Vietnam War Student Project
I. Introduction
Wars are fought for many reasons: to protect a nation's interests, to expand territory, to defend a country from an aggressive neighbor, to force one country to think or behave like another, to gain influence and political power. The reasons that a government has for going to war have a lot to do with how much support it gets from its people. If the general population strongly opposes a war, it is very difficult for a government to continue conducting it.

Australia became involved in a war in Vietnam because our leaders were determined to stop the spread of communism in southeast Asia. Vietnam is a long, narrow country located south of China and due west of the Philippine Islands. North Vietnam, which bordered communist China, became independent of French colonial rule in 1954. So did South Vietnam. Under Ho Chi Minh, North Vietnam became a communist country which aggressively tried to spread communism to the south. Australia first tried to prevent the spread of communism in South Vietnam by sending the Australian Army Training Team Vietnam in 1962, at which point 10,000 US military troops were in place.

US president Jimmy Carter and the Prime Minister of South Vietnam asked for additional help from Australia. To build up Australian forces, Sir Robert Menzies introduced national service in 1964. In April 1965, Australia dispatched its first troops to South Vietnam. When Harold Holt succeeded Menzies as Prime Minister in 1966, Holt committed additional troops to South Vietnam. By 1969 a majority of Australians wanted their troops brought home. Australia began withdrawing its troops from the war in 1970. In May 1970, the first moratorium marches were held in Australian cities in protest of the Vietnam War. When McMahon became Prime Minister in 1971, he announced a majority of Australian forces in South Vietnam would