HIST128: WWI

Context and national identity in the Great War

• War is framed as the Great War, with emphasis on sacrifice and remembrance; World War I only makes sense in hindsight as part of a broader sequence with World War II (and vice versa). The lecture uses the term “Great War” and notes its long shadows in later events.
• Patriotism vs. pacifism are both prominent during wartime; patriotism surges as a motivator to support war, while pacifist voices are simultaneously strengthened and visible.
• Domestic sovereignty and empire: prior to 1907 New Zealand is part of the British Empire but gains greater self-government as a dominion; London still makes many of the critical foreign policy decisions, so domestic affairs become central but in a framework controlled by Britain.
• South Africa War (1899–1902) as a reference point: NZ, as a British dominion, mobilizes patriotism and loyalty; the All Blacks (rugby) symbolize national identity alongside empire ties.
• By 1907, New Zealand is a dominion; imperial decisions about war and peace center in Britain, even as NZ engages in its own military planning and sacrifice.
• War participation is a massive national undertaking:
  • Expeditionary Force from NZ: $ext{nearly }100{,}000$ soldiers and nurses served;
  • Some NZ volunteers also served with British and Australian forces overseas (approx. $3{,}000$).
  • This level of participation represented about 10 ext{% of the population} at the time.
• Focus on sacrifice: the lecture foregrounds who dies, who serves, and how sacrifice is counted and remembered, with emphasis on the moral and societal impact.

NZ forces, conscription, and mobilization

• The Expeditionary Force and early mobilization:
  • NZ sent roughly $100{,}000$ soldiers and nurses; $3{,}000$ served with British/Australian forces abroad. This reflects a substantial portion of the population serving overseas (about $10\%$).
• Casualties and sacrifice:
  • Killed or died of wounds: $16{,}781$; roughly $15\%\, ext{per thousand}$ of the population at the time.
  • This rate was second only to Britain within the wider Empire.
• Conscription timeline:
  • Up to 1916, NZ relied on voluntary enlistment; by 1916 conscription is introduced (Military Service Act, 1916).
  • End of the war: total conscripts who joined the NZ Expeditionary Force exceed $30{,}000$.
  • Disparity in mobilization: volunteers vastly outnumber conscripts (roughly $70:30$ volunteers to conscripts).
  • Reasons for conscription: fairness and the need to sustain reinforcements as voluntary enlistments declined; exemptions applied to essential industries and certain family circumstances (e.g., sole breadwinner, farm work, wharf work, etc.).
• Samoa and the Pacific operation (early war):
  • Within 48 hours of war being declared, Britain asks NZ to occupy German Samoa.
  • NZ response: ~$1{,}400$ men mobilized within five days; six cruises; three infantry companies and an artillery unit; occupation of Apia (August 20).
  • This operation integrates NZ into regional and imperial military commitments and becomes a model for rapid mobilization.
• The Middle East and the ANZAC framework:
  • Two NZ brigades deployed, ready within a month; they reach Alexandria on $12/03/1914$ (British/European dating).
  • Two Australian brigades added; NZ and Australia operate together in the Middle East, especially around the Suez Canal defense against Turkish forces (January–February).
  • ANZAC entity: the Australia and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) forms in the Middle East, a symbol of shared regional defense and imperial cooperation.

Gallipoli, the Anzac legend, and memory-building

• Gallipoli campaign (April 25, 1915 – December 19, 1915):
  • NZ casualties at Gallipoli: approximately $8{,}500$ NZers involved; around $2{,}700$ killed; comparisons include approximately $8{,}000$ Australians and $21{,}000$ British killed; roughly $198{,}000$ wounded across all forces in the campaign.
  • The campaign is a military failure, yet it becomes a powerful site for myth-making and national identity formation.
  • Anzac myth: combines courage, endurance, loyalty, mateship, humor, and decency in the face of dreadful odds; the myth helps NZers make sense of loss and frame sacrifice as national character-building.
  • The idea of a “baptism of blood”: Gallipoli is a foundational moment that births a national consciousness, even as the operation fails strategically.
  • The conflict’s brutality is acknowledged within the legend; humor and critique coexist with heroism.
• The frontlines, habitats, and the harsh reality:
  • Gallipoli’s environment: small beaches, extreme heat/cold, disease, and challenging terrain; the depiction of assaults (e.g., attempts to scale ridges) shows the futility and courage alike.
  • A notable local hero: Captain Malone of Wellington (Chi/Chunuk Beer episode) refused an order to advance, highlighting individual acts of judgment in a war of massive pressure and miscommunication; he was killed by allied shellfire.
• Maori and Pacific participation:
  • Maori troops participated at Gallipoli; some prominent Maori figures argued for loyalty to empire while others questioned participation in a land war tied to land grievances.
  • The Waikato Kingitanga figure Princess Te Puea and Taōrangi Hiroa debated allegiance, with debates about whether Maori should participate; some Maori leaders prioritized land rights and protection of home soil.
  • The Maori contingent’s entry at Anzac Cove signifies a turning point in the integration of Maori and other indigenous communities into the national story of military service.
• Conscription on the home front and social debates:
  • The home-front debate includes conscientious objectors (e.g., Tapuia) and the pressures of ballot-based conscription; this reveals broad social and political divisions.
  • The act of conscription is connected to the idea of national sacrifice and the pressure to ensure equitable burden-sharing across communities.
• The broader Western narrative and the shift in empire relations:
  • After Gallipoli, NZ’s self-perception begins to shift from a colonial outpost to a more autonomous contributor within the imperial framework.
  • The campaign strengthens NZ’s sense of national purpose but also reveals the limits of imperial promises and military leadership.
• Cultural memory devices and monuments:
  • Anzac Day becomes the national commemorative day (April 25), shifting from Armistice Day (November 11) in other parts of the Empire.
  • The eternal memorialization of those who died, including the building of national monuments; the unknown soldier concept emerges through the Imperial War Graves Commission.
  • The family and community narratives (e.g., mothers’ sacrifices) become central to public memory and national identity.
• Home-front social roles and gendered sacrifice:
  • On the home front, women bear a significant, albeit often less visible, portion of sacrifice and labor; maternal sacrifice (suffering from the loss of sons) becomes a major motif in the public discourse.
  • Biblical imagery (e.g., Mary and Jesus) is used to frame maternal loss as noble sacrifice and shared burden across families.

The Western Front: scale, battles, and human cost

• The NZ Division and command structure in Europe:
  • NZ Division commanded by Major General Andrew Russell; composed of 3–4 battalions under brigades; deployed in 1916–1918 and engaged until the armistice in November 1918.
• Key battles and casualties:
  • Major battles include the Somme, Passchendaele, Ypres, and Mezine (Meuse–Argonne references vary by source); these battles are central to NZ’s front-line experience.
  • NZ casualties on the Western Front: roughly $13{,}000$ killed; about $35{,}000$ wounded.
  • The question of “which is worse: killed or wounded?” is foregrounded, with the moral weight of killing versus enduring injury highlighted.
• Logistics of war and medical care:
  • Wounded soldiers were often evacuated to Britain for hospital care, underscoring the geographic remoteness of the NZ homeland from front-line action.
  • The Armistice ends the fighting in 1918, after which influenza (the 1918-19 pandemic) becomes a further deadly blow; in the lecture, it’s described as a “COVID of the times.”
• The cost of empire and political consequences:
  • The Western Front bears the heaviest toll for NZ and the wider Empire, reinforcing the idea that sacrifice serves imperial purposes while also laying groundwork for postwar political status.

Maori and ethnic dimensions of participation

• Early attitudes and eventual participation:
  • Initially, the British were reluctant to deploy native troops; Maori were treated with a colonial hierarchy that categorized they as “cannon fodder” or “fighting stock.”
  • The New Zealand Pioneer Battalion (France, 1916) began as a mixed Maori/Pakeha unit, later evolving into units predominantly composed of Maori soldiers by 1917; this shift marks a significant redefinition of national belonging and military capability.
• Specific figures and milestones:
  • 450 Maori initially participated; later, involvement expanded to Maori-only units; Pacific Islanders also included within the broader NZ force composition.
  • By February 1927, about $336$ Maori soldiers had died in action, with many more maimed or injured; this data underlines the long-term impact of the war on Maori communities.
• Representations and memory:
  • The 1917 onwards era marks a shift in public attention and media coverage toward Maori contributions (reels, hakas, and other cultural expressions) as a central part of the national narrative.
  • The emergence of cultural representations (haka, media coverage) helped to redefine national identity and the place of Maori within it.
• Different iwi perspectives and internal debates:
  • Some iwi embraced military service as a pathway to national recognition and equality; others, including voices from the Kingitanga and Taioanga/historic leaders, emphasized land rights and pacifist or anti-war positions.
• The broader moral and political context:
  • The war’s social costs intersect with discussions about eugenics, gender roles, and national development; the experience shaped conceptions of citizenship and belonging in the postwar era.

Home front, society, and the ethics of sacrifice

• The Sinking of the troop ship Marquette (October 1915):
  • The loss of 10 nurses and 19 medical corps members highlights the dangers faced by medical personnel and the cost borne by women in service roles.
  • Nurses’ Chapel at the hospital commemorates these losses and expands into wider memorial purposes, acknowledging nurses across all wars.
• The war’s social and economic costs:
  • The cost of war to the state and to families is vast; the war expenditure is described in the transcript as substantial (e.g., a figure such as £100,000) and raised through government spending and home-front fundraising.
  • Homes and communities are disrupted; 110{,}000 men and their families are deeply affected by military service, and the dead, wounded, and those imprisoned for dissent or conscientious objection leave lasting scars on communities.
• Health, fitness, and eugenics-era ideas:
  • The war catalyzes attention to health, fitness, and “fitness as a measure of national strength.”
  • Conscription exposes a high rate of medical unfitness among volunteers (about $58\%$ failed medical) compared with some other nations (e.g., Australia around $36\%$), challenging the myth of a uniformly healthy population.
  • The period fosters early eugenics practices and ideas about improving the nation’s fitness through breeding and health interventions (e.g., Truby King and Plunkett associations); emphasis on dental health becomes a central technical focus.
• Dental and medical legacies:
  • The New Zealand Dental Corps established in November 1915 to treat recruits’ teeth; massive emphasis on dental health grows into preventive dentistry postwar.
  • Orthopaedic surgery advances, prosthetics, and plastic surgery: NZ surgeons such as Sir Henry Pickerill and Sir Harold Gillies contribute to pioneering procedures for recovered soldiers; these techniques translate to benefits for civilian medicine after the war.
  • The transfer of military medical facilities to the health department helps to build postwar health infrastructure and public health improvements (early 1920s).
• Recuperation and healing spaces:
  • War veterans and recovering soldiers are treated in places like Hamner Springs and Queen Mary Hospital; these facilities become centers of recuperation and later influence broader health and rehabilitation approaches.
  • The idea of recuperation spaces, hot pools, and therapeutic landscapes evolves into a cultural memory of healing as part of national welfare.
• The end of empire, memory, and political shifts:
  • NZ’s postwar status is shaped by these sacrifices: NZ gains participation rights at Versailles and in the League of Nations discussions, moving toward equal international standing within the British imperial framework.
  • The wartime experience feeds into later policy shifts, including New Zealand’s nuclear-free movement in the 1980s, illustrating long-term political and cultural implications of trauma and memory.

Memory, monuments, and national symbolism

• The national commemorations:
  • Anzac Day anchors national memory around the Gallipoli experience, emphasizing sorrow and loss over glorification, with an emphasis on the shared suffering of families and communities.
  • The white poppy and red poppy symbolism appears in public discourse and memorial practices, linking the contemporary memory to the historical dead.
• Cemeteries and memorials:
  • The Imperial War Graves Commission (Commonwealth War Graves Commission) ensures soldiers are commemorated in place; the concept of tombs and cemeteries becomes a central element of memory, including the use of specific cemeteries such as those at Lutens (Belgium) with iconic commemorative architecture.
  • The idea of the unknown soldier emerges as a symbol for all soldiers who could not be identified; it becomes a focal point of national memory and ritual.
• The landscape of memory:
  • Local landscapes (towns, cemeteries, monuments) reflect the social and demographic impact of the war; the legacy of lost generations shapes postwar population and community identity.
• Public health and memory:
  • The war’s medical and health legacies feed into long-term public health memory; rehabilitative facilities become sites of memory and historical reflection for future generations.

Conclusions: the Great War’s enduring impact on New Zealand

• The Great War reframed New Zealand as a nation within the British Empire and as a participant with its own national memory and identity.
• The war’s brutal costs—on the Western Front and at Gallipoli—were deep and lasting, influencing public memory, gender roles, health policy, and political development.
• The Anzac legend, while rooted in courage and sacrifice, sits alongside complex debates about colonialism, indigenous agency, and the ethics of conscription and war resistance.
• The postwar period sees a reorientation toward national sovereignty in certain arenas (e.g., Versailles participation, League of Nations membership) and a broader re-evaluation of empire in both political and cultural life.
• The lecture links these historical threads to contemporary memory and policy, including the 1980s shift toward New Zealand’s nuclear-free stance, underscoring how the memory of the Great War continues to influence national values and political choices.

Key dates and numbers (at a glance)

• NZ Expeditionary Force: $ext{≈}100{,}000$ soldiers and nurses; $3{,}000$ with British/Australian forces; about $10\%$ of the population.
• Casualties:
  • Killed or died of wounds: $16{,}781$;
  • Gallipoli NZ involvement: $8{,}500$ NZers; $2{,}700$ killed; Australians $8{,}000$ killed; British $21{,}000$ killed; $198{,}000$ wounded (across forces).
• Conscription and volunteers:
  • End of war conscripts: >$30{,}000$; ratio volunteers to conscripts ≈ $70:30$.
  • Maori conscription: initiated in $June 1917$.
• Western Front losses:
  • NZ: ≈$13{,}000$ killed; ≈$35{,}000$ wounded.
• Samoa and Middle East operations:
  • Samoa occupation: $1{,}400$ men in five days; six cruises; three infantry companies and artillery; August 20 occupation of Apia.
• Postwar memory and medicine:
  • 1915: NZ Army establishes the New Zealand Dental Corps; dental health becomes a major postwar public health focus.
  • 1916–1918: Orthopaedic surgery and prosthetics advance; plastic surgery pioneers (Sir Henry Pickerill, Sir Harold Gillies).
  • 1927: Maori deaths in action recorded as $336$ (in some sources); memory and military heritage intensify in communities.
  • 1932: National Anzac memorials and related commemorations solidify in NZ.
• Health and social costs:
  • Medical unfitness among volunteers around $58\%$; in Australia around $36\%$; indicates significant health gaps and the role of eugenic-era thinking in shaping policy.
• Cultural memory and monuments:
  • The unknown soldier and Commonwealth cemeteries; Anzac Day as a shared memorial date with Australia; the poppy symbolism in NZ’s memory since $1921$.
• Notable places in memory and healing:
  • Hamner Springs and Queen Mary Hospital as recuperation sites; later uses of these spaces reflect the continuity between military and civilian health services.

Notes and references in the lecture emphasize that memory, myth, and material culture (monuments, cemeteries, photographs, newspapers) shaped how New Zealanders understood sacrifice, nationhood, and the country’s place in a changing global order. The narrative highlights both the valorization of service and the critique of war’s human cost, the ethical debates around conscription, and the long-lasting impact on health, social policy, and national identity.