Explain Why Australia Was Involved in the Vietnam War

Why was Australia involved in the Vietnam War? The reasons why Australia became involved in the Vietnam war Australia’s fear of communism was always an issue, being the only European settled country In the Asian pacific region. This fear of communism had resulted in one of the most restrictive immigration policies the world had seen entitled “The White Australia Policy” which was designed to prevent Asian Migration and only allow whites which were deemed suitable to be allowed a citizens This fear of communism also reflected in PM Robert Menzies anti-communism policy.

This made the communist party and affiliated bodies (supporting communism illegal). This layed the foundation and backdrop for Australia’s commitment in the war. With the rising threat of communism spreading throughout Europe and East Asia, the theory was that Australia would be next and would fall like dominoes. This was called the domino theory, the domino theory was applied to Vietnam with people believing that if we did not stop communism in Vietnam, it would soon spread all nearby countries including Australia.

The domino theory was the main reason that the United States was at war with Vietnam. The U. S wanted to contain communism and stop it at the source. This national strategy of containment demanded the U. S to stop communist aggression in the countries of South East Asia. Australia joined on this because they too, wanted to stop communism spreading and wanted to contain it. Australia joined the Vietnam war because of fear that If they did not contain the communist threat then the domino theory would take place and Australia would fall to the communist threat.

It was In Australia’s best interest to meet any threats to Australia as far away from the mainland as possible. This was known as ‘forward defence. A policy that would see Australia set up a military base outside Australia and send Australian troops to Korea, Malaya and Vietnam to fight the menace of Asian communism. The reason of forward defence is to fight the communists in Malaya, Vietnam and Korea so that we would not have to defend our own shores against invaders.

Forward defence was also a ploy to become close allies with the world’s greatest non-communist power, the United States. After the demise of the British Empire Australia being a county without a large population needed a strong ally that would come to help us in a time of need, we turned to America. Australia had made itself essentially dependent on American help in the event of external aggression, and that dependence. The plain and simple fact was that if Australia did not help America now, then America might not come to Australia in her hour of need, if it ever arose.

Australia wanted to support its allies so that if we ever needed them, then they would come to help us. Australia’s relationship with America was an important factor in Australian involvement. Australia’s involvement in the Vietnam War comes down to two factors; fear of communism and having America as an ally. There were 7 main reasons for Australia’s involvement in the Vietnam war, they were: 1. Fear of the Domino Theory – that if one country fell to communism (believed in dictatorship, no rights) than the rest would fall like a pack of domino’s . Containment – We wanted to control communism and disallow it to spread any further 4. Fear of Indonesia – It was feared that communism had already spread to Indonesia and Australia was next 5. SEATO 1954 (South East Asian Treaty Organisation) and the ANZUS treaty 1951 (Australia, New Zealand, United States) to have mutual defence. 7. Supporting allies – Australia wanted to support their allies (in this case US) so if we ever needed them they were there