PRESENTATION TOPIC

“War and Australian Nationalism:

Gallipoli and the ANZAC Legend”

Wayne Muller

Griffith University

24th June 2008

Australia and the USA- Contrasting Military Legacies

• Australia has had:– No War of Independence– No civil war– No equivalent of Arlington National Cemetery

• Australia and the USA have fought together in:– WW1– WW2– Korean War– Vietnam– Gulf Wars 1 and 2– Afghanistan

• Australia and the USA both remember the sacrifices made in war:– Australia- ANZAC Day (25th of April)– USA- Memorial Day (Last Monday in May)

A Profile of “Australians at War”

• The Boer War- 1899-1902• WW1- 1914-1918• WW2- 1939-1945• The Korean War- 1950-1953• The Vietnam War- 1962-1975• Iraq War 1- 1990• Iraq War 2- 2003 to the present• Afghanistan- 2002 to the present

WW1 and the Evolution of the ANZAC Tradition

• The evolution of Australian nationalism post federation in 1901

• Reasons for Australia’ participation in WW1– England as the “Mother Country”– War and “mateship”– Genuine patriotism and concept of being a “real man”– Social pressure not to be seen as a “slacker” (coward)– War as an adventure and a chance to travel– War as “sport”– Believed that the war would be over very quickly– Effectiveness of recruitment strategies

• Recruitment

Recruiting Poster

Recruiting Poster

Patriotic Poster

• War as a manifestation of “Mateship”– Concept of “mateship”– High levels of volunteerism by rural youths– Aspects of Australian “diggers”:

• Cynical about military leaders- names of Australian generals• “Larrikin” behaviour• Very strong bonds between soldiers-> “stand by your mates”

• War as “sport” and as an adventure– Naïve conceptions of the nature of the conflict– Perception that the war would be brief– Movie “Gallipoli”- playing AFL near the pyramids

Departing for Europe

The Gallipoli Campaign

• The events of the 25th of April 1915

• A planning and military disaster which achieved nothing

• The role of war historian C W Bean in creating the mythology of ANZAC

Above Anzac Cove

Trench at Gallipoli

The “Western Front”

• More significant than the Gallipoli Campaign– Scale of conflict– Scale of casualties– Duration of conflict– Successful conclusion

Bridges Over the Somme

Bray-Sur-Somme

Light Horse Regiment

The Conscription Debates and Referenda

• The “politics” of and justifications for conscription

• The role of the Prime Minister W M Hughes

• The role of the Catholic Church

• The results of the two referenda

The Prime Minister at a Pro Conscription Rally

The Air War

The Palestine Theatre

World War 2

• The more muted significance of patriotism, nationalism and the “ANZAC Spirit”

• The theatres of WW2– The war in Europe– The desert campaigns– The Pacific campaign

• A move away from Britain to the USA as our “powerful friend”

The Desert Campaign Nth Africa

The Desert Campaign Nth Africa

The War in the Pacific

The Vietnam War

• Australia’s first ‘controversial war”• Engagement with the USA• Based on the climate created by the Cold War-

Communism versus Democracy• Also based upon the “domino principle” of the

potential spread of Communism in Asia• The controversy of conscription and the method of

selecting conscripts• The statistics on military deaths in Australia and the

USA• The first “television war” and the implications of this• Military defeat in Vietnam- implications of this• Vietnam veterans- post war traumas

Iraq Wars One and Two

• Immediate involvement of Australians in both• Iraq war 1- to repel a dictator’s invasion of

Kuwait• Iraq war 2- “Regime Change” and attempted

democratisation• Politics and controversies regarding

Australia’s involvement in Iraq War 2• Scale of Australia’s involvement- symbolic

rather than significant• The current Australian withdrawal from Iraq

The “Rebuilding” of the ANZAC Tradition

• A strategy of the conservative coalition government elected in 1996

• The personal background and values of Prime Minister John Howard

• Increasing participation in ANZAC day parades in Australia and Australians travelling to Gallipoli

• Declining role of the RSL and declining number of surviving veterans prior to Vietnam