Australia through dark times

Posted in Decades

Sir Robert Menzies

1949 RG Menzies votes

Robert Menzies begins and ends the 1940s as Prime Minister of Australia. Dissension in the United Australia Party-Country Party coalition leads to Menzies' resignation as Prime Minister on August 28, 1941. He is re-elected Prime Minister of Australia December 10, 1949.

Australian Events

1945 Celebrating Victory in the Pacific Grafton NSW
Jubilation erupts in August 1945 when Australians learn of Japan's surrender. Workers across Australia leave their offices to dance and sing in the streets. Australia, led by External Affairs Minister Dr Herbert Evatt, plays a leading role in the founding of the United Nations organisation.

World Events

1949 Chairman Mao

In 1948 The United Nations adopts the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Communists take over China in 1949: Mao Tse-Tung (Zedong) and his followers defeat the Nationalists in the war of liberation (1937–49) and establish a People's Republic and communist rule in China.