In the 19th century, Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos were all ruled by the French as they took over in the 1800s for their valuable rice and rubber exports. The French were rulers of these 3 countries until September 1940, when the Japanese invaded French Indochina. The Japanese only ruled Indochina (Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam) for 5 years. The Vietnamese wanted to sit back and relax after the Japanese stopped ruling, but the French took control of the country once again as allies or the French believed that it belonged to them. Ho Chi Minh wanted freedom for Vietnam but the French did not accept the declaration in 1946. After 8 years of war, the French were defeated at Den Bien Phu in 1954. In this same year, both the French and the Vietnamese signed a peace treaty, known as Geneva Accords which divided the French Indochina 3 separate countries, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam. Vietnam was also divided on the 17th parallel, with the North being communist and ruled by Ho Chi Minh and the South was anti-communist, which was ruled under president Ngo Dinh Diem. The Geneva Accords treaty mandated that a Vietnam-wide election would take place in 1965 to reunite the country.
With relations becoming extremely tense between the North and South Vietnamese, the Vietnam War broke out on November 1st, 1955. In March, 1959 Ho Chi Minh declared war to unite Vietnam under 1 rule, he wanted to make Vietnam a communist country. North Vietnam was supported by communist countries, such as the Peoples Republic of China and Soviet Union, whereas the South was supported by anti-communist countries, mainly the United States, but includes Australia. Australia joined the war in July/August of 1962, they only joined because they are allies with the US and they have signed a treaty with them. This treaty is known as the ANZUS (Australia, New Zealand and the United States) treaty. It is a security treaty that basically says that if any nation is at war or in trouble the other nations are automatically apart of it.
At first, Australia only sent 30 military advisors. These men were a mixture of officers, sergeants and warrant officers. These people were know as the Australian Army Training Team Vietnam (AATTV). The AATTV was seen as being a 'Forward Defence', meeting the treat at its source rather then waiting for it to come to Australia. By 1971, there were 224 AATTV members in South Vietnam. With an additional 60,000 military personnel from the Australian army, navy and air force, with majority for the army. Although Australia only sent a fraction of the number of people the US sent (more then 500,000), they still sent enough to show that they are still loyal to their most valued ally.
The Vietnam War was the longest war in the 20th century that Australia had participated in. While in Vietnam, Australia fought in many battles, but just to name a few, they were apart of the Battle of Long Tan, the Battle of Binh-Ba, and the Battle of Long Khanh. In the early 70's, more than 200,000 people protest in the streets of Australia's biggest cities, they believed that we should not be involved in this war. The last Australian combat troops came home in March of 72.
In the duration of the war that Australia was apart of, 521 Australians lost their life with an additional 3,000 injured. Which was nothing compared to the 2 million North/South Vietnamese that died and the 3 million injured. One of those deaths of communists leader Ho Chi Minh, he died during the war in 1969. The war officially ended April 30th, 1975 when the North Vietnamese captured Saigon, which was later renamed Ho Chi MInh City. Vietnam was formally reunified in July, 1976.
In 1975, the last days of the war, the RAAF (Royal Australian Air Force) sent personnel back to Vietnam to assist with evacuations and humanitarian work. During the decade at war in Vietnam, the AATTV became the most highly decorated Australian unit to serve in war, 4 Victoria crosses were award to AATTV members as well as many bravery awards given to soldiers that fought in the war. The last AATTV members to leave Vietnam departed on December 8th, 1972.
With relations becoming extremely tense between the North and South Vietnamese, the Vietnam War broke out on November 1st, 1955. In March, 1959 Ho Chi Minh declared war to unite Vietnam under 1 rule, he wanted to make Vietnam a communist country. North Vietnam was supported by communist countries, such as the Peoples Republic of China and Soviet Union, whereas the South was supported by anti-communist countries, mainly the United States, but includes Australia. Australia joined the war in July/August of 1962, they only joined because they are allies with the US and they have signed a treaty with them. This treaty is known as the ANZUS (Australia, New Zealand and the United States) treaty. It is a security treaty that basically says that if any nation is at war or in trouble the other nations are automatically apart of it.
At first, Australia only sent 30 military advisors. These men were a mixture of officers, sergeants and warrant officers. These people were know as the Australian Army Training Team Vietnam (AATTV). The AATTV was seen as being a 'Forward Defence', meeting the treat at its source rather then waiting for it to come to Australia. By 1971, there were 224 AATTV members in South Vietnam. With an additional 60,000 military personnel from the Australian army, navy and air force, with majority for the army. Although Australia only sent a fraction of the number of people the US sent (more then 500,000), they still sent enough to show that they are still loyal to their most valued ally.
The Vietnam War was the longest war in the 20th century that Australia had participated in. While in Vietnam, Australia fought in many battles, but just to name a few, they were apart of the Battle of Long Tan, the Battle of Binh-Ba, and the Battle of Long Khanh. In the early 70's, more than 200,000 people protest in the streets of Australia's biggest cities, they believed that we should not be involved in this war. The last Australian combat troops came home in March of 72.
In the duration of the war that Australia was apart of, 521 Australians lost their life with an additional 3,000 injured. Which was nothing compared to the 2 million North/South Vietnamese that died and the 3 million injured. One of those deaths of communists leader Ho Chi Minh, he died during the war in 1969. The war officially ended April 30th, 1975 when the North Vietnamese captured Saigon, which was later renamed Ho Chi MInh City. Vietnam was formally reunified in July, 1976.
In 1975, the last days of the war, the RAAF (Royal Australian Air Force) sent personnel back to Vietnam to assist with evacuations and humanitarian work. During the decade at war in Vietnam, the AATTV became the most highly decorated Australian unit to serve in war, 4 Victoria crosses were award to AATTV members as well as many bravery awards given to soldiers that fought in the war. The last AATTV members to leave Vietnam departed on December 8th, 1972.