At the same time, inflation and unemployment remain low.

On the downside, however, the country's trade deficit has increased to A$20 billion, debt per household has soared, and many inner-city property prices have become increasingly unaffordable