From 1962 until 1972 Australia was involved in the Vietnam War. Approximately 47 000 Australian men and a large number of women severed there. The decision to commit troops to the conflict centred on the fear of communism.…
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.…
Conscription also known as Australia’s National Service ‘Scheme’ was introduced to Australia by the Menzies Government in 1964. The selection of conscripts was determined by a televised ballot system based on date of birth, 20 year olds were obligated to register for conscription which required them to give two years of national service.…
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.…
Australia was involved in the Vietnam War from 1962-1972 with originally thirty army advisors being sent over to South Vietnam. Over this period of time Australian attitudes towards the Vietnam War changed greatly due to two main contributing reasons. These reasons were the media and television viewing the prominent issue of conscription.…
To begin with Australia had an internal fear of communism which led to Australia’s involvement in the Vietnam War. Due to the acts of the CPA (communist party of Australia) it made many Australians oppose communism. Furthermore the…
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.…
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.…
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.…
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.…
In January 1965, the Australian government sent an infantry battalion to Borneo, to assist Britain and its Commonwealth partners to secure Malaysia’s borders from Indonesian invasions. Three months later, the government announced it would send another battalion overseas, however this time to help the United States, in order to protect the Republic of Vietnam (known as South Vietnam), against the posed threat by insurgents reinforced by the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam). Australian commitment to the Vietnam War lasted 13 years, beginning in 1962, and withdrawing in 1975. The experiences faced on the battle front had a greater impact on Australian returned soldiers, compared to the anti-war sentiment on the…
Australia was involved in the Vietnam War because of two main factors; one was fear of communism and the other was due to the ANZUS treaty. After the victory of World War 2 communism was fast spreading, and creeped its way into Vietnam. According to many sources, Australia thought that if communism would continue to spread further south, that eventually Australia would succumb to communism; this was also known as the domino effect and is one of the reason Australia attempted to halt the communism advanced in South Vietnam (History, n.d.). The ANZUS treaty was a treaty between Australia, New Zealand and the United states; the treaty stated that if one of these places would be attacked the other would come to its aid; this also meant that they had to aid each in offensive wars as well. As a result of this treaty when America sent troops into Vietnam Australia also had to do the same, to aid the Americans.…
The Vietnam war spanned roughly 20 years, making it the longest war Australia has fought to this day. The civil war made Vietnam into a warzone, but also affected the neighbouring countries of Cambodia and Laos. As a result of the war and estimated 1,300,000 civilians and soldiers were killed and almost 2 million civilians were forced to seek asylum elsewhere. During the war Vietnam was an extremely dangerous country to live in, hundreds of civilians died every day because of the conflict, causing many to flee to save their children and loved ones.…
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…
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.…