A Nation at War: Australian Politics, Society and Diplomacy During the Vietnam War 1965-1975"A Nation At War tells the story of Australia during this tumultuous decade. It shows how the initial support for the Vietnam commitment was eroded until a majority of the population came to think that it was mistaken, if not immoral. The book traces the growth of the protest movement against the War and conscription, giving the most detailed account yet published of the three Moratorium protests in which tens of thousands of Australians demonstrated. A Nation At War discusses the decisions of the Menzies, Holt, Gorton, McMahon and Whitlam Governments, as they responded to these unprecedented protests while wrestling with diplomatic pressures emanating from powerful allies and strife-torn neighbours. The book also analyses the incidents which shaped the debate and which long remained in public memory - the alleged 'water torture' incident, the episodes involving conscientious objectors like Simon Townsend and William White, and many more."--BOOK JACKET. |
Contents
| 26 | |
Crises in Southeast Asia debate in Australia | 52 |
Participants in the first Australian teachin at the Australian | 69 |
Conscription and the commitment of a task force | 76 |
Save Our Sons demonstration in Canberra 1965 | 81 |
Anticonscription demonstration outside Holts Melbourne home | 97 |
5 | 99 |
Participants in the June 1966 SEATO meeting in Canberra | 111 |
The death of a Prime Minister | 173 |
A new Prime Minister in a world of revolutions 196869 | 190 |
Doubt dissent defiance and destruction 196869 | 206 |
Towards withdrawal and the first Moratorium | 236 |
The first and second Moratoriums MaySeptember 1970 | 267 |
The third Moratorium and withdrawal from Vietnam | 292 |
The Whitlam Government and the end of | 318 |
Epilogue and conclusions | 340 |
controversy the Opposition | 119 |
Graffiti on the Adelaide Cross of Remembrance after Errol | 125 |
The paintthrowers and the Premier | 128 |
ALP and Liberal Party advertisements for the 1966 general | 138 |
Escalation amid uncertainty 1967 | 139 |
The rise of dissent and protest 1967 | 157 |
The rise of radical and militant protest | 167 |
The national service scheme 196472 | 355 |
Major Australian Government officebearers 196575 | 381 |
Endnotes | 387 |
a lost opportunity | 410 |
Bibliography Christopher Waters | 432 |
Index | 443 |
Common terms and phrases
ACTU allies American announced anti-war April Army ASIO August Australian Embassy Australian Government ballot battalion British Cabinet decision Cablegram Cairns call-up Calwell campaign Canberra communist conscientious objector conscription countries DEA file debate December demonstrations diplomatic dissent DLNS election February federal foreign policy Gorton Government's Hanoi Hasluck Holt Holt's involvement issue January Jim Cairns John Gorton Johnson July June Labor Party leaders Liberal major Malaysia Malaysia and Singapore March McMahon Melbourne ment Menzies Menzies's militants military movement National Service Act national servicemen newspapers Nixon November October official organisers overseas Parliament peace PMD file political President Prime Minister protest radical Saigon SEATO September Simon Townsend Singapore soldiers South Vietnam Southeast Asia statement Sydney Morning Herald task force tralian Union United University Viet Cong Vietnam commitment Vietnam War Vietnamese Washington Whitlam William McMahon withdrawal
Popular passages
Page 28 - The takeover of South Vietnam would be a direct military threat to Australia and all the countries of South and South-East Asia. It must be seen as part of a thrust by Communist China between the Indian and Pacific Oceans. This was
Page 112 - And so, sir, in the lonelier and perhaps even more disheartening moments which come to any national leader, I hope there will be a corner of your heart and mind which takes cheer from the fact that you have an admiring friend, a staunch friend that will be all the way with LBJ.
Page 110 - Australia, the Republic of China, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Thailand and the Republic of Vietnam. The
Page 187 - other nations must recognize that the role of the United States as world policeman is likely to be limited in the future'.
Page 28 - in receipt of a request from the Government of South Vietnam for further military assistance'.
Page 33 - is a civil war, aided and abetted by the North Vietnamese Government, but neither created nor principally maintained by it'.
Page 295 - a dangerous reluctance to consult Cabinet, and an obstinate determination to get his own way'. He
Page 411 - Asia After Viet Nam', Foreign Affairs, vol. 46, no. 1, October 1967, pp. 111—25;
Page 106 - Sibnarayan Ray, head of the Department of Indian Studies at the University of Melbourne.
Page 388 - Australian Foreign Policy in Action', in Gordon Greenwood and Norman Harper (eds), Australia in