Dear Sydney Morning Herald,
I'm writing to you today in order to discuss the main reasons in which I support the concept of 'forward defence'.
During the 1950's and 1960's the fear of communism remained the political issue that gripped Australia. The governments defence policy was dominated by the idea that sending troops overseas to fight against possible enemies was the best way to prevent a war from being fought on Australian soil and I agree with this idea.
Like the war in Korea, the outbreak of war in Vietnam was seen as the result of communist aggression. Australia extremely feared the domino effect which was believed to mean that if one nation fell under communist domination, it's neighbours would fall like a line of domino's. So the decision to send Australian troops to fight in Vietnam war was at the time a smart strategic idea and not at all surprising given the belief that 'the takeover of South Vietnam would be a direct military threat to Australia'.
On April 19th 1965 Prime Minister Robert Menzies announced Australian involvement in Vietnam and stated 'We do not and must not overlook the point that our alliances, as well as providing guarantees and assuring for our security, make demands upon us'.
I believe Australia needed to continue the fight against Communism far from our soil because it would connote the most disastrous defeats abroad and the most incredible difficulties for it's friends and allies desiring to help them. Defence alliances were so important because with Australia's vast territory and small population it would not of been able to survive a surging communist challenge abroad without the cooperation of powerful friends including in particular U.K and U.S.A.
The forward defence policy was a brilliant policy, Australia showed a sign of loyalty to a powerful ally - the U.S.A which was a diplomatic gesture aimed at ensuring that Australia could call on her allies for protection in the event of a Communist attack on Australian soil. This strategy was based on the belief that Australia could be most effectively defended if any threat was met and fought before it reached Australian shores. I support this policy one hundred percent and am glad Australia ensured it.
Kind regards,
Deana Stepanian
You May Also Find These Documents Helpful
-
Robert Gordon Menzies, born on the 20th of December, 1894 was Australia’s 12th and longest serving prime minister, his second term beginning from 1949 to 1966. During this time Menzies made significant contributions to Australia’s Post-War development such as increasing the standard of living and preventing the communist threat from reaching Australia.…
- 457 Words
- 2 Pages
Satisfactory 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 -
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 -
John Curtin spoke in parliament house stating“Without any inhibitions of any kind, I make it quite clear that Australia looks to America, free of any pangs as to our traditional links or kinship with the United Kingdom. We know the problems that the United Kingdom faces...but we know too, that Australia can go and Britain can still hold on.” (Trevanion, E. 2011) The choice to turn to neighboring countries was an excellent decision made by John Curtin. Curtin sent word out to America that Australia needed to be defended because of the startlingly low number of military protecting his home turf. He also made a decision to bring back his troops from the Middle East. His decision to bring back the Australian soldiers to their homeland made UK and Australia go into a conflicting argument. “As the victorious Japanese forces moved southwards, Curtins disputes with Churchill intensified; there were heated exchanges when Churchill sought to divert the Australian divisions returning from the Middle East to Burma.” (Australian War Memorial, 2013). Winston Churchill, the Prime Minister of Britain, insisted that the Australian military should be sent to Burma…
- 530 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
Australia and Britain have always had a very strong relationship as Australia is part of the British Empire and therefore politically Australia as a nation wanted to help defend Britain. Even though Australia was not formally an ally of Great Britain, Australia felt a strong allegiance to Britain due to imperialistic ties. The British were the early settlers of Australia so there had always been that attachment with each other. Australia is part of the Commonwealth so the military felt the need to help the mother country. The nation's financial resources and manpower were promised by the then-Labour leader, Andrew Fisher, who assured that 'Australians will stand beside our own to help and defend her to our last man and our last shilling.' This demonstrated Australia’s devotion and passion in defending Britain. It was also strategically beneficial for Australia to maintain their connection as Australia relied on Britain for security purposes. In the early 1900’s Australia had no navy so with any military threat would require support from Britain. Without Britain’s support, Australia would have a higher chance of being invaded. In 1914, the British Empire was the largest Empire in the world. England was…
- 485 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
During these 17 years he significantly contributed to Australia’s post-war development and prevented the communist threat from reaching Australia; an issue he…
- 1020 Words
- 5 Pages
Good Essays -
The accuracy of the statement that Australian wartime controls in World War I had greater impact than they did in World War II is contentious. However, government sanctioned wartime controls in World War II had greater impact due to the more developed and efficient manner in which it was conducted. The World Wars were fought using enormous numbers of materials and millions of people. It became the duty of the civilian population to produce the masses of equipment, ammunition, weapons, food and transport necessary to continue the military effort. This collective effort was cited as ‘total war’, due it being a new type of warfare which required the involvement of total economies and societies. The Commonwealth government accordingly implemented…
- 1378 Words
- 6 Pages
Powerful Essays -
Australia responded to the threat of communism by joining the Korean war in 1950, Australia joined the Korean war to prevent fighting communism in Australia, so they fought overseas. The war was between the United Soviet Socialist Republic (USSR) backed North Korea and the United States (US) backed South Korea. The war started on the 25th of June 1950 and ended on the 27th of July 1953 when the US threatened a nuclear attack.…
- 728 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
The primary internal reason how Australia responded to the threat of communism was by Menzies and the Liberal Party attempting to ban the CPA. Menzies tried to ban the CPA two times. The first time was in 1950, when the Liberal Party introduced the Communist Party Dissolution Bill (CPDB). Menzies tried to make it a law so that the CPA would become illegal. However, this was unsuccessful as the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and many other unions opposed it as this would lead to the Liberal Party to ban any minority group they wanted including the ALP. The second way Menzies tried to prohibit the CPA was by having a Communist Party Dissolution Referendum in 1951 which was narrowly defeated as Chifley stated his concerns to the public about how the Liberal Party would be able to ban any group they wanted. The Party in control of government, which was the Liberal Party, responded to the threat of communism by trying to ban the CPA.…
- 735 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
The response to communism in Asia was very important to Australias decisions in fighting against communism. At the end of World War 2, The United States and Soviet Russia both emerged as superpowers, but had conflicting political views. This relates to Source 1 of my sources as it shows the asian countries hiding behind the power of the superpowers of America and Russia/China. These were the democracy of the US, and the communism of the Soviets. America and other countries throughout Asia including Australia were scared of a theory named the domino effect, were in if one country falls under communist rule, the rest would follow suit. With the US being a superpower, Australia wanted to fight with it, therefore securing its defence against any communist threats from Asia.…
- 957 Words
- 4 Pages
Better Essays -
When the Korean War started in 1954 due to the Communist North Korean invasion of Capitalist South Korea, Australia departed for Korea. This was mainly to keep alliances with other countries, the most prominent being the United States. Australia Served in the Korean War between 1950 and 1953. The end result after the horrendous bloodshed was the border between the two states being moved north a further 2km. Australia’s service in the Korean War resulted in many political and security benefits, the most important being the ANZUS…
- 1257 Words
- 6 Pages
Better Essays -
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…
- 836 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
The Vietnam War had a lasting impact on Vietnam Veterans, who although they fought their hardest for their country, they returned to a country who saw them as less than heroes. They suffered both psychological and medical problems from open battles, sniper attacks and chemical warfare, and stress from war-life. Although the Vietnam War had some negative impacts, the Vietnam War was the turning point in Australian society, changing to a multicultural community we are proud of today.…
- 687 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
The Australian Government also had a main part in the country's involvement in WW1'. They wanted Australia to be feared by other countries and wanted to show adherence to Britain. This also gave Australia the upper hand as Britain would return the favour by joining Australia's side in battle if needed. Australian troops were also very naive at the thought of war and took it as an adventure. Pay was also far substantial to the average working wage which also influenced more volunteers to sign up.…
- 446 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
Australia has its own defence force that defends itself and assists many other nations. Defence is the action of defending from, or resisting attack. Although the main aim and purpose of this defence force is to protect people and fight in the “War on Terror”, it can have cultural, economic and geopolitical advantages and disadvantages.…
- 1133 Words
- 5 Pages
Better Essays