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Copyright © Pearson Australia 2012 (a division of Pearson Australia Group Pty Ltd)

First published 2012 by Pearson Australia2015    2014    2013    201210   9   8   7   6   5   4   3    2    1

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Publishers: Sarah Russell and Kirsty HamiltonAuthors: Sally Bullen and Michael PyneProject Editor: Rachel DavisEditor: Cameron MacintoshDesigner: Anne DonaldCover Designer: Glen McClayDesign image: ShutterstockCopyright & Pictures Editor: Michelle JellettPrinted in China

National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entryAuthor: Bullen, Sally. Title: The threat of communism / Sally Bullen and Michael Pyne. ISBN: 978 1 4425 6003 1 (pbk.) Series: Australia in the 20th and 21st Centuries. Notes: Includes index. Target Audience: For primary school age. Subjects: History, Modern – 20th century Juvenile literature. Australia – History – 20th century – Juvenile literature. Other Authors/Contributors: Pyne, Michael. Dewey Number: 994.05

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Australian War Memorial: HOBJ2514, p. 11b; WAR/70/0270/VN, p. 15b. Corbis Australia Pty Ltd: Xinhua Press, p. 9b; Alain Nogues, p. 25b. Fairfax Photo Sales: p. 21; Gilmour, p. 27; R. MacRae, p. 5. Getty Images: Gamma-Keystone, p. 19; Hulton Archive, p. 7. National Archives of Australia: A1200/L58613, p. 23. News Limited Images: pp. 13, 15t, 17b, 25t, 29t. Picture Media Pty Ltd: Reuters, p. 29b. State Library of Victoria: an006850, p. 4.

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Contents

Introduction 4

Timeline 6

Australia’s Response to Communism in Asia 8

Australia’s Response to Communism at Home 12

Vietnam War 14

Vietnam War Splits the Nation 18

Impact of the Vietnam War 22

Refugees 24

Impact of the Vietnam War on Australian Culture 26

Australia’s Relations with Asia 28

Glossary 30

Index 32

Find Out More 32

Words that are printed in bold are explained in the Glossary on pages 30 and 31.

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The Korean War was one of the wars Australia became involved in to help fight against the threat of communism.

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IntroductionThis series looks at Australian history from just before the time Australia became a nation in 1901 to the present day. Each book examines a different period of Australian history over the 20th century and into the 21st century. This 111-year period has been a time of great change in Australian history.

Some Australians wanted the Australian Government to bring the troops home. While Australia saw itself as an independent member of the world community, it was influenced by the USA.

About This BookThis book covers the period from the end of World War II in 1945 to the beginning of the 1970s. You can read about:

• Australia’s response to the threat of communism in Asia after World War II

• the response to communism in Australia• Australia’s involvement in the Vietnam War• differing views of Australia’s involvement in

the Vietnam War• the impact of the war on various aspects of

Australian life.

In 1945, World War II ended, but Australians continued to experience rationing and the emotional scars of returning soldiers and families touched by the war. The end of the war began a chapter in Australia’s history when fear and suspicion ruled many decisions. It remained a time of fear and suspicion towards Asia, and the policies formed by Prime Minister Robert Menzies’s conservative government dominated Australian politics for most of this period.

Australia became involved in several wars to fight against communism, including the Korean War, the Malayan Emergency and the Vietnam War. Australia’s entry into the Vietnam War was supported because of a belief in a war against the ‘evil’ of communism. But, it became clear that the Vietnam War was complicated and difficult to fight.

Australians’ opposition to having troops involved in the Vietnam War grew as the war progressed.

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n 1945 World War II ends in Europe. Atomic bombs are dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and Japan surrenders.

n 1946 Wartime security controls are stopped.

n 1947 There are one million registered motor vehicles in Australia. The 40-hour working week is introduced in NSW.

n 1948 Wartime rationing finally ends. The first Australian-made Holden car is produced. Donald Bradman retires from cricket.

n 1949 Robert Menzies and the conservative Liberal Country Party win government. The right to vote is given to some Aboriginal people in NSW, Tasmania and South Australia.

n 1950 The Communist Party Dissolution Bill is introduced. Australians are committed to United Nations forces in the Korean War.

n 1951 Australia, New Zealand and the USA sign the ANZUS treaty. Australia celebrates the 50th anniversary of Federation. The High Court declares the Communist Party Dissolution Bill invalid.

n 1952 Queen Elizabeth II ascends to the throne and becomes Australia’s head of state. The British explode an atomic bomb off the north-west coast of Australia.

n 1953 The Korean War ends.

n 1954 Queen Elizabeth II visits Australia. SEATO is formed.

Timelinen 1955 Australia sends troops to Malaya. The Australian Government agrees to British atomic bomb tests at Maralinga in South Australia.

n 1956 The polio vaccine is first used. The first television service occurs in Sydney. An atomic bomb is exploded at Maralinga. The Olympic Games are held in Melbourne.

n 1958 The Australian Council for the Advancement of Aborigines is formed. The dictation test is removed from the Australian immigration process.

n 1959 The Australian population reaches 10 million.

n 1962 Australia sends military advisers to Vietnam. Uranium is found in the Northern Territory.

n 1964 Conscription is introduced for 20-year-old Australian males.

n 1965 Australia sends troops to Vietnam.

n 1966 Decimal currency is introduced. There is an increase in Australian troops in Vietnam to 4500.

n 1967 Ninety per cent of Australians vote yes to the Aboriginal Referendum. Australian forces in Vietnam increase to 8300. The National Service Act is changed to imprison conscientious objectors to the Vietnam War.

n 1970 The Gorton Government reduces troop numbers in Vietnam. The moratorium movement grows. The 200th anniversary of Captain James Cook’s discovery of Australia takes place.

n 1971 The Australian Government withdraws troops from Vietnam. The Yirrkala Aboriginal people fight for land rights. Neville Bonner is the first Indigenous person to enter the Australian parliament. The first census in which full blooded Aboriginal people are included occurs. Australia’s population reaches 12.7 million.

Queen Elizabeth II was crowned queen in 1953. She is Australia’s head of state.

n 1972 The Aboriginal Tent Embassy is established at Parliament House in Canberra. The Whitlam Labor Government is elected. Australia recognises the People’s Republic of China.

1945 1955 1971 1972

1959

1950

1954

1965

1970

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Communist countriesNATO/SEATO countries

East GermanyPolandCzechoslovakiaHungaryYugoslaviaRumaniaAlbaniaBulgaria North Korea

Japan

NorwaySweden

DenmarkGreat Britain

HollandWest Germany

BelgiumFranceAustria

ItalyGreeceTurkey

LaosVietnamCambodiaPhilippinesThailand

MalaysiaSingaporeIndonesia

Papua New Guinea

Australia

New Zealand

Soviet Union

USA

Canada

China

Australia’s Response to Communism in AsiaThe end of World War II saw the beginnings of the ‘Cold War’. The Cold War was a conflict between the two superpowers — the USA and the Soviet Union — about the way the world after World War II would look. The Soviet Union began to spread the word of communism. Communist activities spread to Asia in 1949, and people feared it would come to Australia.

Australia took an aggressive and involved stand in Asia, especially against communist uprisings, entering the Korean War in the early 1950s, the Malayan Emergency in the later 1950s and 1960s and the Vietnam War in the 1960s. Australia also joined the ANZUS (Australia, New Zealand and the United States) Treaty, whereby the three countries agreed to assist each other in matters of common defence. In addition, Australia joined SEATO (Southeast Asia Treaty Organisation), another mutual defence treaty.

Forward Defence

Australia’s foreign policy was influenced by the ‘forward defence’ policy, based on the principle that ‘it is better to fight them over there than here’. After its experience with the Japanese in World War II, Australia was prepared to support any US action against an aggressor. The Menzies Government also believed in the ‘Domino Theory’, which said that if one country in South-East Asia falls to communism, they will all fall, until communism reaches Australia.

CommunismCommunism is a political belief that sees all history as a class struggle between the rich middle class and the workers. The workers, according to communists, will inevitably win the struggle and set up a dictatorship of the working class.

The Soviet Union set up the Warsaw Pact, which was an alliance of Eastern European nations that the Soviets had freed from Germany. In response, the USA and its allies, including Canada, Britain and some Western European countries, formed NATO — the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation. These two alliances divided Europe with what became known as the ‘Iron Curtain’. In 1949 in China, Mao Zedung took the communists to control in the Chinese Revolution.

Foreign PolicyDuring World War II, Australia had been greatly affected by the Japanese threat, and now turned towards the USA and Asia as the main focuses of its foreign policy. This meant that Australia saw the Asia–Pacific region as more important than the European region. So, Australia supported Indonesia’s independence movement led by Dr Sukarno, which led to independence from the Dutch in 1949.

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This map shows the way the world looked after the end of World War II.

Mao Zedung

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26 Oct

24 Nov

Seoul

Pyongyang

Pusan

Inchon

ChosanHyesanjin

Chongjin

Sea of Japan

ChosinReservoir

Imjin R

Yalu

River

Manchuria(CHINA)

OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 1950 24 JANUARY 1951 OCTOBER 1951–JULY 1953

Pukha n

R

Pukha n

R

Seoul

Pyongyang

Pusan

Chungju

InchonSamchok

Sea of Japan

Imjin R

Yalu

River

Manchuria(CHINA)

Seoul

Pyongyang

Pusan

Inchon

38˚N38˚N38˚N

Kansong

Sea of Japan

Yellow SeaYellow SeaYellow Sea

Imjin R

Yalu

River

Manchuria(CHINA)

0 100 200 km0 100 200 km0 100 200 km

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The Korean WarThe Korean War occurred between 1950 and 1953. Australia sent 17 000 military personnel to Korea, including nurses. The war began when North Korea, backed by the Soviet Union, invaded South Korea in June 1950, disobeying United Nations resolutions.

The UN responded quickly, sending the forces of 15 nations, including Australia, to counter-attack. Already, most of South Korea had been overrun by the communist forces and the UN forces had to fight them back up the Korean Peninsula. The war was a see-sawing affair with advances and retreats on both sides. Fighting conditions in Korea were very difficult. The UN forces had to face not only the many hundreds of thousands of North Korean and Chinese soldiers in human wave attacks, but also the cold and bitter winters. Also, the terrain was mountainous, which made it ideal for the enemy to conduct guerilla warfare using hit and run attacks.

RefugeesOne of the results of the Korean War was the creation of large numbers of refugees. Millions of people were made homeless and forced onto the road to flee. This created huge problems for the UN, which had to feed and house them until the fighting was over. Because the war ended with the country divided into communist north and non-communist south, many refugees were never able to return to their homes. The war finally ended in July 1953, with a truce and the old border at the 38th parallel (38 degrees north)still dividing North and South Korea.

Malayan Emergency 1948–1966

The Malayan Emergency began shortly after the British re-entered Malaya after World War II. The British set up a long-term plan for handing over the country to Malays. However, there were communists in Malaya, who wanted to set up a communist state. The British were not prepared to give independence to a communist government in Malaya, so there began a long guerilla war for control of the country. Australians were concerned about the spread of communism in their region, and they also felt responsible for helping to defend Britain’s interests in the area. So Australia sent a bomber squadron to Malaya, where they served from 1950 until 1958, along with infantry and support troops to support the British. By 1966, the war was over and an independent Malayan Government was in power, free from communist influence.

Korean War Facts

Australia’s contribution to the Korean War included sending 17 000 personnel to Korea, including Army and RAAF nurses. Of this number, 340 were killed and 1216 were wounded, while 29 were taken prisoner. The total United Nations forces included 74 000 killed, 250 000 wounded and 84 000 missing or taken prisoner.

These maps show the highs and lows of the Korean War. The red line indicates the changing border between North and South Korea as the battle between the UN and communist forces raged.

The Australian Government sent 17 000 military personnel to help fight the Korean War.

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