History of Melbourne - World War Two

World War Two

Main articles: Australian home front during World War II, and Military history of Australia during World War II

During World War II, although Canberra was officially the capital, most of the military and civilian administration was centered in Melbourne, and the city's economy benefited from wartime full employment and the influx of American service personnel (including General Douglas MacArthur, who made his headquarters in Collins St).

Organised crime was rife, with gang fights in the streets of Collingwood and underworld figures like Squizzy Taylor legendary. The Labor Party was much less successful in Melbourne than it was in Sydney and other Australian cities. Labor did not form a majority government in Victoria until 1952.