Military history

1975: Living in the Seventies

Look back on life in the 70s including politics, feminism, pop culture, news of the day, and more.

Exhibition

A black and white aerial image of Charters Towers.

Charters Towers Replenishing Centre, 1952, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-2909430463

Aerial photographs collection

Aerial photographs of Australia, the Australian Antarctic Territory and Papua New Guinea

Collection guide

Young man, maybe late teens, wearing a grey shirt with a 'Friends of the Earth' armband wearing a gas mask

Soc Hedditch, A youth wearing a gas mask and a Friends of the Earth armband demonstrates against French nuclear testing in the Pacific, Adelaide 1972, nla.obj-146561887

Anti-war protests

Use this guide to help find and access resources in our collection about the Nuclear Disarmament movement, protests against the Vietnam War and protests against the Iraq War.

Research guide

A black and white image of a wartime Naval ship

Australian battlecruiser HMAS Australia in 1914, Alan C. Green, State Library Victoria

Australia's Naval Alliances: John Seymour and Hugh White

In the 1920s and 1930s Australia entrusted its security to Britain's Royal Navy. In 1941 that proved to be a big mistake. Are we making the same mistake now with America and AUKUS? John Seymour discusses his new book.

Event

Portrait of Nora Heysen sitting at a desk and painting

Harold Cazneaux, Portrait of Nora Heysen at work,1939, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-145509450

Australian artists in the Second World War

Explore 2 different examples of artistic responses to the Second World War.

Blog

Baracchi Collection

Papers, pamphlets, books and periodicals relating to communism, socialism, fascism, capitalism, international relations, public finance, politics, World War II, and the Vietnam War.

Collection guide

On the left is the cover of the book 'Fleeced: Unraveling the history of wool and war' by Trish Fitzsimons and Madelyn Shaw. On the right are two smiling women outside on a sunny day with grass and bushes in the background.

Book launch: Fleeced with Trish FitzSimons and Madelyn Shaw

Authors Trish FitzSimons and Madelyn Shaw, in conversation with Annabelle Quince, discussed their new book, Fleeced: Unraveling the History of Wool and War.

Event

Video

Welcome parade for Olympic team from Republic of China (Taiwan) Melbourne 1956.

Welcome parade for the Olympic team from the Republic of China (Taiwan) in Melbourne, 1956, courtesy Bruce Lew's family album.

Chinese diaspora in Cold War Australia with Dr Mei-fen Kuo

Dr Mei-fen Kuo presented a lecture on her 2023 National Library Fellowship research into our Chinese-language collections and how that has helped in rethinking the influence of the Cold War on the formation of contemporary Chinese Australian identities.

Event