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Year 9 NSW
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Australia between the wars: 1920s
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An event in the 1920s
Topic : An event in the 1920s
In this topic you will learn...
Chapter 1 :
The construction of Canberra
In 1911 the Federal Capital Design Competition was launched for architects to design and create Australia's capital city
Walter Burley Griffin, an American architect from Chicago, won the competition
His design incorporated Australia's natural beauty with buildings which were intended to symbolise democracy
World War I hampered construction of Canberra
The early 1920s saw Griffin's designs altered by a series of committees
Griffin left the program in 1921 but still worked as an architect in Australia
In 1923 a deadline was set for 1926 for a provisional parliament house to be built
Many parts of Canberra were constructed during this time, including the Prime Minister's residence and the Royal Military College at Duntroon
The provisional Parliament House opened in 1927
Construction again ground to a halt when the Great Depression set in at the end of the 1920s
Chapter 2 :
The Coniston Massacre
Relations between Aboriginal people and white Australians before the 1920s had been marked by several massacres
In the 1920s, due to an increase in the number of white settlers moving into the outback of Australia, Europeans and Aboriginal people began to live in the same areas
In 1926, a group of Aboriginal people killed a man named Hay in the Kimberley, Western Australia
In retaliation, police and Hay's friends killed 30 Indigenous Australians. An enquiry found no one guilty of the killings
In 1928 a white Australian named Fred Brooks was killed by a member of the Walpari tribe at Coniston Station
Constable W.G. Murray was sent to arrest the Indigenous Australians who killed Brooks and any Aborignal people who had been spearing cattle
Murray and his team killed up to 100 Aboriginal people after several expeditions
Outraged public opinion saw an investigation into the massacre
In a miscarriage of justice, the investigation found no evidence that Murray had trespassed his original orders
Public disgust at the massacre made the Coniston Massacre the last massacre of Aboriginal people
Chapter 3 :
Talkies
In the early 1900s, popular films were produced without sound
Australian film-makers pioneered new film techniques and technologies and produced many classic full-length feature films
Australian silent films often dealt with Australian subject matter, such as Ned Kelly, bushrangers and convicts
In the 1920s, however, as film-making became a more expensive venture, the Australian film industry was overtaken by Hollywood production studios
Cinema was a very popular form of mass entertainment
In 1927, the first film with sound was produced - The Jazz Singer starring Al Jolson
The popularity of 'Talkies' soon took off and theatres around Australia were flooded with new American films and actors
There were many technical problems caused by filming with sound
Australian film directors also made 'talkies', such as On Our Selection
Going to the cinema became a tradition with Australian families
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