Singapore conference
The Singapore Conference took place from October 22nd to 31st, 1940 in what was then the British colony of Malaysia . The main objective of the Defense Conference was to set out the British position in South East Asia to the Australian and New Zealand governments. The Dutch , who with the Dutch East Indies had the largest colonial possessions in Southeast Asia in terms of area, did not take part in the conference because they would have violated their neutrality status .
The Singapore Conference was one of the secret follow-up conferences to the Pacific Defense Conference that was held in Wellington , New Zealand , in 1939 .
occasion
The Second Sino-Japanese War , which had been going on since 1937, and the outbreak of war in Europe made a spread of Japanese territorial aspirations to the south increasingly likely. Not least because the raw material reserves available there were a worthwhile goal and, according to the Greater East Asian Prosperity Sphere declared by Japan on August 1st, the colonial powers in this area were to be displaced.
aims
The British in particular felt threatened by a possible Japanese invasion in their colonies on the Malay Peninsula and Borneo . Since their military presence in the colonies had been severely restricted due to the outbreak of war in Europe and supplies were hardly to be expected, they decided to inform their direct allies Australia and New Zealand about their defense situation. In particular, the two governments, as members of the British- led British Commonwealth of Nations, were to be instructed to send troops to the British colonies and to build up an adequate defense themselves.
Furthermore, far-reaching defense strategies for assumed Japanese advance scenarios were discussed. These related in particular to the British colonies in Southeast Asia and also included a threat to India , which was also under British rule at the time.
Result
The main result was the decision of the conference participants to do all they can to defend the British Commonwealth's presence in Southeast Asia against Japan.
The defensive weakness of the British, especially in Singapore, alarmed the Australian government, which decided to send Prime Minister Sir Robert Gordon Menzies to London to speak with Churchill and his chiefs of staff.
Negotiation points were agreed in an annex, which should be discussed immediately with the Dutch and the USA as soon as this would be politically possible.
The Australians then sent troops to the Malay Peninsula, New Britain and Timor and ordered most of their warships , especially the cruisers , back into the waters to be defended. Destroyers should be prepared as troop transports. The New Zealanders did the same with their ships.
swell
- ↑ Australian-Duch defense cooperation 1940–1941 - 4. The period of secret talks, June-December 1940 at: http://www.awm.gov.au/journal/j29/herman.htm (accessed on 25 Feb. 2007)