ANZAC Day
I don't understand ANZAC Day. I mean, I understand the history, I know what happened on April 25 1915. Possibly it's because I know this history that I don't understand the way we treat ANZAC Day now.
91 years ago the Australia and New Zealand Army Core was part of a failed invasion of Turkey. Over 130,000 soldiers died over the next 8 months (that's 500 people a day). For what? Well it was part of an on-going war, which historians sometimes blame on railway timetables (Germany couldn't mobilise against Russia without also mobilising against France etc.), but like most wars it was a fight over resources.
New Zealand actually benefitted from this, we became the colonial power that controlled Samoa. This resulted in a large number of Samoans dying of the flu, because our economic interests were more important than quarantine. But that's not what people talk about when it comes to ANZAC day. They don't say 'they died so we could have a colony of our own to fuck over'. They say 'they died for our freedom'. Which is just not true.
I do think we should remember the men who died at Gallipolli (some of them were only 19), and I do think we should say never again. But what we should be remembering is that those men were lied to, and led to the slaughter. We should be remembering, not that they made a sacrifice, but they were sacrificed.
But we didn't mean it when we said 'never again'. Since 1915 we've contributed troops to many other imperialist wars. At the moment New Zealand has troops in Afganistan and the Solomons. We send troops around the globe either to protect our business interests (like in the Solomons), or to promote the business interests of our allies (like Afganistan).
For once I don't have disagreements to offer. If you can bring yourself to watch the news on ANZAC Day, you're presented with a seemingly unending stream of pompous cant.
ReplyDeleteIf we were to set up ANZAC Day ceremonies on the basis of "Let's just keep in mind how all these poor sods were conscripted into the armed forces and sent off to be shot or worse for no good reason, and make sure we don't get fooled again", well then I could be a proud participant in ANZAC Day like (it seems) damn near everyone else. But we don't - we have participating in a failed invasion of Turkey presented as some kind of sacrifice that we might live in freedom. It's wishful thinking on a colossal scale, and depressing to see our kids sucked in by it year after year.
Your views are misguided but I doubt they will change.
ReplyDeleteIt not about honouring or commemorating war, its about honouring and commemorating those who gave their lives for the folly of war.
Good luck on the radical anti-imperialist crusade, etc.
ANZAC Day is about glorifying militarism, in short, and we are indoctrinated from a very young age (witness the many children at dawn parades).
ReplyDeleteThis year, I tried (in my own way) to celebrate Conchie Day, in memory and solidarity with all those jailed (and worse) as conscientous objectors. I liked doing that, I think it's a tradition I'll continue.
Do you have any examples of NZ business interests in the Solomons that the intervention is protecting? I thought all the business people there were from China, or Taiwan. Or is there some secret conspiracy between NZ and China (or Taiwan) for us to send troops there as a proxy?
ReplyDeleteWhat I find hard to put together is that these rememberance ceremonies (here and abroad)are attended/presided over by the very people that make the decisions to send the cannon fodder off to fight.
ReplyDeleteThe hypocracy is almost equal to Bush presense at the Rosa Parks' Funeral.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteSome of the things you say are right. But how about you save them for the other 364 days of the year? There is enough virtue and respectability in our past wartime thoughts and deeds to fill in one day in April. I thank you for thinking, I don't thank you for offending me. Your understanding is incomplete, Maia.
ReplyDeleteVirtue and respectability in our wartime thoughts and deeds?
ReplyDeleteIf, as you said g, we recognise the folly of war why do we ignore the passifists who protested against the war?
War is about the slaughter of millions, and there is nothing honourable about that. Remembering the past should ensure that we never go to war again - remembering the pointlessness of war, the innocent people that died, and the fact that there must always be a better way.
"Lest we forget"
Belatedly: I commemorate Anzac Day because Gallipoli was tragic, horrible, pointless, and because it shaped New Zealand's cultural identity in countless ways. You know what I think about during Anzac Day? Those poor pricks dying in the trenches, in the mud, with gangrene. So save the condescending crap. This hectoring bullshit about how we poppy-wearers don't really *understand*, maaaan, and we're just glorifying war and colonialism... it couldn't be more tiresome. Yeah, there may be a few 'war-glorifiers' among those at the dawn services around the country, but how about giving most of us some credit for complex feelings like empathy? Horror? Grief? Respect for the dead? The desire to prevent war in future?
ReplyDeleteIncidentally, why do you think that most historians point to Gallipoli as one of the seminal moments in the development of a distinct New Zealand identity? Because, as you say in your post, *those soldiers were lied to*, and the country knew it. We still know it. Why do you think we began to culturally distance ourselves from Britain after WWI? Do you think we're the first generation to notice that we were cannon fodder? Give your forebears some credit.