| ID | 152003 |
| Title Proper | Australia’s war in Vietnam |
| Other Title Information | debate without end |
| Language | ENG |
| Author | Woodard, Garry |
| Summary / Abstract (Note) | Australia’s commitment in Vietnam can be interpreted as a small ally drawing its superpower partner into war for its own ends. Two studies by eminent Australian authors throw light on the role of human agency, and in so doing bring Australian historiography of the war closer to the trend in the United States. Peter Edwards’s history just about describes Vietnam as ‘Menzies War’. However, he finds no new sources on Menzies’s mindset, and diminishes the roles of his foreign ministers, Garfield Barwick and Paul Hasluck. The late Geoffrey Bolton’s intimate biography of Hasluck shows him as an active minister and also that his private papers are thin on Vietnam, the part of his distinguished career on which he never wrote. The Cabinet meeting of 17 December 1964 reveals much more about Australian decision-making on going to war than can be gleaned from Edwards’s cursory treatment and Bolton’s second-hand account. Barwick’s different approach, and even Hasluck’s last-minute caution, show Australia had a choice. Barwick, if he had remained Foreign Minister, might have kept Australia out of the Vietnam war, so freeing it to continue to play a leading regional political role. |
| `In' analytical Note | Australian Journal of International Affairs Vol. 71, No.2; Apr 2017: p.216-230 |
| Journal Source | Australian Journal of International Affairs Vol: 71 No 2 |
| Key Words | Vietnam War ; Anzus ; SEATO ; Menzies ; Confrontation ; Kennedy ; Johnson ; Barwick ; Hasluck |