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Australia’s involvement in the Vietnam War and Conscription Australia’s involvement in the Vietnam War began in 1962 when a team of thirty military instructors were sent to South Vietnam. It was the beginning of Australia’s longest involvement ever in a war. However, Australia should not have become involved in the Vietnam War for several reasons: our involvement was an unnecessary interference in a civil war, the motives behind our involvement were selfish and unjust, and finally, we should not have become involved in Vietnam because the war’s devastating impact on Australian servicemen far outweighed any political gain. To begin with, Australia should not have become involved in the Vietnam War because it was not our place to do so. The Vietnam War was, in essence, a civil war. Following the French withdrawal in 1954, Vietnam was divided into two countries – North Vietnam with a communist government and South Vietnam with a government supported by the United States of America. In was hoped that elections in 1956, in which people could choose the government they wanted, would reunite the country. However, the elections to reunite Vietnam were never held. The leader of South Vietnam, Ngo Dinh Diem, was opposed to the elections, claiming that free elections would not be possible in the communist-controlled north. Communist guerrillas in South Vietnam, known as the ‘Vietcong’, began to attack the Diem government. This was the beginning of what should have remained a civil war. However, several western nations overlooked the initial reasons and literal circumstances of the war, and perceived it metaphorically as a struggle between communism and freedom. Australia should not have become involved in a war that did not affect it or threaten national security directly. Secondly, Australia should not have become involved in the Vietnam War because the motives behind our involvement were inconsiderate and irrelevant to the actual Vietnam War itself. The ANZUS treaty, which was formed and signed in 1951, had formalised the friendship between Australia, New Zealand, and the United States. It did not directly state that nations must directly aid each other if one was attacked, but it was understood that the three powers were bound by a sense of obligation. After the French were defeated in the battle of Dien Bien Phu, the US proposed another treaty, the South-East Asia Treaty Organisation (SEATO). This was an alliance of powers opposed to communist activity in South-East Asia. It included the United States, Britain, France, Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, Pakistan and the Philippines. The treaty partners undertook to act to meet any danger to Laos, Vietnam, and Cambodia caused by “aggression by means of armed attack.” At the SEATO Council meeting in April 1964, the council “expressed grave concern about the continuing communist aggression against the Republic of Vietnam.” The situation in South Vietnam had deteriorated by early 1965, and the increased use of American forces in a situation considered important to the Australian security suggested a substantial obligation for Australia herself. American requests were granted, and economic aid and military equipment supplies to South Vietnam were increased and our involvement became a substantial element in the Vietnam War.
Approximate Word count = 1981
Approximate Pages = 7.9
(250 words per page double spaced)
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