1. society
2. unrest and war

6
Politics, power and
protest in the Vietnam
War era
INQUIRY QUE S T ION S
How did the Australian
Government respond to the
threat of communism after
World War II?
Why did Australia become
involved in the Vietnam War?
How did various groups respond
to Australia’s involvement in the
Vietnam War?
What was the impact of
the war on Australia and/or
neighbouring countries?
With the end of World War II
in 1945, the world was
left divided between two
superpowers holding very
different political beliefs and
goals — the communist Soviet
Union and the capitalist and
democratic United States.
This period in world history
is known as the Cold War.
The rivalry of the Cold War
era threatened world peace
and security and challenged
the Australian way of life.
Australia looked increasingly
to the United States to contain
communism in our region. This
era was a time of great change
for Australia.
Photograph showing US helicopters
picking up troops from Vietnam’s
Mekong Delta, August 1967
6.1 The threat of world communism
The world after war
communism: a political
system where the
government controls the
nation’s wealth in the belief
that the state should provide
everyone with an equal
share, and where private
ownership is very limited
capitalism: a system based
on private ownership of
property and business,
and where government
control is limited
At the end of World War II, the United States and the Soviet Union were the two new
superpowers. The great military might of these nations dominated the rest of the world
and produced two groups:
sõ an ‘Eastern bloc’ of countries headed by the communist Soviet Union. In 1946 the
British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, described Soviet Union control of the
Eastern bloc as being like an ‘iron curtain’ around countries such as Poland, Rumania,
Albania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia and East Germany.
sõ a ‘Western bloc’ of countries headed by the capitalist United States. In 1947, the
United States declared that its policy was ‘to support free peoples who are resisting
attempted subjugation [complete control] by armed minorities or by outside pressure’.
The aim of the policy was to stop the spread of communist power.
The conflict between the Eastern and Western blocs became known as the Cold War. It
was a conflict that centred on Europe but eventually extended to the Asia–Pacific region.
In the Communist Manifesto (1848), German philosopher Karl Marx had
argued for a communist political system that would provide everyone with
an equal share of their country’s wealth. Marx believed that these communist societies would be
formed after revolutions overthrew the capitalist world.
SOURCE 6.1 A map showing political alignments during the Cold War. The Soviet Union (headed
by Russia) and her allies were known as the Soviet or ‘Eastern’ bloc. These countries all had
communist governments. Other communist nations, such as China, were not directly aligned with
the Soviet Union and so were not part of the Eastern bloc. The Western bloc countries were aligned
with the United States economically and politically. These were developed nations that were
capitalist and democratic.
ARCTIC
OCEAN
ATLANTIC
OCEAN
PACIFIC
OCEAN
INDIAN
OCEAN
Political alignments during
the Cold War
Eastern bloc
Other communist countries
N
0
1500
3000 km
Western bloc
SOURCE QUESTIONS
1 Identify the areas of the world where the countries not aligned with the communist, Eastern or
Western blocs were located.
2 What do you think was the impact on international relations of the global division into these
politically aligned ‘blocs’?
220
Retroactive 2
The division between the Eastern and
the Western blocs occurred in the closing
months of World War II. The United
States and the Soviet Union had been
allies during the war, but with the defeat
of Germany the armies of the two allies
swept through Europe. The armies of the
Soviet Union liberated (freed) the eastern
Europeans and America advanced from
the west. At the end of the war, the Soviet
Union was determined to maintain
communist control over the territory
its troops had occupied. The Soviet
Union leader, Joseph Stalin, intended to
establish a buffer as protection against
any future attack. The ‘iron curtain’
which then fell across Europe followed
the territory taken by Soviet Union
forces. This was the beginning of four
decades of suspicion, rivalry and conflict.
SOURCE 6.2
An image of the growing
power of communism
spreading across the
world, from the Bulletin,
July 1950
buffer: a smaller country or
region lying between larger
countries as protection
against possible attack
‘The Spreading Web’
SOURCE QUESTION
Explain the 1950s attitude towards the communist system as expressed in source 6.2.
The beginning of the Cold War
INDIA
BURMA
INDONESIA
MALAYA
THAILAND
CA MB OD
IA
L AOS
VIE
TNA
M
KO
RE
A
CH
IN
A
yellow peril: a term used
in the nineteenth and
early twentieth century to
describe Asia
In 1949 a civil war in China ended with a total victory for the Communist forces of Mao
Zedong. When China, the largest nation on earth, came under communist control the
Western democracies believed the ‘free world’ was threatened. The democratic nations’
fears of a communist world revolution seemed to be coming true. It was believed that
if one nation fell under communist domination, its neighbours would fall like a line
of dominoes. This was the ‘domino theory’ and, in Australia, the fear of the ‘yellow
peril’ from the north was replaced with an even greater fear of the Soviet Union’s red
flag sweeping a ‘red tide’ across the world. Australians saw communism as one single
political movement with little difference between Soviet communism and Chinese
communism.
Events that followed the communist victory in China increased Australian panic over
the ‘red menace’:
sõ the Malayan Emergency, 1948 to 1956: a rebellion led by the communist party of
Malaya calling for immediate independence from British rule
sõ the Korean War, 1950 to 1953: a Chinese communist-backed North Korean invasion
of US-backed South Korea
sõ the growth of the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) and attempted takeover
of government, 1965: the PKI was the largest communist
party outside of China and the Soviet Union. In 1964
the PKI began confiscating British property in
Indonesia and then supported an attempted
takeover of the Indonesian
government on 1 October 1965.
In the following weeks,
over 500 000 alleged
Indonesian communists
were rounded up
SOURCE 6.3
and murdered by the
A diagram illustrating the
Indonesian military.
domino theory
CHAPTER 6
| Politics, power and protest in the Vietnam War era
221
SOURCE 6.4
A 1951 explanation of the ‘domino theory’ by the Australian politician, Richard Casey
If Indochina and Burma were lost to the Communists —
indeed if either of them was lost — Thailand would be
immediately outflanked and it would be difficult if not
impossible for Thailand successfully to resist heavy Communist pressure unless very substantial help were afforded
it from without.
If Thailand were lost to the Communists, the large export
surplus of Siamese rice which is important for Malaya and
many of the countries would cease to be available. In other
words, the internal position in Malaya could deteriorate
substantially even before any question of direct military
aggression against Malaya from the north arose . . .
If South-East Asia and Malaya fell to the Communists, the
position in Indonesia would become much less secure and
inevitably the security of Australia itself would be directly
imperilled.
Quoted in Peter Edwards, Crises and Commitments: the politics and
diplomacy of Australia’s involvement in Southeast Asian conflicts,
1948–1965, Allen & Unwin in association with the Australian War
Memorial, Sydney, 1992, p. 107.
SOURCE QUESTION
Using sources 6.3 and 6.4, write a simple explanation of:
(a) the principle behind the domino theory
(b) the implications of the theory for 1950s Au stralia.
SOURCE 6.5
The fear of communism,
as expressed in this
Norman Lindsay cartoon
from the Bulletin
magazine in 1950
escalate: to enlarge or
intensify a war
stockpiling: the holding
in reserve of munitions
or weapons for possible
future use
SOURCE QUESTIONS
1 Describe the figure in
source 6.5 and find
out what is painted
on his shield.
2 Explain how the
source supports
the claim that there
was an atmosphere
of paranoia about
communism during
the 1950s.
222
Retroactive 2
‘Nearer, clearer, deadlier . . .’
In Australia, the fear
of communism was kept
alive by events in Asia
and by the perception
that communism had
become a threat to our
national security. The
world lived with the
danger that the Cold
War would escalate
regional conflict into
full-scale warfare,
with the superpowers
stockpiling immensely
destructive weapons.
The Eastern and
Western blocs clashed
on every major issue,
with world tension
increasing on every
point of disagreement.
Huge defence budgets
consumed money that
could have been better
spent on improving
the quality of life of
ordinary citizens. Each
side accused the other
of warlike intentions, so
large standing armies
were kept in a state of
readiness for war.
The Cold War
became a drawn-out
conflict over issues that
were often vague and
confusing.
Forward defence and powerful friends
SOURCE 6.6 The need for security through strong alliances was a cornerstone of foreign policy in the 1950s, as expressed
by Robert Menzies in this speech to Parliament in April 1955.
There was a time when we permitted ourselves to think . . .
that any great war would be thousands of miles away from
us. But that day has gone . . . I call upon all Australians to
realise the basic truth . . . that if there is to be war for our
existence, it should be carried on by us as far from our soil
as possible. It would be a sorry day for the security of Australia if we were driven to defend ourselves on our own soil,
for that would connote the most disastrous defeats abroad
and the most incredible difficulties for our friends and allies
desiring to help us.
Two things are unbelievable. One is that any responsible Australian should think that we could be effectively
defended either by our own efforts within our own borders
or by resolution of the United Nations rendered impotent
by the Communist veto. The simple English of this matter
is that with our vast territory and our small population we
cannot survive a surging Communist challenge from abroad
except by the cooperation of powerful friends, including in
particular the United Kingdom and the United States . . .
Australia, House of Representatives, Debates, 1955, vol. HR6.
SOURCE QUESTIONS
1 According to source 6.6, why would Australians need to continue the fight against communism
‘far from our soil’?
2 Explain why defence alliances were so important.
SOURCE 6.7
Liberal Party poster of the 1950s. Containing
communism before it arrived on Australian shores
became the foreign policy priority of the period.
SOURCE QUESTIONS
1 Which country is
communism coming
from?
2 Identify the part of
the world through
which the line
against communism
is drawn.
At the end of World War II, Korea was split between an
anti-communist government in the south and a communist
government in the north. Under the leadership of Kim IlSung the North Korean army launched an invasion of South
Korea in June 1950 in an attempt to unify the country by force.
The Western world viewed the event as a communist threat
to democracy and world peace. America’s President Truman
declared the Western world’s responsibility to defend South
Korea against communist aggression and ‘contain’ the threat.
Australia also committed troops to assist the United States
and United Nations forces (see source 6.8). The Australian
Government believed joining the fight in Korea was:
sõ a stand against another domino falling to Chinese communism
as it thrust southwards
sõ a sign of the loyalty of Australia to a powerful ally, the United
States
sõ a diplomatic gesture aimed at ensuring that Australia could call
on her allies for protection in the event of a communist attack
on Australian soil
sõ a ‘forward defence’ strategy based on the belief that Australia
could be most effectively defended if any threat was met and
fought before it reached Australian shores.
Alliances
Prime Minister Robert Menzies, the Liberal Prime Minister from 1949 to 1966, was
determined to build a more secure position for Australia in the world ‘under the US
wing’. World War II and the fear of Japanese invasion of Australia was a turning point
in Australian foreign policy. Australia’s location in the Asia–Pacific region required
alliances beyond what Britain could provide. Two new alliance agreements were
negotiated to establish Australian security:
sõ the ANZUS Agreement of 1951 — Australia, New Zealand and the United States agreed
to come to one another’s aid in the event of attack
CHAPTER 6
| Politics, power and protest in the Vietnam War era
223
sõ the SEATO alliance of 1954 — the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization provided for
defensive action to be taken in the event of an attack on the United States, Britain,
France, Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, the Philippines or Pakistan. South Vietnam,
Cambodia and Laos were also guaranteed protection under the treaty’s security
arrangements.
The ANZUS and SEATO alliances were the cornerstones of Australian foreign policy
in the Cold War world and were regarded as a great diplomatic achievement. Although
the Korean War reinforced Australia’s fear of communism, it secured a firm alliance for
Australia with the United States.
In 1951, Prime Minister Menzies warned Australians to be prepared for a war against
Soviet communists within three years. In August of that year, compulsory military
training and universal conscription were introduced. The possibility of the ‘domino
theory’ bringing communism to Australia from Asia was regarded with increasing
seriousness. Committing Australian ground troops and Australian naval and air forces
to Malaya in 1955, to assist the British against communist guerilla forces, was further
proof of the sense of threat.
SOURCE 6.8
Menzies explains the
government’s position on
Australia’s involvement
in the Korean conflict.
We are for peace. We do not understand aggression, but we will resist it with all we have and
are. We are, with all our imperfections, a Christian nation, believing in man’s brotherhood,
anxious to live at peace with our neighbours . . . We do not seek to tell another country how to
live or how it shall govern itself. We intervene in no domestic dispute. But just as we seek the
deep still waters of universal peace, so we know from bitter experience that the waves of war
sweep right around the world.
SOURCE QUESTION
Explain Menzies’
justification for sending
Australian troops to Korea.
R. G. Menzies quoted in P. Joske, Sir Robert Menzies 1894–1978: A New Informal Memoir,
Angus & Robertson, Sydney, 1978, p. 27.
ACTIVITIES
CHECK YOUR UNDERSTANDING
1 Fill in the gaps in the following summary paragraph:
The ‘Eastern Bloc’ of countries was headed by the ________ __________ and the Western Bloc was
headed by the ___________ ___________. The conflict between these two powerful groups was called
the ______ ______. Australians believed that _____________ was a threat to national security and that if
one nation fell under ___________ control the governments of its neighbours would also fall. This
was known as the ______________ ____________ and explains why Australia was prepared to commit
troops to conflicts overseas. This policy was known as ___________ defence.
2 Match the entries in column A with the correct row in column B.
224
Retroactive 2
Column A
Column B
The United States
was a communist-led rebellion
The Soviet Union
took control of China in 1949
The forces of Mao Zedong
headed the communist nations of Europe
The Yellow Peril
was to provide mutual aid in the event of an attack
The Cold War
began with an invasion supported by China
The developed nations
was between the Eastern and Western blocs
The Korean War
have industrialised economies
The PKI
was the largest communist party outside China
The Malayan Emergency
is a capitalist and democratic nation
The ANZUS Agreement
was an early twentieth-century term describing Asia