What is the Domino Theory?
The Domino Theory is the belief that if South Vietnam becomes communists, other countries in the region (Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia) will fall under communism one by one, like a row of dominoes.
For more detailed information on Domino Theory, please visit the website below: http://www.mtholyoke.edu/~lrlento/Class%20Project/dominotheory.html |
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Reasons for Australia's Involvement
In 1965, Robert Menzies had come to agreement to allocate armed forces and military servicemen to support the United States in the Vietnam War.
The four main reasons why Australia entered the Vietnam War was because of the forward defence, containment, alliances and the insurance policies. Forward defence was the idea that Australia would battle its opposition overseas before they could arrive at Australia's coasts. Containment was used as an attempt to restrict the CPA (Communist Party of Australia) and during the Petrov Affair. Menzies was a huge supporter of the US policy of containment and was a consistent believer in the domino theory. Alliances played a big role towards Menzies way of governing, since he believed that Australia should respect its treaty obligations and responsibilities. However neither ANZUS (Australia, New Zealand and United States) or SEATO (The South East Asia Treaty Organisation) insist that Australia should commence in the Vietnam War, but Menzies believed that the vitality of the treaties compelled Australia to collaborate with America as an American reinforcement or as an ally. Insurance policies could have been considered as a way that was used, so that they may receive assistance later on in the future. An example of this would be in the mid 1950s, the essential security concern for Australia was Indonesia, since Indonesia's devious dictator, Sukarno had formerly taken over West Papua and was in conflict with Malaya. Sukarno was also associated with the Indonesian Communist Party. A suspected communist attempt to take power in 1965 led to hundreds of thousands of deaths. So assisting in the war to support the US was a form of an insurance policy. This was so that Australia may needed help later from the US against Indonesia.
The four main reasons why Australia entered the Vietnam War was because of the forward defence, containment, alliances and the insurance policies. Forward defence was the idea that Australia would battle its opposition overseas before they could arrive at Australia's coasts. Containment was used as an attempt to restrict the CPA (Communist Party of Australia) and during the Petrov Affair. Menzies was a huge supporter of the US policy of containment and was a consistent believer in the domino theory. Alliances played a big role towards Menzies way of governing, since he believed that Australia should respect its treaty obligations and responsibilities. However neither ANZUS (Australia, New Zealand and United States) or SEATO (The South East Asia Treaty Organisation) insist that Australia should commence in the Vietnam War, but Menzies believed that the vitality of the treaties compelled Australia to collaborate with America as an American reinforcement or as an ally. Insurance policies could have been considered as a way that was used, so that they may receive assistance later on in the future. An example of this would be in the mid 1950s, the essential security concern for Australia was Indonesia, since Indonesia's devious dictator, Sukarno had formerly taken over West Papua and was in conflict with Malaya. Sukarno was also associated with the Indonesian Communist Party. A suspected communist attempt to take power in 1965 led to hundreds of thousands of deaths. So assisting in the war to support the US was a form of an insurance policy. This was so that Australia may needed help later from the US against Indonesia.
- In 1962, Australia dispatched thirty military instructors to South Vietnam to assist in training and developing the requirements that the Southern army may need when they are fighting their own; by 1964 this configuration was sixty.
- Throughout 1964, Foreign Minister Hasluck was persuading the Americans to take a stand against communism in Vietnam.
- In November 1964, Menzies introduced conscription, aiming to increase army numbers to 37 000 in three years.
- Once the Australian citizens turned twenty years of age, men had to enlist for national service.
- The birthdays of those registered would be randomly pull out of a barrel, which is similar to a lotto draw.
- If a man's number was drawn, they were obligated for two years of national service.