Kate Fitzpatrick
Year 12 Modern History
Ms Steele
Due Date: 12/6/2008
Date handed in: 12/6/2008
Number of words: 1735 (inc quotes)
Hypothesis:
Vietnam was the result of American alliance for future security insurance rather than a response to the threat of communism from the North. �
Australia and the Vietnam War
When Sir Robert Menzies announced that Australia was committing an infantry battalion for service in Vietnam on April 29 1965, he provided very vague and ambiguous reasoning which the population of Australia misunderstood, criticised and misrepresented. To this day, confusion as to the exact circumstances of Australia's entering the war still remains. However through analysing Australia's foreign policy, political alliances, relevant treaties, the domino theory and other democratic influences, it is evident that Australia's involvement in Vietnam was a consequence of our alliance with the US to guarantee our future national security rather than a response to the threat of communism from the North.
Australian Prime Minister Robert Menzies in Septem...
English: Portrait of Sir Robert Gordon Menzies (19...
Sir Robert Menzies the founder of the Liberal Part...Alliances are based on the concept of acting in the common interest, of bringing common assets to bear against a common enemy or potential enemy (Sexton, 1981). This was a founding basis in our union with America, which developed further through our common values, commitment to democracy and linguistic similarities. This cultural affinity we shared induced the Australian government into adopting an 'I'll scratch your back if you scratch mine' outlook regarding military support.
However the Americans were not our original 'great and powerful friend'. Australian foreign policy has traditionally been wholly reliant on Great Britain, 'The Mother Country' since our colonisation. But in WWII when the impending Japanese invasion was imminent, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill responded to our request for military assistance by demanding Australian troops in Burma, despite Australian's own regional and national security being in jeopardy. Newly elected Labor Prime Minister...