World War II and Australia's Prime Ministers

The Art of the possible: Creating an independent Australian foreign policy
This online version of the JCPML's popular major exhibition features text, virtual reality tours and selected images from the original exhibition. The Art of the possible explores Australia's growing independence in the  realm of foreign policy from 1935 to 1950. The travelling exhibition based on this major exhibition is also featured.

Menzies and Curtin in World War Two: A comparative essay by David Black
Robert Menzies and John Curtin were very different in personality, style and philosophy and faced different scenarios in their terms as Prime Ministers of Australia in World War Two. This essay compares the two leaders in four key areas: running the war effort; defining Australia's place on the world stage; dealing with party politics, elections and the press; and visions for Australia. In addition, eminent historians and commentators provide contemporary perspectives on the two men as wartime leaders. A variety of photographs, cartoons, documents and film and audio clips accompany the resource.

'Doing the best for the country': Behind the scenes of Australia's wartime decision-making 1939-45
Five Prime Ministers served Australia during the war years – Menzies, Fadden, Curtin, Forde and Chifley. The nation’s key decision-making bodies, the Cabinet, War Cabinet and Advisory War Council, decided the direction of the war effort in meetings held mainly at Parliament House in Canberra and Victoria Barracks in Melbourne, supported by the hard work and dedication of staff in the Prime Minister’s Department and the War Cabinet Secretariat. This web publication takes you inside the walls of the offices and meeting places where the course of the war was directed and invites you to explore the stories of the places and people who worked there.