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The Significant Impacts of the Vietnam War on New Zealand - Coggle Diagram
The Significant Impacts of the Vietnam War on New Zealand
Individual Impacts
Captain Frank Metcalfe - My Father's war
Personal experiences - revaluation of the war - outgrowing the military
Surviving Soldiers and Families Health
Repatriation of Soldiers - Cpl Jim Gatenby in 2018
Political Impacts
New political groupings and issues - PYM's - network for the counter culture
Increases polarization - more competing political viewpoints - 1972 Election - precedent for future arguement over our involvement in overseas actions.
Political Pressure - Revision of our Alliances - increasing independance - leading to decisions in the 1980s.
New forms of protest eg teach ins, sit ins, street marches, hunger strike. - used later for other issues
Strong University focus - campus protests and organisations
A "breeding ground" for future activists and politicians - Tim Shadbolt, John Minto, Helen Clarke
Social Impacts
Changing views on war and its place in modern society
increased pacifism - what should we go to war over?
Desire for more NZ "independance"
a sign of increased maturity
Counter Culture - new way of seeing and doing - largely youth focused - youth movement - desire to do things differently eg dress, music, politics
a catalyst or polarising event
The normalisation of recreational drug use
Military Impacts
Changing view of our military
Internal divisions over involvement
Issues over Commemoration and Memorialisation
Economic Impacts
Little downside but we did become more regionally focused
Positive current relationship with Vietnam
Themes
The end of the war did not see a quick resolution of its impacts -
still resolving things
The impact of NZ involvement was much greater than our level of commitment to the war -
disproportionate impact
Our involvement brought about
change in the way we see and do things
eg. more independent foreign policy, increased pacifism, look more toward Asia as our area ie it was a catalyst for change
Was a focus for
social and political polarization
that set up other issues in the following decades
Establishing Significance
Vietnam - North/South divide
In NZ/Aust sphere of influence
Civil War between North and South Vietnamese that occurred after a war of independence against the French
1955 - 1975 - NZ involvement was 1963 to 1972
Cold War - US policy of containment towards Communist expansion - Domino Theory
An iconic conflict with large scale impacts for those involved.
Representative of the cold war era - still resonates as a key event
Insights and Extensions
Will the significance pass with the passing of the 3500?
The ripple effect politically may well continue well into the future eg case by case basis
It is still not fully reconciled - military health, repatriation of soldiers remains
Helen Clark story - protestor to politician to PM
It took a long time for reconciliation and commemoration eg Tribute 08
It was a war that people wanted to forget - and quickly?
Tim Shadbolt story - protestor to personality to Mayor