Preview

Australian Response To The Threat Of Communism Essay

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
836 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Australian Response To The Threat Of Communism Essay
How and why did the Australian government respond to the threat of communism during the 1950’s

After the conclusion of World War 2, which ended in 1945, Australia faced the growing threat of communism. Communism is social organization in which all the people in the community all properties and money is equally shared. The Australian government responded in many ways to the threat of communism during the 1950’s. Australia responded by its involvement in the Korean War, joining alliances and signing treaties and by the introduction of the Dissolution Bill, referendum and the Petrov Affair.

Australia’s involvement in the Korean War was one of the ways in which it reacted to the largely growing threat of communism. Australia didn’t think communism as a threat until China was sucked in by the Red Menace and turn into a communist country. Australia joined the Korean War in 1950. Troops were sent to fight in Korea in order to stop the domino effect. The domino effect was the result of the large nations falling under the control of Communism, eventually nation after nation would become a communist state. In order for Australia to not fall under the domino effect Australia joined the Korean War was because it believed that it would be smarter and more strategic to fight the threat of communism outside of Australia rather than wait for it to come and fight it here. Consequently a truce was signed between the countries thus leaving the
…show more content…
This was possibly the greatest and most important step that Australia took in order to minimize the threat of communism. The treaty was signed by Australia, New Zealand and the United States. By signing the treaty all three nations were obliged to help each other out if either of them were to be under attack. Australia signed the Anzus treaty because Australia believed that it needed strong allies to keep Australia safe from the threat of

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    World War 2 made a significant impact on Australia and its people. It opened the eyes of society and made Australian people realise where they fit into the global view of the world. Although much of the history of WW2 revolved around politics, diplomats, military and naval battles, it touched all Australian lives. Some of the important issues in World war Two were the woman 's contribution in the war, government changes to the economy and the foreign policy in the war. These are the topics this essay will be discussing.…

    • 833 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Korean War had reinforced the sense of a monolithic communist system but had also been a big step in securing a firm alliance for Australia with the United States. The strong anti-communist stand taken by the Menzies Liberal government in the 1950s and 1960s led to Australia taking an active part in the politics of the East Asian region. We sent armed forces to Korea, as part of a United Nations force. To stop the advance of North Korea and Chinese communism. We also sent forces to Malaya to help Britain control the communist insurgents there and we were very supportive of General Soeharto‟s overthrow of the „procommunist‟ Sukarno regime in Indonesia.…

    • 1881 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    This is the second post promised analysing why Australia entered the Vietnam War. American readers should be warned that because it looks primarily at the domestic political scene in Australia at the time, it does as a consequence refer to characters and events which most of you will not be aware of. However, I have included a short preface, attempting to identify most of the major players and the themes which ran behind the scenes in Australian society.…

    • 7337 Words
    • 30 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Cold War stimulated the ‘fear of communism’, which had extremely cohesive and divisive implications amongst Australian society and politics. The fear of communism exercised it’s powerful influence over the minds of Australians from about 1949 with the beginning of the Cold War and the communist revolution in China, until about the end of Australia’s involvement in the Vietnam War in 1972. Through close examination of the ALP split as a result of the Communist Party Dissolution Bill (CPDB) and the Petrov affair, and Australia’s involvement in the Vietnam War it can be seen just how divisive the communist scare was, as well as creating cohesion.…

    • 750 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    He tried to eliminate the communist influence on trade unions and social movement. In response, the parliament passed Communist Party Dissolution Act 1950 which was immediately challenged in the High court and declared invalid. The fear of communism continued to rise in Australia due to the “Cold War” and outbreak of the Korean War. Despite this fact, when a referendum was held in September 1951, the “no” campaign was narrowly won. In September of 1951 Australia formed a loose alliance with New Zealand and the US (which was the dominant power at that time) against the communist threat and the Security Treaty Act was passed in 1952. The fears of Communist infiltration in Australia were confirmed when two Soviet embassy staff were revealed as spies. The secretary of the Labour leader H.V. Evatt was alleged as a Soviet contact resulting in Menzies winning the 1954…

    • 457 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Throughout history Australia is dependent on it’s Great and Powerful friends such as America for security since the 1900’s up to present day. China is another Great and Powerful friend which Australia is dependent for economic prosperity. I agree to some extent that Australia should depend on its Great and Powerful friends such as America for security. It is because history shows that Australia will always ensure its security by depending on America to come to its aid. However it also depends on who is in power at the present highlighting their foreign policy differences. The government of the day from both sides of the security relationship of Australia and the US can either be interventionist or isolationist. So therefore despite…

    • 380 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Australia has played many roles in international affairs after World War Two by associating with many organisations which included the United Nations in UN conventions and peacekeeping courses, regional agreements which included the Colombo Plan and APEC and also East Timor.…

    • 455 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The cold war period was marked as an ideological warfare between communism and capitalism. The concept and fear of communism was perceived as major threat to the democratic nations including Australia. Due to Australia’s fear of communism it became actively involved in the Vietnam War. There were underlying factors which led Australia to become engaged in the Vietnam War. These predominant reasons included the SEATO and ANZUS treaties, the domino theory and more importantly forward defence policy. It can be stated these factors will provide an evaluation and analysis in regards to considering whether Australia provided a satisfactory reason to its involvement in the Vietnam War.…

    • 1052 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Australia’s involvement in the Vietnam War (1954­1975) erupted because of the threat of freedom and danger towards Australia’s democracy and society. Officially in 1966 a full blown war erupted and Australia's military commitment increased. Australian troops also fought before the war in South Korea(1950­1953), as communist North Korea sought to unite them both into communism.The main reasons for Australia’s involvement in the Vietnam war was because of the fear of communism, which also relates to the theory of the domino effect and Australia’s allies with the US, Britain and New Zealand was also a reason for their involvement in the Vietnam war. The growing web of communism was a result of Australia's involvement in the Vietnam war. People in countries like the USA, UK, Australia and New Zealand feared that Eastern…

    • 417 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Australian Government responded to the threat of communism in Asia including forward defence, the ANZUS Treaty and the SEATO Alliance. Within Australia, the responses included a referendum to ban Communist Party and the Petrov Affair.…

    • 337 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    When it was first announced in April 1962 that Australia was to fight in Vietnam it was seen by the majority as necessary and needed. Many Australians supported the war because of their fear of communist advancement and the Domino Theory. They were motivated to support the war by the common dreaded thought that Australia might fall next to communist rule. Furthermore many Australians believed fully in the government as a protection strategy. This policy advocated…

    • 973 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The 29th of April 1965 was a pivotal moment in Australian military history. In parliament, Robert Menzies proposed his arguments for sending Australian troops into South Vietnam and subsequently announced that Australia would be joining the United States in the Vietnam War. He believed that Australia’s allies would need help and that it was best to stop the spread of communism before it reached Australia: a forward defence technique. The pressure and increasing fear of communism amongst the Australian public would have also influenced parliament. Although faced with opposition, the proposition advanced, and later that year, the first 800 Australian troops were dispatched to Vietnam.…

    • 644 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Vietnam War was a conflict between the communist, North Vietnam and South Vietnam. In the wake of the Second World War western fears of a communist expansion throughout Asia were running high. The United States was concerned that if North Vietnam succeed and turned Vietnam into a communist state, neighboring countries were also likely to follow. As an ally of the United States and Australia’s involvement in South-East Asia Treaty Organization and the Australia - New Zealand - United States Security Treaty and the belief in forward defence Australia was an enthusiastic supporter of the American policy in Vietnam.…

    • 1588 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    While the two world powers never fought face to face, their ideological differences caused proxy wars, in which both countries would support opposing sides of a war effort as a way of competition. The Korean War was the first substantial battle between the two countries in the name of containment. Before the 1950’s invasion by the North Korean Army, Korea had been divided into two sectors; the communist North, supported by the Soviet Union, and the anti communist South, supported by the United States (Foner 715). The Truman administration sent American troops into Korea in an attempt to militarily suppress the northern invasion. Through the help of the United Nations, fifteen other countries also committed resources to the Southern Korean side.…

    • 860 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    This administration was the first in decades to drop anti-communist rhetoric and formerly recognise China, North Korea and Eastern Germany. Despite overwhelming international and domestic criticism, Whitlam pressed forward in his foreign policy goals and paved the way forward for many western societies. Robert Manne in his book The Australian century political struggle in the building of a nation, points out that “such recognition was part of a broad foreign-policy realignment with the cold war super-powers… Australia, almost alone among western nations, recognised the post-war Soviet annexation of the three Baltic States according to law rather than fact.” Whitlam also took a strong non-colonialism stance and abhorred the continued western occupation of post-World War 2 countries. It is safe to say that Australia’s foreign policy is forever changed by the Whitlam…

    • 729 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays