After World War II in the 20th century, the United States and the Soviet Union were the new “Superpowers”. These two major nations had two conflicting political ideologies which were stated as Capitalism and Communism, and this had Australia right in the middle of the story. Since Australia has very strong ties with the US, making it even stronger after involving in the Vietnam War and also grew strong with the ‘SEATO’ and ‘ANZUS’ with the fear of the so called ‘domino theory’ and the foreign policies which including the Forward Defence Policy. This, however, allowed Australia to gain a closer chance to go to war in Vietnam. Australia having really strong ties with the US makes it a nation ruled by Capitalism which made it a huge target …show more content…
Arthur Calwell was leader of the Labor Party; he supported the ideas of the British and Canadian governments, who encouraged the US to enter negotiations with North Vietnam. The reasons for Australia’s involvement in the Vietnam War were that there was evidence that Australia’s decision to send combat troops to Vietnam in 1965 had more to do with the fear of Indonesia becoming Communist than it did about the events in Vietnam. The following was also …show more content…
Vietnam was the first time Australian conscripts were sent abroad in peace time. Many protest groups, like Save Our Sons, started off as anti-conscription, but became anti-war as the conflict dragged on. Many men started to object to national service - refusing to register or attend when called to serve. After 1968, men could be imprisoned for refusing to comply with the National Service Scheme. By 1969 the anti-conscription movement was no longer composed of just mothers groups and university students. It had widespread support across all sections of Australian society. Major battles had many people wondering if the Vietnam War was, in fact, winnable and for how long Australian soldiers were going to be involved. One of the major factors in a growing anti-war movement was the reporting of the Vietnam War; it was a war fought on TV. No one could escape the horrors of what was happening there. To set a conclusion, this essay shows that Australia feared the threats of Communist attacks to gain power but since Australia and its allies, US and Britain, negotiated throughout the conflict and played smart while thinking of the domino theory so they worked on preventing the enemies troops from gaining access to Australia’s Shores, so they fought in Vietnam to stop the threat having help from South Vietnam and wanted to free the North from Communist ruling as it already was a Communist
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
Australia’s response to the threat of communism after WW2 was extraordinary. Australia and its politicians immediately recognised what could happen of a result of the domino theory. With the Soviet Union influencing so many countries and causing China, Vietnam, and North Korea to turn Communist it was only matter of time until it reached Australia, and all in all this was when Australia took action.
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
These had the effect of Australia feeling vulnerable and lonely, and all the traditional beliefs of the mother country, Britain, coming to Australia’s aid in time of need vanished and with the reaction of Britain towards Australia, Australian Government had to accept the fact that they were only expendable part of the British Empire. Australia, led by the Curtin Government at the time, at last realized the limits of British powers, yet desperate in need of allies and protectors, looked up to the United States as the only support to assist Australia. This realization made a great impact in the changes of the relationships between Britain and Australia. United States did come to rescue Australia in 1942 but the motive was for its self interest because Australia was the best place from which the Americans could apply its counter offenses against the Japanese, and when General MacArthur arrived in Australia he was greatly welcomed by the Australia government, seeing as they didn’t have much choice other than follow US military strategies due to the fall of British power.
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
Australia’s presence in the ANZUS and SEATO alliances has been very important in our past. The ANZUS agreement which involved Australia, New Zealand and The United States said that they would “*come to one another’s aid in the event of an attack*” (Retro Active 2 p166 paragraph 1). This was formed in 1951. The SEATO alliance (South-East Asia Collective Defense Treaty), which was the one our involvement in Vietnam was based around involved Australia, Britain, United States, France and New Zealand. They all agreed that they would help protect Laos, Cambodia,
The Vietnam War beginning on November 1st 1955 and ending April 30th 1975 was a highly controversial war that originally took place as a civil war between Northern and Southern Vietnam. Northern Vietnam was backed by Russia and China while Southern Vietnam was backed by the USA. This war made a hugely divisive impact on Australian society a few months after they entered in July 1962 as allies to the USA and Southern Vietnam. Some factors of the Vietnam War contributed to cohesion among the Australian public such as the fear of communism and the subsequent “domino effect. However many factors of this war such as the media coverage, conscription being brought back under the Menzies government, anti-war protests and post-war immigration, were all important aspects of this war and made it much more divisive than cohesive, especially in the later stages.
Australia’s involvement in the Vietnam War was a result of a combined fear of communism and the fall of freedom from danger in Australian democracy and society. The growing web of communism saw the fall of many countries closing in on Australia and New Zealand, and it was believed Robert Menzies’ government that they would find communism at Australia’s shores.
In 1945, after World War II had finished, Australia finally felt at peace – that was until Communism began to have an effect on the entire world. Australia had a lot to fear, with the threat likely to infiltrate the country both domestically (an established Communist Party) and internationally (a geographical location close to countries that had already fallen victim to communism, such as China and Korea). Australia responded to both of these threats in a way that caused a lot of political controversy and has created bonds with other parts of the world that are still activated today.
Australia is considered among important allies of United States. In the Vietnam war Australia sent a force of 50 000. Being situated in Southern Hemisphere of Southeast Asia, Australia has to face exceptional defense challenges much more than neighboring partner. Historically Australia seems to be willing to accept the major role in military interventions in the surrounding area as can be seen in East Timor.
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.
Australia is a British settled colony; nevertheless, Australian forces have fought together with the United States military in every significant conflict since World War I.
As a great family of nations, involved in a struggle greater than us, Australia’s assistance for South Vietnam commenced in early 1960’s to enforce the policies of other prosperous nations to limit the spread of communism in Asia (RSL NSW, 2014). From the time of the arrival of the first forces in 1962 approximately 60,000 fellow Australians, including ground troops and airforce and naval force work force, served in Vietnam (NFSA, 2017). To you we are thankful.
supply aid was all the USA was prepared to put in at that stage. The
Foreign policymakers within Australia face the challenge of establishing policy that retains American engagement with Australia (based on our historic alliances), while acknowledging Americas recent shift toward domestic priorities. Foreign policy will need to promote ongoing security, political and economic stability within the APR, continuing to acknowledge the global shift of international trade toward Asia.