1. Australia and the Vietnam War

2. Dispelling the myth –
Gallup Poll on the question ‘Fight on in Vietnam or bring forces back now?’

3. Origins – French Influence from 17th Century
1858 French attacked Da Nang
1884 Vietnam fully occupied
1897 with Laos and Cambodia became Indochina
Resistance from a range of groups and individuals, including the Indochinese Communist Party led by Ho Chi Minh

4. Origins – World War II Weakening of European colonial possessions
Japan occupied Vietnam
Viet Minh fought the Japanese until the end of the war

5. Origins – Ho’s Declaration
September
Declaration of the Independence of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam
Quoted directly from both the US Declaration of Independence of 1776 and the Declaration of the French Revolution of 1791
The French negotiated with Ho but talks broke down and conflict began in December 1946

6. Origins – The Indochina War
Vietnamese wanted US help – compared their situation to that of US before independence
Defeated the French at Dien Bien Phu in 1954
Played out against Cold War tensions
US wanted France as an ally in Europe so didn’t support Vietnam

7. Origins – US involvement
Elections to be held in 1956
Communists might win!
Elections refused
Insurrection begins against Diem regime in the South

8. News Weekly, July 1954
Nearer, clearer, deadlier – The Bulletin 1950

9. Domino Theory
“If South Vietnam were allowed to fall under communist rule, the rest of South East Asia could not long remain free. The extension of Chinese Communist pressures would be only a matter of time.”
Sydney Morning Herald, 13 August 1964

10. The Red Claw, The Bulletin 1958

11. US and Australian involvement
1962 – advisors from both US and Aust.
1965 – commitment of ground troops
Menzies – 29 April 1965
“The takeover of South Vietnam would be a direct military threat to Australia…It must be seen as part of a thrust by Communist China between the Indian and Pacific Oceans”

12. ‘A murky shadow has fallen over this part of the world, reaching to our very shores’ – Menzies
The Australian, June 1965

13. ANZUS obligations
‘…act to meet the common daner in accordance with its constitutional processes [in the event of] an armed attack on a member’s territory, island territories, armed forces, public vessels or aircraft’
Gulf of Tonkin – August 1964

14. Brownie points
“Our objective should be to achieve such an habitual closeness of relations with the United States and sense of mutual alliance that in our time of need, the United States would have little option but to respond as we would want. The problem of Vietnam is one where we could without a disproportionate expenditure pick up a lot of credit with the United States.”
Allan Renouf, Australian Embassy in the US

15. Reactions
“I say that we oppose the government’s decision…we oppose it firmly and completely. We do not think it is a wise decision. We do not think it is a timely decision. We do not think it will help the fight against communism. On the contrary, we believe it will harm that fight in the long term.”
Arthur Calwell, Opposition Leader

16. “The government could not shirk its responsibilities there.”
The West Australian, 1 May 1965
“These are inescapable obligations…There was no alternative but to respond as we have”
The Age, 30 April 1965
“We have made the necessary commitment.”
The Adelaide Advertiser, 1 May 1965
“No Australian…can doubt that this is a right and indeed inevitable decision.”
The Sydney Morning Herald, 30 April 1965
“The Menzies Government has made a reckless decision on Vietnam which this nation may live to regret”
The Australian, 30 April 1965

17. Conscription Nothing new – 1911-1929, 1940-1951, 1965-1972
“The government has therefore decided that there is no alternative to the introduction of selective compulsory service”
Menzies, November 1964

18. Dispelling the myth –
Gallup polls on conscription

19. Supporting the myth –
Gallup Polls on sending conscripts to Vietnam

20. Opposition to conscription by age (1971)

21. Paul Rigby, ‘Ballot day for National Service’ The West Australian, 1965
“Lo! The smell of battle in the air and sounds of distant musketry… ’tis the call to arms!..’

22. Save Our Sons
1965
Opposed conscription
‘hysterical’, ‘communist’

23. SOS
Paul Rigby, The West Australian, 1966

24. Youth Campaign Against Conscription
Opposed conscription, but more so deployment to Vietnam

25. Key events
October 1966 – LBJ’s visit

26. Key events
Long Tan – August 1966: 18 killed, including conscripts
Widening of US bombing into Laos and Cambodia
Tet Offensive – January 1968
Draft Resistance Movement formed 1968
My Lai massacre – March 1968 (public 1969)
Nixon wins 1968 US election
Nixon ‘Vietnamisation’ of the war 1969

27. “Let this session of congress be known as the session which declared all out war on poverty” – LBJ January 1964

28. Bruce Petty

29. Moratoriums Anti-War movement grown into mass protest movement
Broad cross section
May 1970 – largest protests
Influence on politics?
Polls suggested many Australians opposed the Moratoriums
Nixon’s announcement of withdrawal was late 1969
Gorton followed with Australian announcement in April 1970

30. What changed public opinion?
Publicity
Australian deaths
Tet and the ‘television war’
Media
Broader base of the protest movement
International pressures

31. Remember – April 1970
Gallup Poll on the question ‘Fight on in Vietnam or bring forces back now?’