Reasons For Australia's Involvement In The Vietnam War

The years of the 1950s and 60s was a time where many hardships occurred as global tension was high and as a result many wars occurred as well as movements. The historical issues and events of the fifties and sixties was often propelled by popular culture through art and media such as television, paintings and music. The civil rights movement succeeded in bringing equal rights to the African American population within the United States in a peaceful manner thanks to meaningful art forms. The Vietnam War was widely seen as a controversial conflict and opened insight to Australians as to what was actually happening through music and television which in turn swayed the public opinion of Australia’s involvement with the war.

Vietnam was a war that many US citizens saw as an unnecessary war with a very high casualty rate. Vietnam was very gruesome and took half a million lives. These lives consisted of men that were drafted into the war by the Selective Services. These lives were mainly of a minority, or of lower social class.

The U.S. was spending billions of dollars on the war and many American soldiers were dying. On television, people saw soldiers fighting dangerous battles and the terrible results of U.S. bombs on the Vietnamese people. Some people thought the United States had to fight communism everywhere, others thought the United States should stay out of a war between North and South Vietnam. The government drafted young men into the army. Many did not want to fight in a war they believed was wrong. People had antiwar demonstrations in many parts of the country. In 1969, Richard Nixon was elected President. He started bringing soldiers home, but U.S. planes also increased bombing of North Vietnam and started bombing Cambodia, a country west of Vietnam. In 1973, North Vietnam, South Vietnam, and the United States agreed to a cease-fire. U.S. soldiers went home. The North Vietnamese won the war in 1975. Communism was not stopped in Vietnam.

The big failure America in the Vietnam War is the shameful history of tragic scene for arrogant American, whose pain is still difficult to ease. The crucial event also had a profound impact on today 's international situation. It is believed that the failure included political, economic, military and cultural background and other aspects, which are that common. When it comes to the controversial subject, I hope to put forward some fresh views from where I stand.

“I thought the Vietnam war was an utter, unmitigated disaster, so it was very hard for me to say anything good about it” - George McGovern. There are numerous controversial topics dispersed among the subject of American history due to the amount of unethical decisions that have been made in order to improve the lives of the people or keep America out of the clutches of war. Throughout American history, historians have debated the ethical impact that the Vietnam war had on the United States. Although some people may believe that the Vietnam War achieved the goal of avoiding communism and protecting the people, the overarching idea is that it was an unjust war because of the countless lives that were lost from the participating countries, the

When the long lasted Vietnam war ended in April of 1975, more than five thousands of Americans had been killed. Years after, American still suffered from far-reaching post-war consequences. The Vietnam War has affected the U.S. economically, socially, and politically.

The Vietnam war was preceded by a very turbulent time in our history with problems here in the states such as racism, women’s rights, and a president being shot. But in Vietnam they were going through a civil war, which they had done before, but not to this extent, this time they got the U.S.S.R. involved. It was communist Russia and North Vietnam against South Vietnam. The U.S. started to get

The Vietnam War was a war the United States should have never been involved in. The

During the Vietnam War, another war broke out known as the Laotian Civil War. An organization and communist political movement called “Pathet Lao” from North Vietnam was trying to overthrow the Royal Lao Government. While this was happening the CIA recruited the Hmong led by general Vang Pao, (who were an ancient hill-tribe from the mountains of Laos) as a secret alliance, to help aid the Royal Lao Government. (Batson, 1991, “Birth of Pathet Lao” Para. 16) The United States and Hmongs involvement in this are now what is known as the Secret War, for it was kept a secret by the United States government. Eventually, the Royal Lao Government was taken over by Pathet Lao. The Secret War ended the same war as the Vietnamese War in 1975 but the continuation

Australia’s experiences of World War II were significant for Australia and impacted on the shaping of our national identity. Australia 's response to entry into World War II in 1939 differed from Australia 's entry into World War I in 1914. Reasons for this includes attitudes towards war changing after gaining the knowledge and experiencing consequences of World War I, the conditions and lead up to World War II as well as Australia’s strong support for Britain. Firstly, the attitude of Australians changed due to World War 3I proving that war was not glamourous or exciting like it was assumed. During the lead up to World War II Australians had already struggled to survive through the depression and were now required to survive at war. Finally, by 1939, Australians were questioning the validity to support and defend the 'Mother Country ' at all costs. These are just three of the World War II experiences that helped shape the nation.

On November 1st, 1955, a country divided into two, North and South Vietnam will soon have a war known to many countries around the world. The Vietnam War, or the Second Indochina War occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. At the time, Vietnam had a dispute on what the country should be, Communistic or Republic, which had led war breaking out. North as the Viet Cong group while the Republic Of Vietnam group was South; eventually unexpected events started to unfold, leading towards the end of the war. To this very day, The Vietnam War has changed the ways how many civilians live their lives, especially my family.

As the United States struggled against communism in Vietnam, it would face many problems. In the late 1950’s President Eisenhower and later President Kennedy sent military supplies and advisers to South Vietnam. Despite the American aid the Vietcong grew stronger with support from North Vietnam. In August 1964, North Vietnam allegedly attached American ships in the Gulf of Tonkin. Congress authorized he president to use force. In 1965 President Johnson ordered the bombing of North Vietnam. The U.S. increase the number of forces in South Vietnam. The war escalated and North Vietnam increased its support to the Vietcong. By the end of 1968 the number of American troops was

During World War 2 (1939 – 1945), Australia had a variety of impacts on both its government and its people. The war had a great effect on the place of indigenous people in Australia as indigenous men and women joined services throughout the country. The Aboriginal Australians, both the men and the women had contributed in the second Great War. Meanwhile, when the Aboriginals of Australia had jobs during World War 2, Australia’s economy boomed with the help of the war as many Australian troops had gone out to fight for the British. The economy had boomed during the period of the Second World War as Australian products could be produced as well.

Australia got involved in Vietnam in an attempt to stop the spread of communism in South Vietnam and protect is position in the Asian Pacific; this is a key event in Australia’s history as it changed the course of Australia’s allegiances and almost lead to warfare on Australian soil. Though relating cause and effect by using numerous historical sources I will assess the key reasons why Australia got involved in the Vietnam War. Robert Menzies parliament address in 1965, an article from The Conversation describing the events 50 years later as well as multiple extracts from “Contested Spaces” by Thomas Cantwell and key extracts from the History textbook all illustrate the main reasons why Australia was keen to get involved in the war in South

men for every one I kill of yours. But even at those odds, you will lose and I will win” (Vietnam War Quotations). Vietnam is in Southeast Asia with the population of 96 million. The country border China, Laos and Cambodia (The World Factbook: VIETNAM). Vietnam used to be ruled by France but later declared independence after World War II under Ho Chi Minh. During the Geneva Accords of 1954, Vietnam was divided into the communist North and anti-communist South (Spector). The Vietnam War was the longest war in the United States history because it lasted for nearly twenty years. It caused the death of millions of Vietnamese and Americans. The Vietnam War is also known as the Second Indochina War. It takes place mostly in Vietnam, but also happened in Laos and Cambodia. The United States was a big role in the Vietnam War. They feel like it is necessary to be involved. A few reasons that caused the United States to be allied with South Vietnam are communism, Truman Doctrine, and reunification.