by Japanese planes until July 1941, when along with American troops, the Aussies managed to drive them out of the Solomon Islands and northeastern New Guinea and eliminate a strong Japanese base at Rabaul. Without General MacArthur's troops, the enemy may very well have invaded Australia. This illustrates the importance of alliances.Over 926 000 Australians fought in WW2, three times as many as in WW1. Of those 33 000 died, only half as many as in WW1. Considering that we were directly attacked in WW2 , those statistics are quite reasonable, but it certainly does emphasise the tragedy of the first world war and the excessive numbers of soldiers sent.The Korean War was the first war against communism in which Australians were involved. We entered the war as a staunch ally again, but this time to the USA. It was a short war only lasting three years, in which Australia lost 278 lives. However, our relationship with the US was strengthened by our assistance.The Vietnam War was our other anti-communism war. It is arguably one of the most gruesome and filthy wars in our history. Some say this is because of both guerilla and jungle warfare, of which there was not as much of in the world wars. Vietnam was a tragedy for Australia partially because of the anti-war protests which broke out in 1966. (In one protest in 1970, held at Melbourne's Treasury Gardens, over 70 000 people turned out.) There were not any protests in the World wars because, at that point, the civilians at home saw war as almost glamorous. They heard stories of the brave Aussie troops running across the beaches of Gallipoli, putting their lives on the line. During Vietnam there was a lot of footage on TV and people began to see what war was like. Another reason is perhaps too many soldiers were sent. (For example, in the Persian Gulf War, only two ships of Aussie soldiers were sent, therefore reducing the risk of high casualties but at the same time playing th...
