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Why Was Australia Going To War Essay

370 Words2 Pages

Although most post Second World War alliances with the United states (ANZUS and SEATO defence treaties) played a significant role in Australia going to war, it is only half of the story to just write off the decision as the Australian government blindly following American policy. It is paramount to understand that for latter half of the period preceding full-scale conflict in Vietnam, it was actually Australia who pushed American into further intervention in the region.

Reasons as to why Australia would do such a thing are various in nature with the main contributing doctrines regarding communism primarily leading the hearts and minds of the general Australia population. Many Australians had a genuine fear of communism and its ability to, if allowed to, spread incessantly through the Asia-Pacific region and eventually destroy the ‘Australian way of life’. This fear of the ‘red menace’ would eventually culminate into two …show more content…

Shocked and shaken by the Japanese Empire’s plans and attempts to seize control of the continent in WWII, Australians understood and feared their close proximity to Communism’s spread throughout Asia. Many Australians felt that the situation was a grave matter for the future prospects of Australia’s geopolitical standing and felt that a need to ‘draw the line’ as to how far Communism clutches could spread through the Asia-Pacific region. This doctrine of ‘Forward Defence’ (dealing with the enemy before the got too close for comfort) was highly perpetuated by anti-communist, Liberal Prime Minister Robert Menzies.

These various geopolitical and trans-societal factors all play a significant role in the development of Australian military-policy and public opinion throughout the Vietnam War period. These fears and concepts may sound quite brash and juvenile from our hindsight-based, contemporary perspective, but for many Australians then, time to intervene was simply running

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