The Kerguelen Archipelago and Australian Security Anxieties

Bibliographic Data

ID20596084
AuthorsAlexander Mitchell Lee (0000-0002-7974-4728, Australian National University, corresponding author)
Year2024
Volume70
Issue3
Pages459-476
Publication date2024-09-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueAustralian Journal of Politics & History (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0004-9522 • E-ISSN: 1467-8497
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/ajph.12951
OpenAlexW4391319439
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited12

The Kerguelen archipelago in the Southern Indian Ocean was never militarised and never posed a realistic naval threat to Australia or the British Empire during the twentieth century. However, there were two episodes, once in the Federation Era and during the Second World War, when there was debate within Australia as to whether this outlying French possession posed a threat to Australian security. By examining these periods of Australian anxiety surrounding the Kerguelen archipelago, it becomes possible to see that these concerns were more reflective of Australian strategic angst than any tangible threat posed by a remote, unpopulated, nominal French possession. This episode is an example of a broader Australian angst in the early and mid‐twentieth century that remote colonial possessions could be weaponised to isolate Australia and threaten it. The Kerguelens represent one of the most peculiar examples of the manifestations of Australian strategic insecurity

Archaeology · Archipelago · Political science · Australian History and Society · History · Island Studies and Pacific Affairs · Pacific and Southeast Asian Studies

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