Culture and Identity: New Zealand's Participation in International Conflict
International Conflict: An Introduction
What constitutes conflict? How is it caused? The fundamental questions explore the nature of violence, probing whether humans are inherently violent or if specific conditions foster violence. Violence isn't limited to physical acts but includes psychological elements like verbal abuse and exclusion.
Cultures or nations may exhibit violence due to ideologies of power, superiority, entitlement, identity issues, political, military, or economic structures, and historical events. Propaganda's role in promoting conflict is significant.
International Conflict: Direct vs. Structural Violence
Violence extends beyond direct military action (e.g., bombings) to structural, political, and economic forms. Examples include unfair trade terms or punitive sanctions leading to poverty, inadequate healthcare, and premature deaths, particularly among children.
Conflicts between countries often stem from the desire to control colonies, which are countries overtaken by stronger nations with advanced weaponry. Britain, an early industrial leader, aimed to dominate, leading to competition among nations like Germany for global power, resource exploitation, and control over land and labor.
Exploitation Through War
Industrial and technological advancements facilitated the development of new weapons and transport. Societies cultivated warrior values and training. Britain expanded its empire, requiring better organization and preparation, which led to schools that fostered obedience in the poor and leadership skills in the elite.
Preparation for war started early, with a noble death in battle considered more honorable. War, as a tool for expansion, involves military offense with weapons. Warrior values and skills were prized, sometimes involving cannibalism. Weapons' evolution led to increasingly lethal consequences for innocents.
Key vocabulary :
War:
Patriotism:
Militarism:
Defaulters:
Pacifism:
Conscientious objection:
Civil liberties:
Propaganda:
Conscription:
The South African War (1899-1902)
New Zealand sent troops to assist Britain in expanding its empire into South Africa to mine gold and diamonds. Prime Minister Richard Seddon sent 6,500 men and 8,000 horses.
Some New Zealanders, such as James Grey, criticized the war, suggesting it was driven by the prospect of gold and diamonds. Grey advocated focusing on New Zealand's defense, questioning why colonies should fight in foreign conflicts.
Anti-War Sentiments and Patriotism
Although no organized anti-war movement existed, some, like the New Zealand Women’s National Council, opposed the war, advocating for peaceful resolution of disputes. There was a rising tide of patriotism and militarism, but some individuals refused to salute the flag.
Britain’s War Tactics and Māori Involvement
To win, Britain ordered the destruction of Boer homes, implements, and livestock. Women and children were placed in concentration camps where many died. Māori forces were initially rejected by the British on racist grounds but were later sought during WWI.
New Zealand in Samoa (1914-1962)
Samoa, comprised of six main islands and smaller islands, was occupied by Britain, Germany, and the US in the 19th century. The colonizers divided Samoa in 1899 without consulting the Samoans.
The outbreak of WWI led to a series of events in motion.
Key vocabulary:
Mandate:
Banished:
Exiled:
Mau.
Mau was an unarmed opposition movement asserting the right to Samoan self-governance against New Zealand’s colonial ‘mandate’ by passive resistance, such as refusing to pay taxes. Mau uniform of blue lavalava with a white band insignia made their cause highly visible, especially in public parades.
Timeline of Events
1915: NZ sent a replacement Relief Force of 360 men to Samoa.
1918: NZ authorities allowed a ship with influenza sufferers to disembark in Apia, causing an epidemic that killed 22% to 30% of Samoans. American Samoa's medical assistance was rejected.
1920: The League of Nations granted New Zealand the mandate over Samoa, which was opposed by Samoans.
1921: Samoan MPs requested self-governance, which was rejected.
1922-1926: The Samoan Offenders Ordinance Act banished 50 Samoan leaders for non-compliance with New Zealand administrators.
1923: George Richardson tried to replace traditional Samoan villages with 'model villages.'
1927: The 'Maintenance of Authority in Native Affairs Ordinance' criminalized inciting disaffection towards New Zealand authority, leading to banishments and exile for Olaf Nelson and others.
1928: Olaf Nelson's petition to the League of Nations was denied. Colonel Stephen Allen arrived with armed forces. Refusal to pay taxes was a key Mau strategy.
1929: Black Saturday - Police gunfire killed 11, including Mau leader Tupua Tamasese, who urged peace. Fifty others were injured, one New Zealand constable also died.
1930: Samoa Seditious Organisation Regulations makes it illegal to identify or show approval of Mau. The penalty for appearing to do so was a year in prison.
1934: Olaf Nelson was exiled for 10 years for ‘aiding and abetting the Mau’
1935: Labour PM Savage’s Samoa administrator rejected Samoa’s request for protectorate status to give Samoa autonomy over its internal affairs, but by 1936 the Mau was recognised as a legitimate political organisation, electing their own representatives. Nelson’s exile was overturned and he was welcomed back to Apia by 15 000 people. As conditions improved, Mau ‘faded from the scene’.
1962: Samoa achieved independence and signed a Friendship Treaty with New Zealand.
2002: PM Helen Clark apologized for past harm, including mismanagement of the flu epidemic, banishment of Mau leaders, and the Black Saturday shootings.
2021: Samoa’s 60th anniversary of independence and the Friendship Treaty with New Zealand was celebrated by both Prime Ministers and others in Apia.
Samoan and New Zealand Perspectives
Samoans desired self-governance based on their customs, against authoritarian rule. New Zealand viewed its mandate as a reward for supporting Britain, though some questioned New Zealand's capability to govern others, with racist, paternalistic, and militaristic policies.
New Zealand laws undermined Samoan customs, limited political representation, and applied different laws to different races. The administration's mindset was that imperial control was a natural state of affairs, and Samoans were not entitled, or could not govern themselves.
World War 1 (1914-1918) raised questions in New Zealand on:
Militarism:
Empire:
Power:
Democracy:
Civil rights:
Ethics:
Humanity:
Pacifism:
Brotherhood:
Christianity (NZ was a far more religious country than it is now):
Viewpoints on War
Calls from the Empire urged New Zealand to join Britain in war. Opposition voices included:
Archibald Baxter: Passive resistance is the ultimate power.
Princess Te Puea: Enough blood has been shed.
Kier Hardie: Workers should unite, not fight each other.
Dr. Alfred Salter: War is incompatible with Christian values.
Some Māori and Pākehā refused military service for similar reasons.
Christian Pacifists refused to support all war regardless of divisions such as nationality.
Māori views varied; some leaders believed that participation in Empire forces would improve Māori equality with Pakeha.
Princess Te Puea's Opposition
Princess Te Puea opposed support of all colonial wars. She also objected to Pomare’s iwi being exempted from conscription while resisters from her iwi were forcibly taken to Narrow Neck military camp in Auckland.
Those who refused military uniforms were sent to Mt Eden Prison for two years of hard labour.
New Zealand Government View
PM Seddon believed that unconditional military service affirmed national loyalty and good citizenship. The 1909 Defence Act introduced compulsory military training for 11 to 21 year-old males.
Children were conditioned for militarism by the glorification of Empire and portrayal of war heroes as role models. This was reinforced by events such as visiting a warship as well as school cadet training.
Public Sentiment and Propaganda
Many New Zealanders embraced militarization and welcomed war with enthusiasm. Propaganda demonizing enemies boosted enlistment and led to harassment of minorities. New Zealand troops were portrayed as 'privileged' to participate in a historic operation.
As disillusionment grew, propaganda emphasized the 'nobility of dying for the nation.' Conscription was enforced, and conscientious objectors faced severe penalties.
Conscription and Conscientious Objection
Conscientious objectors faced a penalty of up to five years hard labor for refusal to participate in war. Despite several Labour MPs opposing the Military Service Bill, War Regulations toughened to define ‘sedition’ to include any opposition to conscription or interference with recruiting or war production.
Resistance to the 1909 Defence Act came from the organisations such as the Passive Resisters Union (PRU) who persuaded many men not to attend drills.
Treatment of Conscientious Objectors
Those who refused government edicts faced punishment and loss of civil rights. Archibald Baxter and Mark Briggs were conscripted but refused military service, enduring harsh treatment in Britain and France.
David Grant writes that Baxter and Briggs were…
‘Ordinary men caught up in extraordinary circumstances…
They and other transported objectors were tortured in varying degrees in the most astonishing recorded instance of State-sanctioned cruelty which New Zealanders ever inflicted on fellow New Zealanders.
Many faced ostracism and job loss.
The media condemned them.
They faced an authoritarian, compliant, vengeful, immature and subservient neo-colonial state to whom disagreement, let alone rebellion, was hateful to its good order…
conscientious objectors handled this in ways New Zealanders respect, with humility, determination, idealism, strength of character and sacrifice.’
World War Two
‘Both with gratitude for the past, and with confidence for the future, we range ourselves without fear beside Britain. Where she goes we go…’ PM Savage at the outbreak of WW2.
Pacifist Voices and Socialist Opposition
In 1939, three pacifists, Rev. Ormond Burton, Neil Trail and Michael Young pleaded in parliament grounds that New Zealand does not join the war. Methodist church leaders ruled that church pulpits are not to be used to discourage recruitment, or to recruit.
Socialists, on the other hand, opposed supporting wars they saw as struggles between capitalist powers over profits, colonies and world domination.
Response to Dissent and Government Actions
Alongside volunteering efforts, an anti-conscription movement emerged, with the government responding by suppressing dissent and censoring information. The Labour Party distanced itself from the Peace and Anti-Conscription Conference (PACC).
Government introduced Emergency Regulations widening police powers.
Anti-militarist Keva Bronson was arrested and deported.
Declared PACC a political body, watched by the police. It lost Labour members and became subdued.
Suppression of Opposition
Censorship was implemented, and individuals faced imprisonment for speaking against militarism. This was now treated as a crime.
Example: a pacifist family had to leave their farm to serve at a military base. Pro-militarist Armed Force Appeal Boards denied that most COs were sincere in their beliefs.
Defining Legitimate Conscientious Objection
PM Fraser only accepted pacifists with longstanding membership in pacifist religious body such as the Quakers or Christadelphians as legitimate.
Those appointed the boards were pro-militarist and manipulated and publicly humiliated appellants.
Rex Mason, Minister of National Service and MP Walter Nash knew that Appeal Boards did not judge fairly but thought it too late to remove objectors from their jurisdiction without raising too many questions in public, given impacts of decisions so far.
Detention and Camp Conditions
Detention in New Zealand meant 1 200 men eventually faced confinement and public disapproval. Camp inmates, aware of labour shortages, offered to work in mental hospitals, clean up after floods, do farm work or repair roads. was not allowed.
Britain realised that small numbers of pacifists were not a threat. But more than any other country in the western world in WW2, New Zealand’s judiciary, under emergency law, punished pacifist harshly.
Non-Cooperation and Punishments
Severe cold, poor clothing, and isolation were part of the punishment. Hautu and Strathmore Camp temperatures often fell to -10°.
Solitary confinement
Loss of meal
Extra hard labour
Loss of visting rights
Being transfered to harsher imprisonment facilities
Efforts for Release and Contrasting Perspectives
Pacifists Lincoln Efford, Archie Baxter, and CPS kept petitioning for their release.Britain, Australia, Canada and America protected civil liberties of their citizens, so did not give up democratic principles on the pretext of ‘protecting’ them by conscription or crackdowns on dissent.
Historian David Grant describes New Zealand as the most authoritarian of all the western allies during WW2.
Post-War Realities
All were released by late May 1946. Conscientious objectors were unable to re-join the civil service or teach in schools.
Movements Against War
Movements against war were joined by one of New Zealand’s bravest military heroes of WWI, Ormond Burton.
Peace Pledge Union “We renounce war and never again, directly or indirectly will we sanction another.”
Vengeful WWI settlement terms were seen by many as a precursor of WW2.
Worldwide Deaths
WWI: 22 million people died, 6 to 13 million were civilians, and 50 to 55 million died due to the ensuring flu pandemic.
WW2: 70 to 85 million people died, with 50 to 55 million civilians. $25.3\%$ of Belarussians died.
New Zealand Deaths
WWI: 103,000 soldiers fought in Gallipoli and Europe, with 18,060 deaths and 41,317 wounded.
WW2: 105,000 soldiers were sent overseas, with 11,700 deaths and 19,314 wounded.
Compulsory Military Training (CMT)
CMT continued until 1930, though challenged by some. Public Petition In 1930, the No More War movement, with help from some churches, Labour branches, Trade Union and the Women’s Christian Temperance Union, presented parliament with a petition against CMT signed by 15 000.
A.C. Barrington, national secretary of Methodist Young Men’s Bible Class Movement (4,000 members) presented the 1935 Methodist Conference a peace covenant for those over 18 advocating total repudiation of war, including all duties under military control.
Ideologies Supporting Colonization
Ideologies and beliefs from beyond that underpinned expressions of power
Ideologies and beliefs from within that underpinned expressions of power
Ideologies and beliefs from within and beyond that underpinned expressions of resistance
Ideologies and beliefs from beyond that underpinned expressions of power
Survival of the fittest
Racial superiority
British Empire
Power ‘proves’ we’re God’s chosen people
Entitlement
Capitalism
Economic and military power is proof of strength and the right to rule widely
New Zealand wasn’t a big power, so what made it seem a good idea to join imperial wars?
Ideologies and beliefs from within that underpinned expressions of power
There was a general acceptance of war as a legitimate means of settling disputes and establishing power relationships. How and why did people and groups contribute to or oppose international conflicts? Why did some people refuse to go to war?
Expressions of Resistance
People who supported peace and justice worldwide opposed colonialism and exploitation. New Zealand’s war resisters defended democratic civil rights to refuse to be conscripted to train to kill or to support violence.
Changing Perspectives on International Conflicts
The number of New Zealand soldiers sent abroad after 1945 was small compared to earlier wars. New Zealand health and aid workers worked with civilians in the Vietnam war zone. Journalists reported publicly directly from the Vietnam war zone.
Why Did New Zealand's Involvement Change Over Time?
From 1960 information about suffering inflicted by our allies was seen on television screens. Compassionate responses became more popular than military force to support aggression.
Underpinning rising opposition to superpower demands for allied support for aggression abroad, was a steady growth in support for human rights as embodied in United Nations Declarations of Human Rights after WW2 ended.
Social and Economic Impact of Wars
During WWI, New Zealand benefitted economically from food exports to Britain, and women experienced opportunities to work in new fields outside the home. But New Zealand’s participation in the war resulted in 5% of New Zealand men of military age being killed.
Remembrance and Forgotten Aspects
Many choose to remember and honor the size of national sacrifices, but say little about our role at Gallipoli, its futility, and its scale and horror of all war carnage, especially that inflicted on civilians. In 2008 PM Helen Clark extended a Crown apology to New Zealand’s Vietnam War veterans for how they were treated after serving the New Zealand government in a controversial war, and the mental, physical and intergenerational trauma suffered.
ANZAC Day
ANZAC Day is perhaps the most widely, ‘religiously’ observed day of the year in New Zealand. It is a day to commemorate those sacrificed to wars of the past; a day some fear overly sanitises memories or sentimentalises myths about past wars.
ANZAC Days show what some want to be remembered or forgotten.