History of Australia

The Histoire of Australia goes back to the first migrations towards the Australian continent, which arrived of north towards 40000-45000 years before our era. It is called prehistory until the arrival of the first European explorers. As for the written history, 1901 is generally selected to separate its two great periods: it is indeed on this date that the Australia became a Dominion of the British Empire.

Prehistory of Australia

History of Australia before 1901

The first foreign visitors of Australia are sailors Bajau, Bugis and Makassar which came each year to fish the Holothurie or " cucumber of mer" on the north-western coast of Australia, which they call Marege' . They resold it with Chinese tradesmen of the town of Makassar. The first written testimonys go up with 1725, but it is known that the people of the south of Célèbes furrow the seas of the area since front good. These sailors indonésiens left traces of their passage, but never created permanent establishments, because they on their premises returned once the finished season. The first testimonys by European forwardings go back to the beginning of the XVIIe century. The first discovered one not disputed was the fact of the Dutch navigator Willem Janszoon which, on board Duyfken, sailed until the Golfe of Carpentaria and unloaded on the west coast of the Péninsule of the course York. Other large travellers of the 17th century (especially Dutch but also French and English) followed, and at the beginning of the XVIIIe century the west coasts and north of the continent, known under the name of " News-Hollande" , were charted, but no attempt to establish colonies had not been made.

See also: Exploration of Australia by Europeans, History of Australia of 1788 to 1901

In 1770, the forwarding of Endeavor, under the command of the lieutenant of the Royal Navy of Great Britain James Cook, traversed and charted the east coast of Australia, and unloaded in Botany Bay the April 29th 1770. James Cook carried on his road towards north, and unloaded again on the island of the Possession, in the strait of Torres, off the Cape York, the August 22nd 1770. It is there that it formally took possession of the east coast of Australia, that it had discovered, in the name of the British Crown, allotting to him the name of News-Wales of the South. Cook, whose discoveries were going to lead to the first European presence on the island, is often regarded wrongly as its discoverer, although it was preceded more than 160 years before.

The eulogistic reports/ratios that Cook about these new grounds on its return in Great Britain made aroused the interest, owing to the fact that it offered a solution to the problems of overpopulation which Great Britain knew then, all the more serious problems at the time it had just lost its American colonies. Thus, the May 13rd 1787, the First Fleet of Royal Navy left Portsmouth with Botany Bay for destination.

The colony of the British Crown of News-Wales of the South was initially a pénitenciaire establishment, established with Port Jackson by the captain Arthur Phillip on January 26th, 1788. Later, one made of January 26th the national Festival Australian, called " Australia Day". Great Britain became the the United Kingdom in 1801 after the unification with Ireland. The Earth of Van Diemen, called today Tasmanie, was colonized for the first time in 1803, and became a distinct colony in 1825. The United Kingdom formally asserted the Western part of Australia in 1829. From the territory of the News-Wales of the South, three new colonies were founded: the South Australia in 1836, the Victoria in 1851, the Queensland in 1859. The Territoire of North was created in 1863 starting from the province of Australia of the South. Victoria and Australia of the South were founded with the statute of " colonies libres" - i.e. they were never penal settlements, even if Victoria had accommodated convicts of Tasmanie. Western Australia was also created as a " colony libre" , but later agreed to accommodate convicts moved because of a crucial lack of labor. The transport of condemned towards Australia gradually stopped between 1840 and 1868.

A Gold rush took place in Australia with the beginning of the year 1850; the rebellion of Eureka Stockade, in 1854, can be regarded as the first expression of a nationalist feeling. Between 1855 and 1890, the six colonies became little by little autonomous, and could manage their business with their liking while continuing to belong to the British Empire. The Office of the Colonies, with London, kept the control of the external businesses, defense and the international business.

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