School of Historical and Philosophical Studies - Theses
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ItemIsraeli military fiction: a narrative in transformation( 2003-12)The current study investigates changing attitudes to militarism within Israeli society since the tumultuous decades following 1948. Events leading to the current state of Israeli society will be traced in order to illustrate the way in which change occurs. The shifts in Israeli history and society during these decades will be examined alongside developments in Israeli literature. Accordingly, eight works of fiction have been selected to lie at the heart of the study. These works, all of which centre around the Israeli military experience, convey an erosion of personal, national, and ideological certainties. The analysis of these works demands three areas of exploration: the depiction of the soldier in the civilian setting, the depiction of the soldier as he interacts with other soldiers in the military sphere, and ‘post-Zionist’ military fiction produced in recent decades. These three areas of exploration entail an interrogation of gender, nationalism, and ‘post-Zionism’ in contemporary Israel. The works examined in the third chapter contain commentary not only upon the social reality of their authors, but also upon the way in which Israeli literature engages with the issues that inform its existence. (For complete abstract open document)
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ItemThe defences of Hobson's Bay and Port Phillip, 1870-1901( 1994)This thesis examines the reasons behind the withdrawal of the Imperial garrison from Victoria in 1870, and the development of the defences of the colony in the period 1870-1901. These developments caused the importation of a large amount of naval and military technology into Victoria. The attitude that accompanied this transfer of technology is considered in this thesis as an impetus to the federation of the Australian colonies. The plans drawn up by Colonel Sir W. Drummond Jervois, and the development and acquisition of the armaments needed to implement his plans are also reviewed in the light of the rapid advances in arms manufacture which took place during the 1870s and 1880s. Victoria’s naval and military capacity, like that of the other self governing colonies of the Empire was recognised by the British government as a pool of reserve manpower which could be called upon to share the burden of Imperial commitments. The New South Wales contingent which hastened to the Sudan in 1885 confirmed that the colonies were able, and willing, to participate in this activity. During the 1880s the colonial military found that they were prevented from formulating plans for combined action in the event of a hostile incursion because of the constraints of their individual discipline acts. This was recognised by an Imperial officer, Major-general Sir J. Bevan Edwards during his inspection tour in 1889. His recommendations were used by Sir Henry Parkes to rekindle the federation debate. However, the centrality of Parkes’ role is questioned. The role played by the Victorian Premier, Duncan Gillies, and his Military Commandant Colonel H. S. Brownrigg, in being the first to advocate the need for combined defence is also reviewed.