Something about Anzac Day rubs me the wrong way, and I’m not sure what it is. A niggling voice tells me to just shut up, respect my elders and join in the jingo-fest, but as usual I’m going to poke the bear.
I think the fundamental problem I have is that Anzac Day places Gallipoli combatants on a higher level than the rest of our veterans. What, precisely, was so great about the ANZACs? Contrary to popular belief, it was not the first time Australians went to war. We served in the Boer War, the Sudan and the Boxer Rebellion, not to mention dispatching our scant military to help the Kiwis wipe out the Maoris (I guess we had some spare time after wreaking genocide on our own indigenous population). Even if it were, there is no glory in “baptism by fire.” What exactly is so honourable and noble about signing your life away to defend the interests of the British Empire, which proceeded to literally treat you like cannon fodder?
There is a lot of talk about how the ANZACs “defended our freedom.” Rubbish. No Australian freedom was being threatened on the beaches of Turkey and we all know it. If you want to talk about defending the freedom of the Europeans – defending the French and Belgians against the German war machine – that’s another matter entirely. And the Gallipoli assault was part of a larger campaign to stop that. But I just find it very hard to equate the nobility and honour of saving the innocent with the sheer dumbfuck battle tactics on display at Gallipoli, especially when it gets warped and twisted into some kind of ideal Australian value, soaked in blood. Nor when it is abused and exploited by politicians to justify our modern day wars, our blind support of the United States, our contribution to ill-planned and destructive invasions.
There’s just a bad taste to it. A subtle glorification of war. Every Australian seems to be lock-step in worshipping a generation of young men who were unfortunate enough to be brought up with an ideology where fighting in a war was still considered awesome, yet juuuuust after the mounted machinegun was widely implemented. They threw their lives away for nothing and our country applauds them for it. That’s not courageous. It’s tragic and foolish. The ANZACs made no sacrifice towards us and we owe them no debt. Perhaps the descendants of the villagers around Ypres and the Somme do, but the time of Australians would be better spent focusing on the soldiers of the Kokoda Trail and the sailors of the Coral Sea.
Ultimately, World War I is a damned stupid thing to revolve our national ideology around. It was a global tragedy caused by outdated modes of thinking and macho bullshit, taking tens of thousands of Australian lives for no purpose other than obeying the British Empire in their deep involvement in the fucked-up web of European political alliances. It was not noble, it was not honourable, and it most definitely was not Australian.
A final note: at my work, Australian flags have been hung up on all the windows. (Interestingly, this was not done for Australia Day). I rhetorically asked why we weren’t hanging up the New Zealand flag as well, and met with some blank stares.
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May 9, 2008 at 6:55 pm
ANZAC Day: They were and still ARE our legends « Leelistreet’s Weblog
[...] were and still ARE our legends A friend of mine posted a blog on his blog website called ANZAC Day talking about ANZAC Day and its commemorative value and ideas. Seeing as he’s a good writer [...]
May 12, 2008 at 9:46 pm
leelistreet
haha yes its me. how did you realise? lol
I read the article and although long winded McKenna raises some very good points. In terms of the political side of ANZAC Day, McKenna makes it quite clear that the politicians have exploited the idea of the ANZAC legend and the spirit which has continued since then for their own purposes and to sanctify the war on terrorism in Iraq. I also agree with McKenna in this respect that the exploitation of the legend has been wrong and personally I think it wrongs those who fought for us more than it could ever commemorate them.
I have never been a supporter of the Iraq war and although I don’t know most of the facts behind Iraq, what the ACTUAL situation is over there or whether or not the Iraqi people actually need help in upholding whatever justice they can gain, I still ignorantly believe that we should steadily withdraw our troops from Iraq. The fact that the ANZAC legend and ideals has been used to make it seem all right to the public is also wrong.
However my being “blown away and overwhelmed” at Hellfire Pass was because I have a deep respect for all soldiers who fought in Australia’s name, because they did and do put their lives on the line. However saying that it is all right because it was in Hellfire Pass and not Galipolli isn’t correct, because you claim that Australia didn’t fight for itself, but instead for the Empire, at Galipolli and at Hellfire Pass it did fight for itself. In fact, Hellfire Pass was actually one of the many places that POWs were forced into slave labour, beaten and killed along with thousands of other British, Dutch and American Soldiers as well as thousands more Asian men and families. Hellfire Pass was just one of the cuttings, to create the Thai-Burma “Death” Railway, on the roads from the Prisoner Camps where men were treated inhumanly by both the Japanese and the Korean soldiers.
Galipolli was a battle that saw many men slaughtered on both sides and both sides tried to glorify their actions – as do all countries in times of war – and although it was not glorious in any manor, the men that fought there still need to be commemorated and have respects paid to.
Despite what you may think of ANZAC Day, it is actually a day to commemorate all of the wars that Australia fought in – not just the first World War – it’s just held on a day that is the anniversary from a battle in the First World War because obviously the First World War came before the others and because of that and the fact that it was our first big battle as a nation, that was the day that they paid their respects on until other battles were fought. But because that was the original day they paid their respect on, they didn’t change it to another day such as July 23rd (first time troops came into contact with the Japanese on the Kokoda Trail 1942) simply because it was a battle closer to home – they had already had a national day of commemoration for 27 odd years so why change it then? But ANZAC Day is a day in which we should remember ALL soldiers who have fought in our country’s name – and the veterans who I know certainly see it this way as well. They have had no objection to it being on a day from the First World War (possibly because the meaning of WW1 is not lost on them as their direct relatives would have served in it whereas all ours are lost) and they seemed to take pleasure n knowing that the next generations are taking an interest in commemorating and remember them and their fallen comrades.
Not one of the men that I know was a weak man and the fact that they survived what they did is something that should have respects paid to in itself, because they have had to live with the knowledge and acceptance of their actions during the war and knowing that they DID take lives. Because in war there always will be men who have to kill. They’re not all sweetypies twidling their thumbs because that’s not how war is fought.
As wrong as it is they DID have to kill other men, but they had to deal with the results of their consciences as well, and some of those men were treated even worse in places where they were massacred and brutally treated in camps (eg. Sandakan where soldiers where marched to “freedom”, most of them perishing along the way). I’m yet to hear of POW camps in Australia were enemy soldiers were treated worse than Australians elsewhere. I know for a fact that POW were sent to rural farms – my granddad used to tell me fond stories of German soldiers who were sent to his farm as “prisoners” (i use that term loosely as they were actually treated fairly much like friends).
Also McKenna raised a point at the end about a police man throwing himself on a suicide bomber and how if there is such a thing as the Anzac spirit it is “epitomised, for [McKenna], in the last actions of the Iraqi policeman”, and yet there are common stories of troops doing exactly this sort of thing in WW1, WW2 and even the Vietnam War – men would see a bomb land in a trench or near by and in order to save their other comrades,would throw themselves and lie on top of the bomb, sacrificing themselves much as the police man did. So how is the ANZAC spirit so much more present in the police man from Hillah than in an Australian soldier long forgotten by the new generations?
Instead of our generation being ignorant of what the legend is, we should be learning all the history that we can, because we will be the ones to carry it on and for the men and women left who have fought, the war is one of the biggest things in their life and its one of the only things left for them. My adopted granddad Snow, who was a POW up near Hellfire Pass, spends his time going from organisation to organisation, service to service and his house is a shrine to all those he has lost and those he has left. He lost his family and half his life because of the war and is now trying to correct that by respecting those gone. My great Uncle and Aunt, who both fought in WW2 (my uncle as a fighter pilot and my aunt as a nurse), get teary whenever they talk about their battles and the friends they lost. To them what they did was a big service to the nation. I have 3 great aunts and 2 great uncles on my mothers side of the family alone, all of whom fought in WW2 and are proud of it because they feel they did serve our nation in a time of need.
perhaps its because I know so many who fought, and perhaps I am just sentimental because of that, but some of the stories that I could tell you would appal you. It’s probably because of the people that I know that I feel so strongly about ANZAC Day being commemorated and the people who fought for us being remembered and respected – not being exploited for political means, but respected for who they were and what they went through for us.
If you haven’t already, then you should go to an ANZAC Day Dawn Service – if only just so you can feel the eeriness of the 2 minutes silence and the last post being played. The political addresses are always a load of crap and can usually be ignored as political obligations and not of feeling, but the veteran addresses are always moving. It always seems different at dawn. If you go to Kings Park and stick around at around 7am I think it is the Vietnam Vets Bike Club come roaring in for the service at their memorial which you can stay for and then there’s many other memorial services at the other places around the park later on…
Sorry this turned into a essay of a comment lol.
ps. damn you read a lot of books lol
May 12, 2008 at 9:47 pm
leelistreet
crap that reall WAS BLOODY LONG.
hahaha my bad
May 13, 2008 at 9:14 am
grubstreethack
JESUS ELISHA
Okay:
However saying that it is all right because it was in Hellfire Pass and not Galipolli isn’t correct, because you claim that Australia didn’t fight for itself, but instead for the Empire, at Galipolli and at Hellfire Pass it did fight for itself. In fact, Hellfire Pass was actually one of the many places that POWs were forced into slave labour, beaten and killed along with thousands of other British, Dutch and American Soldiers as well as thousands more Asian men and families.
As horrible as that is, being forced into slave labour has nothing to do with whether they were fighting for Australia or fighting for the empire.
Despite what you may think of ANZAC Day, it is actually a day to commemorate all of the wars that Australia fought in.
Officially speaking, it’s not supposed to be. That’s just what it’s become. Remembrance Day (Nov. 11) is for all the veterans.
So how is the ANZAC spirit so much more present in the police man from Hillah than in an Australian soldier long forgotten by the new generations?
It’s not. McKenna’s point was merely that the “ANZAC spirit” is a universal quality, not an Australian one. Which is part of the problem I have with Anzac Day: something that should be about remembrance has morphed into a bizzarely twisted search for some kind of Australian identity. After 100 years, are we still that self-conscious? Do we still need to cling to this stereotype to prove ourselves to other nations? In the international arena, Australians have a huge inferiority complex, and the idea of an “Anzac Spirit” isn’t helping.
As I said before, I’m not against commemorating and remembering our veterans – even those who died for bloody pointless reasons, like those at Gallipoli. I just feel increasingly uneasy about the other purposes Anzac Day is being used for. What is supposed to be a day of solemn commemoration has become an orgy of jingoism and nationalism. Wait until you’re out of the indoctrination of Year 11/12 History classes (which, in retrospect, were enormously one-sided) and you’ll see what I mean.
ps. u r gay
May 13, 2008 at 1:35 pm
chris
ease up you two.
this is the thing that gets to me about it… you summed it all up in:
“has become an orgy of jingoism and nationalism”
May 13, 2008 at 4:52 pm
Yalın
Sorry to bud in but just wanted to give my 5 cents worth!
Well, as a Turk I know Australia did not fight for itself. If so, for what purpose?
There were almost 7500 Australian and 56000 Turkish casualties.
If Australia did defend itself against an attack, then I would say yes, ANZAC day is a day to be proud no matter what the outcome was. Yes, it would be the day to celebrate nationalism as Turks do.
What really makes me emotional is after loosing 56000 soldiers of our own, our commander Mustafa Kemal Ataturk has made the below statement:
Those heroes that shed their blood and lost their lives!
You are now lying in the soil of a friendly country. Therefore, rest in peace. There is no difference between the Johnnies and the Mehmets to us where they lie side by side, here in this country of ours.
You, the mothers who sent their sons from far away countries. Wipe away your tears. Your sons are now lying in our bosom and are in peace. After having lost their lives on this land, they have become our sons as well.
Commander Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, 1934
Who is Mustafa Kemal Ataturk?
=====================
Emerging as a military hero at the Dardanelles in 1915, he became the charismatic leader of the Turkish national liberation struggle in 1919. He blazed across the world scene in the early 1920s as a triumphant commander who crushed the invaders of his country. Following a series of impressive victories against all odds, he led his nation to full independence. He put an end to the antiquated Ottoman dynasty whose tale had lasted more than six centuries – and created the Republic of Turkey in 1923, establishing a new government truly representative of the nation’s will.
As President for 15 years, until his death in 1938, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk introduced a broad range of swift and sweeping reforms – in the political, social, legal, economic, and cultural spheres – virtually unparalleled in any other country.
August 21, 2008 at 12:10 am
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