Australia on Communism

Throughout World War II the Australian Government implemented a number of wartime controls and restrictions on individual freedoms and consumption. Broadly, these included censorship, propaganda and rationing and they first came into play when the National Security Act of 1939 was passed. This act overpowered the guidelines of the constitution, hence giving the Commonwealth Government powers to make laws that it would otherwise not be authorised to (Anzacday organisation, 2015). Censorship was one of these new laws, and is the governmental control of information made public by the media, and so strictly banned the release of sensitive military information that The Department of

The Red Scare in the 1950’s was actually America’s second red scare. The 1920’s red scare was what helped start suspicion over Communists, but was put off during World War 2. It was no coincidence that what many people called the second red scare ignited after World War 2, during the Cold War, in the 1950’s. The 1920’s red scare started because Americans were paranoid over the fact that Russia may seek revenge after they had overthrown a royal Russian family in 1917. What started Communist ideas in the U.S at the time was the fact that since the war was over many of people were out of jobs which

Australia wanted to stop communism and stop the communism ripple effect occurring, with the forward defence policy Australia could ensure its safety. Forward defence is meeting any threats to Australia as far away from the mainland as possible. Menzies was having troubles getting the public to agree on his anti communism views so he created the fear of 'reds under the bed' which got him enough support from the public to support his campaign. Australia first started it’s campaign in 1962 when it sent 30 advisers called ‘the team’ into Vietnam, Australia later sent land and air fighters. Australian troops in Vietnam reached the largest in 1964 with 8,000 troops

Another one of the major things that happened in the 1950s was the Red Scare. What that means is that people were scared that communists would rise against them. Many of the people were very affected and according to The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History:“Hundreds of screenwriters, actors, and directors were blacklisted because of their alleged political beliefs, while teachers, steelworkers, sailors, lawyers, and social workers lost their jobs for similar reasons.More than thirty-nine states required teachers and other public employees to take loyalty oaths” (Anti-Communism).

At the end of WW2 in 1945 the world thought that peace was about, but that was when the lashings of communism rained upon the world. This was when Robert Menzies took advantage of Australia’s fear and hatred for communism and used to win himself

Communism was greatly feared in Australia, and Australia would've done anything to keep it out of the country, “It took us not five minutes to decide that when this thing came to the point of action we would be in it…”- Robert Menzies. The Australian

- Socialist movement did not like the alliance between Britain and Australia because that was the reason Australia were at war.

Politically the great depression hit Australia hard, as many Australians lost confidence in their government representatives. A number of radical or extremist organizations gather strength and popularity as a result of the large scale public dissatisfaction. In Australia the developing of the new capital Canberra was put to a stop leaving a population of 7,000 in limbo, workers were laid off and the federal capital commission was abolished. The Sydney harbor bridge was a great way of bringing employment back into Australia during the depression. At the time of the war and after the great depression it was Australian best interest to have an alliance with Great Britain. Australia needed to form an alliance with Great Britain during World War II, because if the war ended up near or in Australia, we would need the help from Great Britain and their allies. Having Great Britain as its ally at that time was the right thing to do as it protected its colonies from the imperil japan and other foreign invaders. During the period of 1942 Australia was extremely worried as the fall of Singapore in February 1942 and had the threat of a possibility of a Japanese

Australians were anti-communist during the Vietnam War; due to a level of hype that the society, the media, and the government were exposed to. The “domino effect” was a popular analogy during the Vietnam War, which represented the spread from communist Russia’s web of power was growing into South East Asia and the halt of communism in Vietnam would signify the half of communism’s

The Communist Party of Australia (CPA) was greatly feared during the late-forties and early-fifties, due to the previous effects of Communism in other countries. The CPA was formed in early 1920, but did not generate a high level of membership until peaking at 20,000 members in 1945, following the end of World War II. The CPA caused a few trade union strikes at the height of their popularity in 1949, but they were rarely able to cause harm. Despite this, most Australians believed that the CPA was trying to ruin the country. This idea was largely enforced by ‘The Red Scare’, a smear campaign that was influenced in Australia by Menzies’ Liberal Party, and then adopted by the national media sources. The content of this smear attacked both Australian Labor Party (ALP) and the CPA. The fear of Communists rising to power in Australia was too strong for Australians to take risks and the Menzies

Australians, was a  domestic  organization.  While the party was actively  aggressive towards governmental policies, they did  not have the  capacity  to be at war with the Commonwealth.  This provision bore no relation to

Communism played a major role shaping the 20th century, both for the East and the United States. Its impact can be seen in the US from 1919 to the 1990s and even today. The spread of Communist ideals in the East meant the beginning of the socialist state and mass industrialization. Its effect on the US was much different. The United States people, heavily diversified of all races, religions, and financial statuses, became extremely jingoistic as a result of competition with the USSR. This nationalism became unhealthy as citizens began determining what was “un-American.” The Communist Party USA was not successful in their primary objective of spreading communism to the US. What they did achieve however was hugely important. They showed that citizens of the United States could be scared out of their own freedom. That fear would lead them to give up “liberty and justice for all”. Still a highly misunderstood idea, it is important for citizens of the United States to understand what communism is and what impact the CPUSA and other communist organizations had on the country.

This essay analyses the Australian-China bilateral relationship since 1945 and in particular its political significance to Australia. Many global factors have influenced this relationship, including the advent of the Cold War, the Korean War, the Vietnam War and the collapse of the Soviet bloc European nations. In addition, internal political changes in Australia and China have both affected and been affected by the global changes. It will be analysed that Australia’s bilateral relationship with China has always had a sharp political edge but that approaching the new millenium economics and trade considerations are shaping Australias and for that matter Chinese politics.

Communism had started with October Revolution in Russia, later, many colonies adopted this political system because of its utopian idea, which is to create a society where there are no social classes, money, state, and all properties are in possession of citizens. Citizens in these societies have no absolute freedom, and if they have any thoughts or actions which are considered as dangerous to the government, they are running the risk of being eliminated. Life in Communist nations is not much of differences than in Oceania. Vietnam, for instance, was a typical Communist nation before 1986. Communist Party, preferred as the Party, claimed every private properties as state properties, distributed food as ration, and allowed no civil liberty.

The countries using “communism” as their ideology were not really practicing the socialist ideas of Marx. In the fifties what America and the other democratic nations were beginning to learn about these places is that they were the most abhorrent strippers of human values and rights. Especially the paranoid dictator Joseph Stalin who took the “kill first and ask questions later” approach to problems. Stalinist Russia had some of the worst of the world’s slave labor camps known as the Gulag Archipelago. Whitfeild showed where our fears were manifested the best by giving credit to Stalinist Russia for “the largest killing fields of the twentieth century.