{"story":["Britain's defeat by Japan at Singapore in February 1942 seriously undermined New Zealand's confidence in Britain's ability to protect its far-flung empire, and New Zealand began to look to the United States, by then the dominant Pacific power. In 1945 it was one of 51 nations to sign the United Nations Charter, but it also sought a powerful ally. After the war the Americans wanted Japan to remain strong as a barrier to communism in East Asia, while New Zealand and Australia worried that a resurgent Japan could again threaten the region. The minister of external affairs, Frederick Doidge, nevertheless argued for a 'soft' peace with Japan, saying it was 'politically impracticable and militarily unacceptable' to force permanent drastic restrictions on it. Te Ara notes that the United States was at first reluctant to give New Zealand a security commitment.","That reluctance faded as developments in Asia threatened American interests, especially in Japan. New Zealand's quick commitment to the UN force in Korea (see Kayforce sent to Korea) let it show its value as a small ally, and NZHistory says the Chinese intervention generated a sense of urgency in Washington that opened the way for the treaty. Te Ara records that the treaty was sought especially by Australia and less urgently by New Zealand. Doidge represented New Zealand in the discussions; he accepted the need for an American guarantee but regretted that Britain was left out. Britain, whose Asian territories lay outside the treaty, was unhappy, but New Zealand went ahead. Alister McIntosh, secretary of the Department of External Affairs, was not a strong advocate of the treaty, though he came to accept its central importance.","Carl Berendsen, New Zealand's ambassador in Washington, signed the ANZUS treaty for New Zealand at San Francisco on 1 September 1951. He called it 'the greatest gift' that the world's most powerful country could offer to 'a small and comparatively helpless group of people'. One week later, in the same city, he signed the Japanese Peace Treaty. Under ANZUS each country recognised that an armed attack in the Pacific area on any of them would endanger the peace and safety of the others, and pledged to 'act to meet the common danger'. They agreed to maintain and develop the military resources needed to resist attack and to consult if their security was threatened in the Pacific, and a council of ministers met from time to time. The treaty came into force on 29 April 1952.","Sources differ on how far ANZUS drew New Zealand into the Vietnam War. NZHistory says the fear that failing to stand by the United States might compromise ANZUS was largely responsible for the 1965 decision to send combat troops. One Te Ara entry says New Zealand helped the Americans in Vietnam 'not because of ANZUS'. Another says its reluctant participation owed as much to keeping the Americans involved in South-East Asia as to ANZUS obligations. McIntosh advised sending a token combat force in 1965, largely on the grounds that not to do so would bring the alliance into question. As disillusionment with the war grew, the alliance was blamed for dragging New Zealand into foreign wars.","Polls showed that most New Zealanders supported ANZUS but opposed the presence of nuclear-powered and nuclear-armed ships. In 1985 David Lange's Labour government declined a visit by the USS Buchanan on the basis that it might be capable of carrying nuclear weapons, and the United States would neither confirm nor deny this. The United States then suspended its ANZUS security obligations to New Zealand, and New Zealand was classified as a friend, not an ally. Sources disagree on when the suspension came: Te Ara's Cold War entry and NZHistory's 1980s overview place it after the nuclear-free legislation of 1987 (see New Zealand becomes nuclear free), but Te Ara's entry on the United States says it had already happened by then, and Wikipedia dates the American announcement to a meeting in San Francisco in 1986. National adopted Labour's anti-nuclear stance in 1990. Relations with the United States thawed in the early 21st century, but NZHistory notes that the treaty relationship was not revived."],"sources":[{"title":"ANZUS treaty comes into force","url":"https://nzhistory.govt.nz/anzus-comes-into-force","publisher":"NZHistory, Manatū Taonga"},{"title":"The Cold War – Treaties and alliances","url":"https://nzhistory.govt.nz/page/treaties-and-alliances","publisher":"NZHistory, Manatū Taonga"},{"title":"The Cold War – Last decade","url":"https://nzhistory.govt.nz/war/new-zealand-and-the-cold-war/1980s-and-end-of-the-cold-war","publisher":"NZHistory, Manatū Taonga"},{"title":"Korean War – Impact of the war","url":"https://nzhistory.govt.nz/war/korean-war/impact","publisher":"NZHistory, Manatū Taonga"},{"title":"The 1980s – Overview","url":"https://nzhistory.govt.nz/culture/the-1980s/overview","publisher":"NZHistory, Manatū Taonga"},{"title":"Foreign policy and diplomatic representation – Alliance diplomacy, 1950s to 1970s","url":"https://teara.govt.nz/en/foreign-policy-and-diplomatic-representation/page-5","publisher":"Te Ara — the Encyclopedia of New Zealand"},{"title":"United States and New Zealand – Allies, 1939–1984","url":"https://teara.govt.nz/en/united-states-and-new-zealand/page-2","publisher":"Te Ara — the Encyclopedia of New Zealand"},{"title":"United States and New Zealand – Nuclear-free 1980s","url":"https://teara.govt.nz/en/united-states-and-new-zealand/page-3","publisher":"Te Ara — the Encyclopedia of New Zealand"},{"title":"Cold War – The last decade: the 1980s","url":"https://teara.govt.nz/en/cold-war/page-5","publisher":"Te Ara — the Encyclopedia of New Zealand"},{"title":"Doidge, Frederick Widdowson","url":"https://teara.govt.nz/en/biographies/5d20/doidge-frederick-widdowson","publisher":"Te Ara — the Encyclopedia of New Zealand"},{"title":"Berendsen, Carl August","url":"https://teara.govt.nz/en/biographies/4b25/berendsen-carl-august","publisher":"Te Ara — the Encyclopedia of New Zealand"},{"title":"McIntosh, Alister Donald Miles","url":"https://teara.govt.nz/en/biographies/5m13/mcintosh-alister-donald-miles","publisher":"Te Ara — the Encyclopedia of New Zealand"},{"title":"ANZUS","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ANZUS","publisher":"Wikipedia"}]}