Calling All Historians VIETNAM WAR?

Question

What were Australia's attitudes towards the Vietnam War and how have they changed?

Answer 1

Australia was pissed, at the time they were at war with their neighbor, Japan. Having been close allies with the US, Australia saw the vietnam war as another front of war, one that they could not afford to fight along side the US with, when all their funds where being directed towards Japan.

Eventaully Australia lost the war, and Japan took the copyrights for the sony playstation, the issue which had sparked the entire war in the first place.

Answer 2

You have some VERY good answers already. All I can do is add a few additional facts...

Australia was very concerned about South Vietnam falling to communism because it could have caused a chain reaction if neighboring countries fell and then leave Australia extremely vulnerable economically and militarily. That in mind, it was prudent for Australia to join the U.S. in it's coalition to support South Vietnam.

Australia's involvement roughly parallels U.S. involvement. In the beginning, the Australian citizens supported sending troops. This support disintegrated along the same time lines as the U.S.

Australia combat soldiers were respected by the NVA and Viet Cong more than the American troops. Australia didn't rely on artillery and air support when confronting their enemy. Rather, they used ground maneuvering tactics similar to the NVA and Viet Cong.

Australia received 6% total combat casualties over the entire Vietnam War, compared to 10% total combat casualties for the U.S. The U.S. confronted the enemy many times more than the Australians though.

Vietnam and Australia has rebuilt and maintained a great relationship. Australia has been one of Vietnam's most important allies for many years.

Answer 3

Excellent question, but they were one of the few that supported the US during this time period.

One of the major problems they had with the U.S. is that we could have ended the war quickly by invading North Vietnam but chose not to.

This frustrated them as well as the American Public.

Why we simply never chose to do this is a matter of politics and not military strategy.

North Vietnam was no more of a challenge to us militarily then taking over Panama would be today.

But the Australians were very upset about the whole ordeal and yet still stood beside us.

Saying that we actually "lost" the war is merely a matter of perspective. It's not like the North Vietnamese actually took anyting from us, like Rhode Island.

We just chose not to win it. Kill ratio?

North Vietnam lost 545,000 people.
We lost 56,000.

It's all tragic of course, any death is. But the media controls perspective. Numbers don't.

J

Answer 4

Australians supported the Vietnam War at least initially. They were committed in 1965 by the Liberal Government of Robert Menzies. Australia's commitment in Vietnam was a key issue in the 1966 Australian election as the Labor Party under Arthur Calwell opposed it.

The Liberal Party fought and won under the slogan of "All the way with LBJ. The 1966 election saw the Liberal Party returned with one of the largest majorities in Australian political history under the leadership of Harold Holt. However, as in the US, the popularity of the war declined as the casualty toll rose. By 1969, a strong protest movement had developed with hundreds of thousands of people joining protest marches. The Labor Party under the leadership of Gough Whitlam won 17 seats and finished four seats of a majority. The Liberal Party was led by John Gorton as Holt had died in the meantime.

Australia wound down in its involvement during 1971 with the last Australian troops leaving at the end of that year. Some Australian troops were there as advisers as they had been at the beginning. They were withdrawn in early 1973 as the Labor Party under Whitlam's leadership had won an election held in early December 1972. The Whitlam Government also ended the draft.

Answer 5

You mean the Vietnam Conflict

Answer 6

I don't know how they felt back at home....however, Australian soldiers went to Vietnam and fought bravely in the roles they were given.

Answer 7

ask your local vietnam vets

Answer 8

hey check out this link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnam_war