Fears about the influence of communist ideology in
Australian working class politics had been
prevalent in Australia since the early 1920s. The
Communist Party of Australia had been formed, with
a small membership, in 1920. In reality, its influence
was minor but at various times during the 1920s and
1930s beliefs about communist influence in the trade
union movement and the Australian Labor Party (ALP)
led to vague fears that Australia's democratic way of life
was under threat. In the five years following the end of
World War II, these vague fears assumed a more substantial
form as Australians witnessed much of Eastern Europe and a
significant part of Asia fall behind the 'Iron Curtain' of communism. In the 1949 general election, the
Prime Minister, Mr Ben Chifley (ALP), was defeated by Mr Robert Menzies (Liberal). Menzies had
campaigned, at least in part, on an anti-socialist and anti-communist platform. It was against this
background that a number of political crises developed in Australia in the first half of the 1950s.
Australian working class politics had been
prevalent in Australia since the early 1920s. The
Communist Party of Australia had been formed, with
a small membership, in 1920. In reality, its influence
was minor but at various times during the 1920s and
1930s beliefs about communist influence in the trade
union movement and the Australian Labor Party (ALP)
led to vague fears that Australia's democratic way of life
was under threat. In the five years following the end of
World War II, these vague fears assumed a more substantial
form as Australians witnessed much of Eastern Europe and a
significant part of Asia fall behind the 'Iron Curtain' of communism. In the 1949 general election, the
Prime Minister, Mr Ben Chifley (ALP), was defeated by Mr Robert Menzies (Liberal). Menzies had
campaigned, at least in part, on an anti-socialist and anti-communist platform. It was against this
background that a number of political crises developed in Australia in the first half of the 1950s.
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