Korean and Vietnam War Flashcards
(170 cards)
1
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2
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How did governments try to increase population, educational services and international agreements?
A
Attract migrants to Australia
3
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What are some post-war challenges that Australia faced?
A
Severe housing shortage, and the 500,000 soldiers had to be demobilised and reintegrated into everyday life
4
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A
5
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What was one of the most significant social changes that took place in Australia?
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Started allowing non-British people into Australia
6
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What was the initial amount of people that immigrated to AUstralia?
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170,000
7
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What was the population in 1945 and 1960?
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7.4 million to 10.4 million
8
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List prosperities in Australia after WWII?
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Global trade expanded, wages improved, higher finishing grades in school and a growing number of people completed university
9
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What was Australia’s fear?
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If future conflicts broke out, they might be vulnerable to Asia
10
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What is the Cold War understood as?
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A period of extreme tension between the US and the Soviets and their allies from late 1940s to early 1990s
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A
12
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Why is in called cold?
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The United States and the USSR never openly used their military forces to fight each other on the battlefield
13
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Why did the US and USSR not experience open warfare?
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Because if one attacked another with their nuclear weapons, it would be an all out war with horrific consequences
14
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Origins of the Cold War?
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When the first communist government came to power in late 1917
15
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Definition of communist
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Someone who follows Marxism (or communism); a belief that everything is owned by the entire community and in which there is equal distribution of all resources
16
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How did communism rise to power?
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People in the Great Depression that were unemployed were desperate for governments to solve these problems. Some looked to communism
17
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Who became an important ally to the US and Britain in WWII?
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USSR
18
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Why did the US and Britain ally with the USSR?
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They agreed that the most important threat to world peace was Nazism
19
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Who is the Big Three?
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Winston Churchill, Frankling Roosevelt and Joseph Stalin
20
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How did the Big Three disband?
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Stalin didn’t trust Roosevelt or his succesor Harry Truman, or Churchill. Roosevelt and Churchill also hid things from Stalin
21
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Why did Churchill and Roosevelt not trust Stalin?
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He wanted to expand communism beyong USSR
22
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What crises broke out in the late 1940’s?
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Stalin ensured that communist governments were permanently installed in important European countried such as Czechoslovakia and Poland, which angered Britain and the US
23
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What was the Iron Curtain?
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A wall blocking the communists to the non-communists of Germany. If you had families on the other side, you couldn’t meet
24
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What is the theory of communism?
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As industrialisation expanded through Europe, it would lead to a major revolution by workers who were treated poorly by factory owners and other
wealthy groups. This revolution would lead to a new way of organising society that would be fairer for all citizens
25
What did the communist party do in 1917?
Created a dictatorship by banning other political parties, enforcing close controls on the media and attacking religious groups who opposed the ideas
of communism
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What was the most important thing of Marx's teaching?
Once a communist revolution began, it would spread around the world
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What is the CCP and where did it have power?
Chinese Communist Party
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Who led the CCP?
Mao Zedong
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What was America's view of the communists movements?
They believed that all communists were puppets of larger powers like USSR and China
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What is the Containment Policy?
Promised US support to any nation under threat of a communist revolution
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What is the aim of the Containment Policy?
To ensure that communism did not spread beyond the USSR
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Who initiated the Containment Policy?
Harry Truman
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What is the European Recovery Program (or Marshall Plan)?
Promised millions of dollars in aid to help rebuild Europe after the war
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What was the plan of the Marshall Plan?
Openly aimed at preventing the influence of the USSR in Europe
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How had the Marshall Plan failed?
* China had fallen to communists
* Germany was permanently divided between non-communist
West and communist East.
36
What was the aim of the Roll Back Policy?
A more aggresive idea aimed at removing communist governments that were already in power
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What is the domino theory?
Communist influence might spread between neighbouring countries
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When did Cuba fall to the communists?
1959
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Who was the communist leader of Cuba?
Fidel Castro
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What is the ASIO?
The Australian Security Intelligence Organisation
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What is the main job of the ASIO?
Investigate people suspected of spying for the USSR in Australia
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When did Robert Menzies come into power in Australia?
1949
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What did Menzies think communism threatened?
The Australian economy that had begun to recover from the war and life for many Australians began to improve with better access to jobs and education
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Who was Menzies' first target?
The CPA (Communist Party of Australia)
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What was the aim of the Communist Party Dissolution Bill?
To dissolve the Australian Communist Party and declare it an unlawful association
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When did the Communist Party Dissolution Bill pass?
1950
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Who declared the Communist Party Dissolution Bill illegal?
The High Court of Australia
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What was Menzies' second strategy?
A referendum to change the Constitution so that the original bill could pass
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What was the result of the Menzies referendum?
It was defeated, but only by a small margin
50
What is the Petrov Affair?
When two diplomats living in Canberra, Vladimir and
Evdokia Petrov, announced their defection from USSR and the KGB, which is the USSR spy unit
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What was the chain of events of the Petrov Affair?
1. Vladimir was the first to defect.
2. He was quickly taken away to a secret location so that other Soviet agents could not find him.
3. Evdokia was then placed under house arrest in the Soviet embassy by the KGB, in preparation for being sent back to the USSR.
4. When Soviet agents tried to forcefully take Evdokia back to the USSR by plane, Menzies stepped in, and when Evdokia’s plane landed at Darwin airport to be refuelled, Australian agents took Evdokia and reunited her with Vladimir.
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What was the significance of the Petrov Affair?
* This event gave Menzies a popularity boost.
* Confirmed that Australia was under threat from Soviet spies.
* Revealed that the Petrovs had provided evidence of more Soviet spy activity in Australia.
* Created a sense of immediate threat
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What was the victory of the CCP in 1949?
The most populous countries in Asia now had a Communist government
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What was one of the reasons for Communism spreading through Asia after WWII?
Decolonisation, as Europe had to give independance to countries that they previously controlled, giving way to fresh new governments
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Why was the CCP popular in these regions?
Many people still worked in small farming communities and hadn't been treated well by previous governments
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What was Policy 1 and what did it contain?
Forward defence. This suggested that it was best for Australia to fight communism in South-East Asia before it moved closer to Australia.
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What was Policy 2 and what did it contain?
Economic development. Contained economic growth to help stabilise the
region, signing agreements such as the Colombo Plan.
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What is the Colombo plan?
It involved nations such as Australia
committing to educate and train students from Asia and the Pacific region.
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When was the Korean War?
1950–53
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What happened to Korea after WWII?
Japanese forces were replaced by Soviet troops in the north and American troops in the south
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Where was Korea split?
Along the 38th parallel of latitude
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Who was the communist leader in North Korea during this time?
Kim II-sung
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Who was the leader in South Korea during this time?
Syngman Rhee
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How did the Korean War start?
North Korea launched an invasion of the south on 25 June 1950, using over 100000 troops
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What was the result of the original attack from North Korea?
They captured the southern capital,
Seoul, and nearly succeeded in
completely overrunning the southern
Republic
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What did the UN agree to in the Korean War?
Send a military force to save the south and push North Koreas forces back above the 38th parallel
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What did the UN mission become known as?
United Nations Command (UNC)
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Who led the UNC?
Douglas MacArthur
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When was the UNC invasion?
September–October 1950
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What was Mao Zedong (Chinese ruler)'s reaction to the UNC?
Fearing that UNC forces might reach China, he approved Chinese intervention in the Korean conflict, and the USSR sent aircraft to support the North
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When was the armistice signed?
27 July 1953
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What is the result of no peace treaty ever being assigned?
The north and south technically remain in a state of war
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How many Australians served in Korea?
17000
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What is the ANZUS treaty?
A treaty between Australia, New Zealand and the United States
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When was the ANZUS treay signed?
1 September 1951
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What does the ANZUS treay state?
If any of the three signing powers was attacked, they would meet immediately to discuss contribution
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Who did Australia fight as an ally for in the Vietnam War?
Southern Republlic of Vietnam (RVN)
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Describe the Indochinese nationalism of the time
Most early Indochinese nationalists wanted to remove the French colonial government and return to the rule of their traditional monarchies
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What is the SEATO?
The South-East Asia Treaty Organization
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Who signed the SEATO?
United States, Britain, France, Australia, New Zealand, Pakistan, Thailand and the Philippines
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What is the goal of the SEATO?
A defence unit against communism
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Why did the Malayan Communist Party (MCP) organise attacks on Britain?
Because Malayan Chinese would not be granted citizenship under the new plans for independence
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Why was the MCP declared illegal?
Three plantation managers were murdered. The Malayan Emergency was officially announced
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What was the type of warfare in the Malayan Emergency?
A guerilla war
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What was Australia's committment to the Malayan Emergency?
Air force, infantry and patrols
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Result of the Malayan Emergency?
The MCP was largely defeated
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When was the Malayan stated federated into Malaysia?
1963
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When did Menzied reintroduce the National Service Scheme?
1964-1972
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Who was Vietnam's most successful communist leader?
Ho Chi Minh
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What was the main group that Ho Chi Minh created
The Vietminh
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Cause of the First Indochina War?
Vietnam wasn't able to come to a agreement on Vietnmam's independance
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When was the first Indochina War?
1946-54
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Who was the Vietminh supported by in the war?
China and the Soviets
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Who was the French supported by in the war?
State of Vietnam and USA
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What happened in the first part of the war?
French forces had more powerful military technology, so the Vietminh planned to fight a guerrilla war against France.
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What happened in the second part of the war?
With Chinese and Soviet support, the Vietminh had access to more powerful military technology such as artillery, and
they began to attack the French with
greater confidence
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Result of the Indochina war?
French forces suffered a major defeat in north-western Vietnam. After nearly eight years of war France was no longer willing to fight to retain Indochina
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What was the Geneva Conference?
World leaders came together at Geneva to end the Indochina War. It was a very tense meeting with major disagreements.
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What is the Geneva Accords?
The final agreement of the Geneva Conference
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What is contained in the Geneva Accords?
* Gave Cambodia and Laos
independence.
* Vietnam was divided along the 17th parallel (meant to be temporary)
* Ho Chi Minh and the Vietminh were given control of the north
* The south was controlled by a non-communist government led by
President Ngo Dinh Diem.
* New elections to reunite Vietnam under one government were set to take place in 1956
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Why didn't the elections to unite under one government not take place?
Ngo Dinh Diem knew that he would lose and refused to participate
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What is the Vietcong?
The name given to the South Vietnamese communists that attacked Diem
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What did the Vietcong start to do?
Began to attack the government of the South Vietnam, assassinated government officials, attacked the Army of the Republic of Vietnam and took over villages
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What was Diem's response to the Vietcong?
He struck back by attacking communists and people loyal to the Vietminh in South Vietnam, but over time, Diem’s position became increasingly fragile
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What was the American's view of what was happening in Vietnam?
Convinced that if the Vietminh took
over South Vietnam they would
impose a communist government. They also believed that other South-East Asian countries would fall to communism, and that South Vietnam was the first domino
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How did the US support South Vietnam?
Began sending military advisors to train the ARVN and provided helicopters
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What was China's and the USSR support for North Vietnam?
They sent military advisors to train
the North Vietnamese Army (NVA)
and engineers to build roads and
factories
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What is a coup?
A quick overthrow of a government
111
What caused escalation in 1964-65?
* Diem was extremely unpopular
with many people in South Vietnam.
* In November members of the ARVN
overthrew Diem in a coup and he was
brutally murdered.
* From that point South Vietnam was
under military rule, but it became evenmore unstable under the leadership of the military.
* The North began sending thousands of soldiers into south Vietnam, travelling over the DMZ or down the Ho Chi Minh Trail, to escalate the war.
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What is Operation Rolling Thunder?
A sustained bombing attack on North Vietnam using American aircraft.
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What is the AATTV?
The Australian Army Training Team
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What did the AATTV do?
Training ARVN units and groups of mountain tribesman
115
When did Australia received a
formal request from the South
Vietnamese government to send combat troops to fight communist forces.
1964
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What was the More Flags Campaign
A campaing aimed at getting more nations to contribute to the defence of South Vietnam
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When did Menzies announce that Australia would commit one infantry battalion to South Vietnam?
April 1965
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What was the name of the first unit of soldiers sent to VIetnam?
1RAR (1st Battalion, RAR)
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Who commanded the 1RAR?
Bien Hoa
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Who was the main PM responsible of Australia's involvement in Vietnam?
Menzies
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When did Harold Holt replace Menzies and what was hid opinion on the war?
January 1966. He also believed in the importance of Australia’s alliance with the United States and the commitment to South Vietnam
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A
123
What was Holt's slogan after meeting with the US PM Lyndon Baines Johnson
All the way with LBJ
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Where was the 1st Australian Task Force (1ATF) established?
Nui Dat in Phuoc Tuy
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What time period was Australia's operations in Vietnam?
1966–72
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Main goal of the 1ATF
Clear Phuoc Tuy province of communist forces and to help the South Vietnamese government maintain stability in the area
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What controversial decision did the Australian government make regarding Vietnam?
They sent 30 military advisors to Vietnam in 1962
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What was happening the more the war lasted?
Became more controversial and divisive
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What were some criticisms on Australia's involvement in the war?
As more soldiers were killed and wounded, the Australian people questioned whether it was necessary for Australians to be fighting in
Vietnam. Conscription was not meant to be for Vietnam, but was being used
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What were the criticisms against the US?
Escalating the war in Vietnam. They believed it was a Vietnamese conflict and that outside countries had no right to be involved
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How did media influene take part in turning people against the war?
With more modern technology,
media companies could broadcast news of the war into the living rooms of Australians soon after events
took place. Showcased scenes of dramatic violence
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What is the Saigon Execution?
A photo of a South Vietnamese police chief executing Nguyễn Văn Lém, a
suspected Viet Cong officer, in the streets of Saigon.
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When did the Saigon Execution take place?
The Tet Offensive
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What is the Tet Offensive?
A major surprise attack by North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces across South Vietnam
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The person who took the Saigon Execution photo?
Eddie Adams
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Aftermath of the Saigon Execution photo
Eddie Adams later expressed regret over how the image shaped perceptions, emphasizing that the general was carrying out a wartime order. The general then later moved to the US
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What was Eddie Adam's quote
The general killed the Viet
Cong; I killed the general with my camera.”
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What were the 2 myths about the Saigon Execution?
That Nguyễn Văn Lém was innocent, and that Eddie Adams won the Pulitzer Prize for the photo
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What is the Tet Offensive?
When the communists launched a surprise attack across South Vietnam’s major cities during the Vietnamese holiday of Tet (New Year)
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Impace of the Tet Offensive?
Many people began to question what they were being told about the Vietnam War, as the US government was saying how well everything was going. This contributed to changing attitudes in Australia.
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When were the protest movements against Australia's participation in the Vietnam war?
1965–72
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What was the most famous protest movement?
Save Our Sons (SOS)
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Who was part of the SOS?
Mainly made up of women who had sons around conscription age
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What did the SOS do?
Tried to convince others to criticise the National Service scheme by
handing out pamphlets and staging demonstrations
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How many people of the SOS got arrested and what happened to them?
5, sentenced to 14 days in prison
146
Role of the media of the Vietnam war?
1. First Televised War
2. Critical Journalism
3. Giving Voice to Protesters
4. In Australia Specifically
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Explain First Televised War?
This war was broadcasted daily on TV with graphic footage. Showed imaged that coflicted government statements. Undermined trust in the government
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Explain Critical Judgement?
Major news outlets began to question the morality and effectiveness of the war effort, especially after events like:
* The Tet Offensive (1968), which contradicted U.S. and allied claims of progress.
* The My Lai Massacre, where U.S. soldiers killed hundreds of Vietnamese civilians —
shocking the world.
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Explain Giving Voice to Protesters?
The media gave coverage to anti-war protests, especially large demonstrations by students, unions, and churches
150
Explain In Australia Specifically
* Media outlets started to criticize Australia’s involvement, especially as conscripts were sent to fight.
* Journalists raised questions about conscription and the war’s legitimacy.
151
What are the Monatorium marches?
Anti war protests from 1970 - 1971
152
Aims of the monatorium marches
* the immediate withdrawal of Australian troops from Vietnam
* End conscription
153
What US PM instituted Vietnamisation?
Richard Nixon
154
What is Vietnamisation?
South Vietnamese needed to take
more responsibility for fighting the
communists. US would still
contribute money, resources and
training but removed soldiers
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What was Australia's response to Vietnamisation?
Took Nixon's lead, and pulled soldiers out of Vietnam, although kept soldiers for training only. When the Labor government got elected, they ended conscription, ending Australia's conflict in Vietnam
156
Treatment of returned solders of Vietnam war?
Lack of Official Recognition, Public and Political Hostility, Silence and Neglect,
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Explain Lack of Official Recognition
Did not receive parades or formal public acknowledgment when they returned. Many soldiers arrived home quietly, often at night, and were discouraged from wearing their uniforms in public
158
Explain Public and Political Hostility
* Opposition to the war in Australia had grown dramatically.
* Vietnam veterans were sometimes unfairly blamed for the war’s controversies
* Some were spat on or insulted
159
Explain Silence and Neglect?
* Many veterans spoke of feeling ignored or forgotten
by both the public and government.
* Took a while to acknowledge mental health
* For years, their service was not properly acknowledged in national remembrance ceremonies.
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What happened when the public finally recognised the soldiers?
Only 25,000 veterans marched out of the 60,000.
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When was the Paris Peace Accords?
January 1973
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Who was involved in the Paris Peace Accords
US, both Vietnams and Viet Cong
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Terms of the Parid Peace Accords?
US withdrawal, POW exchange, ceasefire,
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Explain POW exchange
All POW's to be returned to their countries
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Explain North Vietnamese presence?
North Vietnamese troops were allowed to remain in the South (this undermined the peace)
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Explain South Vietnamese self determination
South Vietnam’s right to choose its own political future was recognized
167
Explain political settlement
A plan was made for peaceful
reunification and elections in the future — though vague and never enforced
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How was the Paris Peace Accords violated?
Continued military offensive, kept troops in South Vietnam by reinforcing, and the 1975 offensive
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What happened in the 1975 offensive?
North Vietnam launched a full-scale invasion of the South, violating the ceasefire and all terms of peaceful political resolution. It led to the rapid collapse of the South Vietnamese government. By April 30, Saigon fell, and South Vietnam was defeated
170
What happened to southth VIetnamese citizens and soldiers?
Immigranted to Australia, as they new life was going to be bad in communist Vietnam
