Why Did Australia Support The Vietnam War Essay

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.

The majority of Australians supported the country's involvement in the Vietnam War in its early years mainly because of the threat of communism. Australia felt that if communism dominated South Vietnam it would be an even bigger risk to Australia because of the domino effect. If Vietnam fell into communism so will its neighboring countries including Australia. Australia did not want to fall into communism and agreeing to the request for help by South Vietnam, Australia supported the war and troops were immediately sent to Vietnam.
The decision to send the army to Vietman was also made by the Older Australians which were part of
Therefore, the Liberal Party was also in agreement with Australia's involvement in the Vietnam War. In 1966, Australia warmly welcomed the visit of the American president, Lyndon Baines Johnson. The new prime minister of Australia enthusiastically declared that when it came to Vietnam, Australia was 'all the way with LBJ', which meant that Australia was willing to support the US in supporting the Vietnam War. The Democratic Labor Party at that time who split from the Labor Party had a very large Catholic membership and was also very anti-communist. It was also determined to oppose any ALP policies - so it automatically supported the