Australian Involvement In The Vietnam War Essay

Why was Australian society divided over the issue of our involvement in the Vietnam War between 1965 and 1972?

The Vietnam War (November 1, 1955 – April 30, 1975) was a very controversial and different war. Throughout out the duration of it, this war divided Australian society, affected by things such as conscription, the role of the media in the war and the television horrors that were broadcasted back to the Australian population and many other issues that raised tensions between the politicians and the citizens of Australia. Although this war was notorious for the conflict and arguments between the population and the politicians, there were still some significant and justifiable reasons to commit troops to the war effort. Some of these reasons were as follows: to show support for our ally the United States, to help stop the spread of communism, to protect Australia from a potential communist invasion and to protect the democratic

Australia’s largest reason for our involvement in the Vietnam War was to help and show support to our ally, the United States. The United States of America was a very powerful and influential nation at the time of the Vietnam War, and to show our support for them the Australian government decided to commit troops to the United States war effort.

A very large reason why there was so much emphasis put on Vietnam, was to do with a theory called the domino effect. This effect is described, as a communist victory in one nation would quickly lead to a chain reaction of communist victories in neighboring states. In Vietnams case, a neighboring state/country was Australia. This domino effect was one of the final issues that influenced the Australian governments decisions on sending troops and conscripts in the amounts that they