Summary

The Foreword from the book:

A political episode in which North Queensland behaved differently from the rest of Australia should perhaps occasion little surprise: after all, it is well-known that North Queensland is not like the rest of Australia. A political episode in which North Queensland differed from the rest of Australia by showing itself better informed about international events, more committed to democratic values, more generous in sympathy, less obsessed with local issues and factional jealousies, may be another matter: North Queensland is not usually thought to differ in that direction. This publication concerns just such an episode.

Upon young men and women of the late 1930s the Spanish Civil War had a political and emotional impact as profound as that of Vietnam in the late 1960s. In most democratic countries men and women who thought of themselves as progressives, as committed to political and social reform, saw in Spain both a symbol of, and a stage in, the worldwide struggle then developing between "the masses and the classes", between the forces of progress and reaction, between the left and fascism. Spain represented, moreover, a crucial stage in that struggle, one which would go far towards determining the ultimate outcome. Forty years on it is not difficult to see that in some respects these convictions were naive, founded upon imperfect knowledge and sometimes cynically manipulated; but there is no mistaking the idealistic fervour with which they were held, their generous warmth and their lasting effect. For many, these convictions coloured the political beliefs and conduct of a lifetime.

Australia was one country in which the passions aroused on behalf of the embattled Spanish loyalists were felt but dimly; the call for a Common Front of all the left against fascism went largely unheard. Except in North Queensland.

The fact that only in North Queensland did the Australian left respond like their counterparts in virtually every other country, has been forgotten - if indeed it was ever widely recognised - outside the dwindling numbers of direct participants. Diane Menghetti has not merely uncovered a forgotten episode: she has explored it thoroughly, placed it in perspective against its wider background as well as in its regional setting, and above all has attempted to understand it. She demonstrates it was no mere aberration, but a natural result of the social and political conditions then prevailing in the region. As in other countries where a Common Front came into being, the Communist Party played a central role. Its organization, discipline and purpose gave it decisive advantage over potential rivals, at the same time giving coherence to an otherwise disparate coalition. But it would be quite wrong to speak of the movement as being under communist control. In every coalition accommodation and compromise are required of each party: in this one probably the more important, and certainly the more conspicuous, accommodations were required of the communists.

Diane's account should interest readers not only in North Queensland but throughout Australia for the unexpected light it throws upon politics in the shadow of the Second World War. 'Unique' is an expression historians use with caution; it would be rash to apply it to this episode: but The Red North certainly brings to life a rare, early instance of migrants participating in a sustained, broad political movement.

Like its predecessors in the series Studies in North Queensland History, this publication originated as a thesis submitted for the honours degree of B.A. and awarded First Class Honours. For publication it has been revised lightly, without any major changes, and has been furnished with an index prepared by the author.