Modern Australia began from convict origins, and grew into a collection of colonies whose free settlers sought to wrest land from indigenous owners. It emerged as a federated nation in a little over a century. In this subject we examine how resource exploitation, a pastoral economy, urbanisation, political alliances and experiments in social democracy forged colonial development/history. We explore how war, depression and new sources of migration, technological change, foreign policy directions, and political protest emerged in the twentieth century to challenge and internationalise Australia. We trace people's role in shaping these dramatic transformations and the profound impact of such changes on everyday life, as we consider the nature of historical knowledge and how historians have interpreted these changes.

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