U4 AOS2 - AUS IN COLD WAR Flashcards
WHEN WAS THE UN FORMED?
these plans were birthed as early as in WW2 and the UN was formed in OCT 1945 at a 2 month conference held in San Francisco between 25 April and 16 June
WHO WERE THE MEMBERS OF THE UN?
There were 50 participants and each country was represented in the General Assembly where each state had 1 vote irrespective of its population (AUS was included in the 1st 50 members of the General Assembly). There are 5 permanent members: China, the Soviet Union, the United States, United Kingdom and France, and 5 additional members who are elected for a 2 year term.
AUS has been on the Security Council 5 times: 1946–47; 1956–57; 1973–74; 1985–86 and 2013–14.
WHAT WAS THE STRUCTURE OF THE UN?
Above the General Assembly is the Security Council. Any decisions of the General Assembly involving military action can only be carried out if voted on by the Security Council which has 10 members. Each of the five permanent members of the Security Council have the power to veto any decision to take action, which came to be an important factor in the Korean War.
EFFECTS OF JAPANESE RULE ON COLONIAL COUNTRIES?
First, it showed the weakness of the European powers. Second, it encouraged people to think of ‘Asia for Asians’. Groups that had fought against the Japanese now considered fighting against their European rulers. Both factors strengthened the movements for independence that had already begun before the war. The instability of the post-war period in Asia became a reflection of the broader Cold War struggle.
DIFFERENT APPROACHES OF THE LCP AND ALP?
While both sought the betterment of society, they approached it in many different ways as the Coalition was against excessive government intervention in economy + society whilst the ALP believed that the government should intervene in many areas of national life like health, banking and business. The Labor Party’s roots in the union movement placed it firmly on the side of the worker, while the LCP saw unionism as a threat to free enterprise. In an era when most Australians had a religious affiliation, the parties differed along sectarian lines with Protestants generally supporting the Liberal + Country parties while many Catholic workers supported the Labor Party. 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
historian opinions on the differences in these 2 political groups?
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
effect of the great depression in AUS?
The Great Depression had left a legacy of deep distrust of banks because of the banks’ perceived inability/unwillingness to safeguard the interests of ordinary Australians
WHAT WAS THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT’S RESPONSE TO THE THREAT OF COMMUNISM?
The fear of communism became a political weapon used by the LCP against the Opposition, contributing to Robert Menzies becoming the longest serving Prime Minister in Australian history. Menzies accused the ALP opposition of being soft on communism and ALP members of cooperating with communists in the trade unionism
how did ALP split up?
The ALP itself was divided between those who supported the rights of the communists as the Australian Communist party was still a legal entity and those who completely opposed communism and were more in line with the government on this issue. By 1955, this division had led to a split in the ALP with the latter group forming the Democratic Labor Party (BLP), this division contributed to the ALP’s lack of electoral success throughout the 1950s and 60’s as the DLP allocated their preferences to the Liberal-Country coalition
examples of parties using the public fear of communism to their personal gain?
In TAS, the Party’s campaign slogan was ‘Menzies or Mosco’ and similarly in Dr. H.V. Evatt’s Labor-held seat, the Liberal candidate, war heroine Nancy Wake campaigned on the slogan ‘I am the defender of freedom; Dr Evatt is the defender of communism
was the communist party almost banned in AUS?
After being banned at the outset of WW2, the Communist Party was reinstated when Russia became an ally during that war. In 1951, the Menzies Government again tried to ban the now-named Australian Communist Party as the 1st attempt was by legislation but the High Court ruled that the Communist Party Dissolution Act, 1950 (Cth) was invalid so the Menzies Government attempted to ban the Communist Part through a referendum to change the provisions of the Constitution. The referendum question was put forth to the Australian people on the 22nd of September 1951. The Constitution Alteration (powers to deal with Communists + Communism) 1951 sought to give the Commonwealth Parliament the power to make laws with respect to communists and communism where they deemed necessary in order to maintain the security of the Commonwealth.
There was a majority of ‘yes’ votes in only 3 states, and the overall vote was in the minority by 52 082 votes, hence the referendum was not carried out. NSW voted most strongly against the referendum with 52.8% of ‘no’ votes whilst Queensland voted most strongly for the referendum with 55.8% of votes being ‘yes’ . Later in the year, the leader of the ALP, Dr Bert Evatt, toured the country speaking to the ‘no’ vote in the upcoming September referendum. Leading up to the referendum opinion polling suggested that voters would overwhelmingly approve the ban of the Communist Party however this did not end up to be the case
