The Australian Government’s Response to the Threat of Communism During the Vietnam War Period
The Australian Government’s Response to the Threat of Communism During the Vietnam War Period
After WWII, Australia still faced a severe threat, the threat of communism. Communism was seen as a perfect government, a utopia, by communists, but in reality it’s riddled with corruption and power struggles and a lack social security and identity. The Australian government responded to this threat in many ways, they gave economic aid, made alliances, took military action and even tried to ban the Communist Party of Australia. Australians didn’t see communism as a threat until it had spread to China, they then began to fear it was only a matter of time before they had to face ‘the red tide.’
In the 1949 election campaign, the liberal party attempted to ban the Official Communist Party of Australia, it was deemed unconstitutional, but showed Australians the government’s fear of communism. Prime Minister Robert Menzies stood strong and continued to rally against communism in Australia. We joined the Vietnam War in 1950 to try and stop the flow of communism as Australia, as a whole, believed in the domino effect where communism takes control of a country one by one. Another of the government’s responses was the ANZUS treaty and SEATO alliance. The ANZUS treaty included Australia, New Zealand and the United States of America, and meant that if one of the nations involved was attacked, the other two were obliged to help. Australia signed this because the government believed that we needed strong allies to protect us from communism. Communism in Vietnam has played a key role in the politics of Vietnam since independence, Marxism was introduced into Vietnam with the emergence of three separate communist parties; the Indochinese Communist Party, Annamese Communist Party and the Indochinese Communist Union, joined later by a Trotskyist movement led by Tạ Thu Thâu. In 1930 the Communist International (Comintern) sent Nguyễn Ái Quốc to Hong Kong to coordinate the unification of
After WWII, Australia still faced a severe threat, the threat of communism. Communism was seen as a perfect government, a utopia, by communists, but in reality it’s riddled with corruption and power struggles and a lack social security and identity. The Australian government responded to this threat in many ways, they gave economic aid, made alliances, took military action and even tried to ban the Communist Party of Australia. Australians didn’t see communism as a threat until it had spread to China, they then began to fear it was only a matter of time before they had to face ‘the red tide.’
In the 1949 election campaign, the liberal party attempted to ban the Official Communist Party of Australia, it was deemed unconstitutional, but showed Australians the government’s fear of communism. Prime Minister Robert Menzies stood strong and continued to rally against communism in Australia. We joined the Vietnam War in 1950 to try and stop the flow of communism as Australia, as a whole, believed in the domino effect where communism takes control of a country one by one. Another of the government’s responses was the ANZUS treaty and SEATO alliance. The ANZUS treaty included Australia, New Zealand and the United States of America, and meant that if one of the nations involved was attacked, the other two were obliged to help. Australia signed this because the government believed that we needed strong allies to protect us from communism. Communism in Vietnam has played a key role in the politics of Vietnam since independence, Marxism was introduced into Vietnam with the emergence of three separate communist parties; the Indochinese Communist Party, Annamese Communist Party and the Indochinese Communist Union, joined later by a Trotskyist movement led by Tạ Thu Thâu. In 1930 the Communist International (Comintern) sent Nguyễn Ái Quốc to Hong Kong to coordinate the unification of