How Did Communism Affect Australia

World War II was the most devastating war in history and saw more people killed, service men, women and civilians alike than any war before or since. Virtually every part of the world was included in the conflict during the years 1939-1945, and Australia was involved extensively. Due to the nature of war the Australian Government imposed a series of wartime controls and restrictions that negatively affected the everyday life of civilians. During World War II, laws were introduced that restricted individual freedoms to promote the idea of austerity. The policies included cutting consumption, going without, wasting nothing, living simply, conscription, manpower controls, rationing and

After world war two Australia and its government was freed from war conditions there was no longer need for censorship to protect vital information from the Australian Government. Long term effects of the war included Australia having a period to where they would rebuild what was lost. The return of soldiers would allow there to be more work to be done and less time taken. Also after the war Australia saw the first women in the workforce. World war two had a drastic effect on Australia back then and to this day. Because for the first time, the decisions of the Australian government had more of an impact on the citizens of Australia than ever

The Vietnam War which went from 1965 to 1975 involved America and its allies, including Australia, aiming to prevent South Vietnam from an invasion by the communist North Vietnaese. There were many key reasons for Australia’s involvement in the Vietnam War. The Americans provided valuable support when they arrived at our aid during the WWII so Australia felt a responsibility to return a favour to the US to maintain healthy foreign relations. Australia also became implicated in the war due to the threat posed by the expansion of communism, known as the “Domino Effect”. On the political front Australia was also very anticommunist and believed to stop the war arriving at our front step we should use the forward defence approach. For these

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

The First and Second Red Scare of the United States paved the way for a long standing fear of communism and proved to be one of America’s largest periods of mass hysteria. Throughout the years authors and analysts have studied and formed expository albeit argumentative books and articles in an attempt to further understand this period of time; the mindset held during this period however is shown to be completely different compared to now.

This World War II played a major role in Australia’s beginning relationships with the United States and United States took over Britain’s place of being

In the twentieth century after World War 2 the world was threatened by the takeover of communist that had begun to consume the globe. The Australian government identified that the fear ideology communism will take over the country if no actions were taken to stand against and stop it. The Australian government provided support and participated in several military conflicts during the Cold War to reduce the threat of communist around the world. However, the longest of Australia’s military engagement was the Vietnam War from 1965 to 1975. Australia’s involvement in the Vietnam War was mainly centred on its fear of the ‘Domino Theory’, and its relations with the U.S through the Foreign policy which involved the ‘Forward Defence’ policy. The

During his time in office, Gough Whitlam was able to determine and predict that in future times the Australian people would have to rely further on their Asian neighbours. Just two weeks after being elected, Whitlam officially recognised the communist government of the People's Republic of China and opened up diplomatic relations (Source 6) as well trading and cultural links. Within a year Australia had reopened its embassy in Beijing (Source 7) which had been closed in protest when the communist government took power. Whitlam wanted to change the racially charged thoughts of Australians which had prevented interactions in its own region. Relations between Australia and South-East Asia also improved after the abandonment of the 'White Australia' policy under the Whitlam government. Not only did that prompt the arrival of Asian refugees, it also allowed a larger range of people from Asian countries to obtain tourist and education visa’s. The Colombo Plan allowed Asian students to study in Australia. The Vietnam War and major Whitlam policy reforms brought Australians out of our Anglo-centric view and realise that we had a larger part to play in Asia. As a result of many new cultural, diplomatic, trade and tourist links to Australia, the Whitlam government was able to boost exports dramatically, change the racist face of Australian society and

The Second World War commenced in 1939 to 1945. Australia’s involvement in the Second World War was announced by Prime Minister Robert Gordon Menzies on the 3rd of September 1939. Roughly one million Australian men and women served the World War passionately guarding its allies. Australia took part in many campaigns during the Second World War in Europe, the Mediterranean, North Africa, South-East Asia and the Pacific regions. Many notable defence units that were involved in the Second World War: Royal Australian Navy, Royal Australian Air Force, Royal Air Force. Women were privileged as they are given more employment opportunities, especially contributed in war efforts. Women were assigned in nursing, Women’s Auxiliary Australian Air Force, Women’s Royal Australian Navy Service and The Australian Women’s Army Service. Australia has contributed as part of the Asian region protecting its neighbours. One of Australia’s significant involvement within the Asian region was the Battle of Singapore in 1942 supporting the British Empire forces. On account of Australia’s involvement, it has positively shaped our relationship with the Asia region today. Immigration policy has changed as Australia accepts refugees to support Asia, introduced trade networks and alliances with Asian defences.

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

In times of fear, people look to leaders, find people to blame, and resort to panic. The Second Red Scare is a prime example of this. During the Second Red Scare many people were falsely and absurdly accused of communism. Take, for example, Annie Lee Moss. A trial was held against her to see if she was a communist, even though she worked in communication at the Pentagon. Being accused of communism had the power to ruin one’s life–no one would want to associate with him, have a relationship with him, or even work with him. Many people caused the Second Red Scare, one of the most prominent figures being Joseph McCarthy, former US senator. He had lists upon lists of alleged communists. An underlying cause of the Second Red Scare would be the

It has been argued that after World War 1, Australia gained more than it lost. Even though there were many lives lost during the war, these losses didn’t hold Australia back as a country. Australia was fortunate enough to come out of the war with more than they put into the war. Some of these gains are - There economy boomed, the relationship between Australia and Britain was stronger, the women replaced the men's jobs, many immigrants were encouraged to migrate to Australia. Although Australia gained many things they still lost a lot. These were things such as Australia spent a lot of money, they lost many troops and lost trade with Germany. Although Australia lost some things, they were outweighed by the things they

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

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.