ch6 quotes - cold war

Question 1

Historian Nick Richardson - NUCLEAR WEAPONS TESTING

Answer 1

“a scent of national pride that the United Kingdom had chosen Australia for the honour of testing its bombs’.”

Question 2

Historian Michael Meyer believed that the Cold War as a whole was the most transformative event of the 20th century.

Answer 2

“It is almost impossible to comprehend the full dimension and consequences of the Cold War.”

Question 3

Historian Micheal Meyer

Answer 3

“It pitted two utterly alien political and economic systems, do or die, one against the other.”

Question 4

PM Robert Menzies 1949

Answer 4

“we will thrash Reds”

Question 5

Referendum question about control of communism groups + communist put forth to the Australian people on the 22nd of September 1951?

Answer 5

“Do you approve of the proposed law for the alteration of the Constitution entitled ‘Constitution Alteration (Powers to deal with Communists and Communism) 1951?”

Question 6

In a 1951 election campaign speech, PM Menzies detailed the government’s position on communism:

Answer 6

“Communism is a materialistic doctrine, void of spiritual content. It is not only anti- Christian, but is opposed to all those nobler aspirations…Communism is debased, treasonable, utterly undemocratic.”

Question 7

In a 1951 election campaign speech, PM Menzies detailed the government’s position on communism:

Answer 7

“the Government is pledged to make war upon Communism”

Question 8

Historian Frank Bongiorno
- tactics of ALP in cold war

Answer 8

“His technique was to associate the government’s proposed methods with ‘the revolutionary procedures of totalitarianism and Facism’ and argue against attacking ‘Communism by the methods of the jackboot, the spy system and the concentration camp.”

Question 9

In 1951, Federal Attorney-General Senator Spicer reported on the Scheme to Parliament:
(National Service Scheme)

Answer 9

“From its inception the scheme has been a great success.”

Question 10

The National Service Scheme 1951-1972

Answer 10

“Under the scheme, all 18-year-old males were compulsorily required to undertake 176 days of military training, and thereafter become members of the Citizens Military Force.”

Question 11

The National Service Scheme 1951-1972
(Australian War Memorial website)
- criticism

Answer 11

“The scheme was criticised as being irrelevant to modern defence needs with skill becoming more important than numbers”

Question 12

The National Service Scheme 1951-1972
(National Archives of Australia website)

Answer 12

“The scheme proved to be costly, utilising Regular Army personnel and resources that could be engaged more productively elsewhere.”

Question 13

STATISTICS - National Archives of Australia website)

Answer 13

“During the life of the scheme over 500,000 men registered, 52 intakes were organised and some 227,000 men were trained. The Scheme ended in 1959.”

Question 14

On 3 April 1954, Vladimir Petrov formally applied for asylum:

Answer 14

“I wish to ask the Australian Government for permission to remain in Australia permanently. I wish to become an Australian citizen as soon as possible.”

Question 15

Book: ‘Oxford Dictionary of Contemporary World History’ points to political opportunism as the root cause of the affair and summarises the outcomes:

Answer 15

“Exploiting it for all it was worth, Menzies hinted at possible involvement by leaders of the Australian Labor Party and hastily set up a Royal commission just before the general election.”

Question 16

Book: ‘Oxford Dictionary of Contemporary World History’ points to political opportunism as the root cause of the affair and summarises the outcomes:

Answer 16

“The affair facilitated Menzies’s win at the 1954 elections, split Labor through the creation of the [anti-communist] Democratic Labor Party and led to the cessation of diplomatic relations with the USSR”

Question 17

Miles Corwin, Book: ‘Blood in the Water at the 1956 Olympics’, July 31 2008

Answer 17

“The game meant so much to us. We had to win the gold medal. We were playing for ourselves, for our families back home, for our country.’”

Question 18

In 1953 Prime Minister Menzies explained his government’s reasoning for nuclear warfare testing:

Answer 18

“No risk is involved in the matter. The greatest risk is that we may become inferior in potential military strength to the potential of the enemy.”

Question 19

Dr Lyn Tynan on reasons that AUS allowed for British nuclear weapons testing

Answer 19

“Australia was looking for post-war security and saw this as a chance to have protection from Britain again.”

Question 20

Norman Banks

Answer 20

“This is purely a defensive weapon. The potential enemy, the Reds, have been engaged in a Cold War and it’s up to us to make certain they don’t get away from us.”

Question 21

Norman Banks

Answer 21

“We must keep abreast with their atomic development … it is part of the price of preserving the democratic way of life.”

Question 22

DIFFERING VIEWS - OF POLITICAL PARTIES TO THE UN

Answer 22

Historian John Murphy describes the parties’ different approaches to foreign policy in the post war years as on the one hand the Labor Party was vaguely opposed to colonialism, sympathetic to emergent nationalism + had a suspicion that poverty lay at the heart of postcolonial ferment. For Labour, the UN was a way in which to resolve conflicts whilst for the coalition had a more oppositional vision to international affairs + saw the UN as relatively powerless/it emphasised the need to cultivate regional security alliances and they believed that a struggle of the Cold War was the aggressive communist imperialism