The Eureka Stockade: an International/Transnational Event

Abstract

The battle for the Eureka stockade is an event in Australian history that has been misunderstood and misrepresented by popular and academic historians almost since its inception. The historiography of the battle for the stockade has been in general one that perpetuates a tale of gratuitous massacre of poorly prepared innocents by a ruthless military. The historiography has also omitted to consider Eureka as part of an established international model of civilian armed resistance to oppression.

This thesis challenges both this characterisation and omission. Primary sources such as government reports, private correspondence, personal memoirs, trial transcripts, and court depositions have been examined. Newspaper reports contemporary to Eureka, both foreign and domestic, have been extensively consulted. Secondary sources have also been widely consulted to provide insights into events as well as elicit technical details, such as military tactics and weaponry, knowledge of which is important to understand the dynamics of the battle for the stockade. Secondary sources have also been consulted to recognise, where applicable, the extent of misunderstanding extant in the available literature.

This thesis establishes that the battle for the stockade was conducted by both protagonists as a military engagement. This thesis examines those international concepts of individual independence and the right to self defence that provided a rationale and motivation for the Eureka miners’ actions. This thesis demonstrates that the battle for the stockade was a unique event in the context of British and Australian protest. The significance of the contribution of the Americans and Germans to the miners’ preparations for conflict and defence of the stockade is recognised and acknowledged. Eureka’s place as an exemplar of civilian armed resistance within an international context is demonstrated. This thesis finds that consistent with the diverse narratives characteristic of Eureka the remembrance of Eureka is one where there is no common narrative. This thesis corrects these long standing misunderstandings and mistaken narratives related to the Eureka stockade. By doing so it adds to the knowledge of the event and establishes a basis upon which a more nuanced and correct interpretation of this important event can be constructed.