Australia Involvement In The Vietnam War Essay

As World War 2 ended and the Cold War began, communism began to expand from Russia into South-East Asia. China and North Korea became communist and communism continued to spread south as Vietnam became independent from the French after the battle of Dien Bien Phu resulting in the country being split at the 17th parallel into communist North and non-communist South. The United States entered the war to stop the spread of Communism in Southeast Asia, as they feared that Communist forces would gain control of Vietnam. Australia being an ally of the US and for certain other reason entered the war. However, different groups within Australia either supported or opposed Australia’s involvement in the Vietnam War for several reasons.

The main group
Trade unionists believed the Australian government was sacrificing the lives of Australian troops to ensure that America would boost the economy by spending more money in Australia. Unlike the Catholic Church, the Protestant churches were divided over the issue of Vietnam, as some Anglican clergy believed that Christians should always be the peacemakers, while others condemned the idea of peace at any price. The universities opposed the war because they considered that Australia was following the United Sates blindly, that it was not our war and they also didn’t like the idea of young men being forced into war and innocent women, elders and children being killed due to the war. The cartoon in The Australian on the 14th June 1965 shows their views on the Vietnam War depicting Menzies pointing out the communist shadow moving towards our shores even though the “shadow” is being created by the US bombings as its light is shinning upon “the communist threat and therefore implying that we are fueling the expansion of communism by getting involved in Vietnam. The Save Our Sons was founded by a group of mothers as a direct response to conscription and therefore opposed Australia’s involvement in the Vietnam