australia in the vietnam war era Flashcards
world’s ‘superpowers’ after WW2
United States + Soviet Union
what happened during the closing years of WW2
Soviet Union took over some European countries previously under the Nazis while United States + British allies liberated western parts of Europe
Soviet Union 1949
set up communist governments in eastern European states and Britain + US didn’t like that
eastern bloc vs western bloc
eastern bloc: soviet union + countries
western bloc: US + allies + australia
eastern vs western bloc
eastern bloc: soviet union + countries
western bloc: united states + allies
australia’s foreign policy
- communism = threat to australia
- australia cannot properly defend itself, and must rely on allies, US + britain
- 1950s: wanted to prove loyalty as an ally
- in australia’s best interest to face threats as far away from australia as possible
australian prime minister in 1949
robert menzies
australia + korean war
- started when north korea, communist, invaded non-communist south korea
- 1950: australia sent two battalions to korea to take part in forward defence
- proved communism was bad and australia was loyal to US
ANZUS treaty
australia, new zealand, US
- allies against communism
- lots of issues in asia, such as ho chi minh against the french
domino theory
if communism wasn’t stopped it would spread all throughout asia
menzies election campaign
strengthened his election campaign by using the Petrov spy scandal to show communism = bad
menzies election campaign
strengthened his election campaign by using soviet russia to show communism = bad
how did the 1954 election affect the labor party
split them up, caused long-term effects on political history
WW2 + Indochina
originally controlled by the french, but after WW2 asian nationalism became a thing
what hapened after defeat of Dien Bien Phu
1954 - france left indochina, vietnam became North Vietnam, under Ho chi minh, and south vietnam, supported by the us
what hapened after defeat of Dien Bien Phu
1954 - france left indochina, vietnam became North Vietnam, under Ho chi minh, and south vietnam, supported by the us
what hapened after defeat of Dien Bien Phu
1954 - france left indochina, vietnam became North Vietnam, under Ho chi minh, and south vietnam, supported by the us
australia joining the vietnam war
- because they thought communism was a threat and helped the US
- 1965: sent combat forces to south vietnam
australia’s public opinion
supported decision to sent troops to south vietnam
- more troops as war intensified
1966
federal election: Holt government came into power
1967
more australian troops sent to south vietnam
opposition to military involvement in south australia led by??
australian labor party
when was conscrition introduced
1964, for twenty year olds
when did the opposition to the war increase
since 1966, due to conscription demands and the size of australia in south vietnam
