How significant was the fear of communism in shaping the decision of the Australian Government to go to war?
The causes of a changing political spectrum of the Indo-Chinese peninsula and the ethics and motives for the involvement of American and Australian troops has been a subject of debate during, and after, the outbreak of the Vietnam War. While the exact causes and factors that led to the deployment of Australian troops cannot be fully known, the reactionary nature of the government of the United States and, by extension, the Australian government, can be largely attributed to a combination of changes in foreign policy in the Western-Pacific theatre and to a lesser extent, the wider effect of the Red Scare on Australian political and societal …show more content…
Prior to the Battle of Singapore in 1942 which ended in a complete defeat of British troops, Australia was almost completely reliant on British defence and occupation in neighbouring colonies as protection against the growing Empire of Japan. The realisation that the British Empire was incapable of defending Australia led to a reliance of the growing power of the United States sourced from its abundance of resources, lack of prior involvement in war, and government-sponsored war bonds. This is in part due to the fact that US foreign policy was primarily based off the Eisenhower administration’s Domino Effect theory - justification for involvement in the Vietnam war in Australia was albeit similar. Additionally, the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) which signatories included both Australia and America created a path for wider scale military involvement in Vietnam as revolutionary forces were considered by both countries to be a form of communist aggression against the official Vietnamese