Communism in a Post-World War II Environment - Essay Example

Has Australia Been Posed as A threat to Communism in a Post World War II Environment? Name of Student: Name of Course: Name of Instructor: Date of Submission: Has Australia Been Posed as A threat to Communism in a Post World War II Environment? Introduction Australia is one of the few states in the South East of Asia which does not embrace communism structure of governance1. Shortly after the Second World War, Australia was faced with the challenge of being converted into a communist state by the neighboring communist states2. The United Soviet States of Russia USSR was involved in a rigorous activity of concerting as many countries as possible into communist states. The neighboring China has already converted into Communist after the end of the Chinese civil war where the communists defeated the republicans. During the post war era, Australia was seen a threat to communism. The following essay will discuss various aspects related to Australia and communism. Australia’s Relationship with South East Asia Australia’s relationship with countries in South Asia was not good. This is owing to the different economic and administrative systems which were in place in the two regions. Australia upheld capitalism while countries in South East Asia upheld communism. The only ties between the Australia and South East Asia were in trade3. The relationship between the two was due to get worse on the onset of the cold war when Australia committed itself to fight capitalism. Domino Theory The domino theory was a theory propagated by the United States in the post world war II period around the world. The Domino theory stated that if an occurrence occurs in one country, it had the ability to occur in the same magnitude in neighboring states4 . As a result of this, there is a dire need to control the situation (if the occurrence is negative) so as to prevent it from occurring in neighboring states. In the excuse of the Domino theory the United States of America intervened in various countries around the world. The development of the domino theory as a foreign policy in the US was coned around the need to stop communism from expanding to other parts of the world. On this point, it is important to acknowledged the fact that communism was crucial aspect associated with the Second World War. One frontier was led by Germany and its allies while the other one was led by the United States and USSR. After the Second World War, the two nations emerged to be world’s superpowers but soon distrust grew between them. Shortly after the Second World War, USSR was involved in rigorous activities to transform various countries around the world to communism. China has already adopted communism and several countries in Asia were following suit. In a counter reaction, the president of the United States Dwight D. Eisenhomer coned the Domino theory so as to prevent the spread of communism to the rest of Asia including Australia and New Zealand5. Looking at the Australian history, it can be acknowledged that the country did not have intentions of transforming into a communist state. The United States had given special focus to Australia and New Zealand and they were geared towards remaining capitalist nations. However, Australia feared communism. As a result of this, the country enacted several policies and laws so as to protect the country from communism. Australia’s reaction to communism went contrary to the domino effect. It was expected the Australia and New Zealand would be influenced by the People’s Republic of China amongst other states found in the Asian Pacific region to follow communism. However, Australia stood rigid in capitalism and was involved in various anti communism wars out of its borders. A key characteristic of the post world war era in Australia was fear of communism and was coined around the cold war with USA and USSR. The Fear around the Cold War with USA and USSR After the Second World War, a cold war ensued between the United States and the United Soviet States Republic. As identified earlier in the paper, the two countries had fought alongside each other during the cold war. On one side, USSR was sedating communism all over the world and on the other side, US was countering this in the greatest efforts possible hence leading to the coining of the Domino theory6. During the cold war environment Australia was characterized by a lot of fear of communism, just like other strong capitalist nations in the world. Initially, the communist party of Australia had been banned but the party regained strength when USSR joined the Second World War. In the 1940’s several strikes were made against Australia and the government had a strong belief in the role of the communist party in the strikes. This gave an illusion in the country that the communists were plotting to destabilize the country7. This is when fear of communism stated in Australia. During the war and also the cold war, Australia was dominated by a fear of the invasion of the Japanese, commonly referred to as the ‘yellow scare’. During the cold war, the Menzes administration continued to propagate the yellows ace in Australia in addition to the anti communist media coverage by the Australian newspapers. Menzes rode on the fear of communism to win against the communist party in 1949. Soon after assuming office, Menzes made steps to banning the communist party but the communist party dissolution bill of 1950 but the act was unconstitutional according to the ruling of the high court. Menzes then called for a referendum with an aim of making the act legal but it failed; not on the pretext that people were for communist party but on the notion that Menzes was overstepping his power mandate. In the 1950’s fear of communism was all over the country and the government tried to kill any communist move. There were fears that communists were scattered around the country and were planning a revolution. There was a common slogan used in Australia during that period ‘reds under the beds’ which manifested the fear which Australians had on the widespread of communists in the country8. In order to protect the country from communism, Menzes took three strategic steps. One of them was the signing of the ANZUS treaty. The ANZUS treaty was signed between Australia, New Zealand and the United States of America and obliged the signatories of the treaty to come to the aid of each other in case either of them was attacked by communists9. The treaty was meant to give the governments of the signatories’ assurance of a strong military support in instances when communists would attack them. Australia had seen the occurrences in China and other Asian countries and would not risk fighting alone. The second strategic step was the signing of the SEATO agreement which led to the formation of an alliance between Britain, Philippines, Thailand, France, Pakistan, Australia, the United States and New Zealand10. The alliance gave Australia some sort of economic and military support; hence assuring its people of support in case it was attacked by communists. Thirdly, Australia was involved in several wars around the Asian region against communist movements11 . The Australian government saw the need of combating communism in other countries before it reached Australia12. Between 1950 to 1953, Australia was involved in the Korean War and had sent its troops to Korea. The troops fought alongside the United Nations whose troops ware mainly composed of American servicemen. Australia was also actively involved in the Malaya war where Australian troops fought against the Malayan communists alongside the governments and Britain’s military. Australia was also involved in the Malaysian war where they fought alongside the Malaysian government and Britain against the invasion by communist Indonesia to the county. Lastly, the Australian military was actively involved in the South Vietnam war where it fought alongside the Vietnamese and Britain troops against communists13. From the above discussion, it can be seen that Australia was committed to fighting communism within and out of its borders. The essay has discussed about the domino theory and the activities during the cold war in which Australia was actively involved. From the discussion, it can be acknowledged that Australia was a hindrance to communism in Asia. Conclusion In conclusion, it can be seen from this essay that Australia played a crucial role in the post world war II era. The era was characterized by a cold war between the USSR and US who had previously fought alongside each other in the 2nd world war. The essay has identified that the cold war was as a result of distrust which ensued between the two former allies. During the cold war, the USSR was keen on spreading communism while the US was countering the spread. The essay has discussed about the relationship between Australia and other countries in South Asia. The essay has also discussed about the domino theory which was used by the US to intervene in foreign countries. Lastly, the essay discussed about the activities which occurred during the cold war and the strategies which Australia established in order to ensure that their fears of a communism takeover did not occur. From the essay, it can be concluded that Australia has posed a threat to communism in a post world war II environment. References Blackton, Charles. Communism and Democracy in Australia, The Journal of Modern History 45, no.1 (1967): 166- 167. Derek, McLachlan. “Australia’s Peace Keeping Role in the Post Cold War Era”, Contemporary South East Asia 24, no. 3 (2002): 590 – 608. Herd, Graeme and Akerman, Ella. Russian Strategic Realignment and the Post-post-cold War Era?, Security Dialogue 33, no.3 (2002): 357-372. Holmes, David. Communism in Australia, Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal, 2009. http://links.org.au/node/1116 Ian, McDougal. “Australia’s Post Cold War Defense Planning”, RUSI Journal 142, no. 1 (1997): 9 – 13. Leeson, Pete and Dean, Andrea. The Democratic Domino Theory: An Empirical Investigation, American Journal of Political Science 53, no.3 (2009): 533–551. MacKenzie, Peter. 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