Australasian Absolutism
Australasian Absolutism
Australasian Recruitment poster during the first global war
Australasian Recruitment poster during the first global war
Taken from "A history of Australasia" by Professor May Williams (Westralian Publishing, 2018)
In the aftermath of the Eureka Rebellion, many efforts were made by members of the newly "imported" British Aristocracy to reinforce a British identity in Australasian society, especially by Queen Victoria herself. While the British government had always held sway over Australasian affairs, this sudden relocation had cemented its place as sole authority in Australasia. Land and titles were granted to members of the British aristocracy and to a lesser extent those in the top rung of pre-exile Australasian society and cultural phenomenon soon followed, including the erection of countless manors in the British country style across the rugged Australasian islands. A massive cultural initiative soon followed; Union Jacks and pictures of the Queen were handed out to schoolchildren and the populace in general was encouraged to see Australasia not as it's own state, but merely as an integral part of the British constituent nations, solidified in the 1853 Acts of Union between Australasia and Great Britain.
The "Six star ensign" was for a long time emblematic of the Australasian identity: Six starst to represent the British nations of Englad, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. While not an offical symbol, it was widely used and continues to be so in some British-Australasian circles.
While the cultural grip on Australasia remained somewhat tenuous, the threat of an external enemy and the vast powers of the monarchy served to keep the apparatus of state together. Republican activists were quickly and regularly arrested by the Royal Constabulary, a security organization under direct authority from the monarch to "preserve the peace" with a wide-ranging array of legal power to act as judge and jury, if not executioner. Republicanism was painted as barbarian and tribalistic and its supporters as dim-witted and a common feature of propaganda was to equate anti-monarchist and democratic forces with the "savages" of the Australasian colonies, ironically uniting the twin groups against a common enemy in much the same manner as the monarchists.
Another enemy that was repeatedly blamed was Germany, now the dominant land power in Europe and a naval power only really challenged by Russia and France. The primary fear was a German encroachment onto the Australasian sphere of influence in the souther hemisphere, a fear that proved itself warranted as Germany colonized large parts of Africa alongside other Republican powers and even expanded into New Guniea in a devastating blow to Australasian prestige. These fears provided perfect arguments for a concentration of power in the hands of the Monarchy and Military who proceeded to rule Australasia and its colonies in a proto-labryist fashion, creating a southern empire that would last until the end of the first global war and the Westralian revolution, finally bringing down the repressive political climate of the monarchy and allowing the Australasian peoples to discover their own national identity, ushering in a new era for the region.
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