“Prepared To Make Any Sacrifice” – How New Zealand Went To War in 1914.

By
Chris Trotter
-
43
4

unnamed

HOW DO YOU THINK New Zealand went to war in August 1914? Was Parliament asked to declare war on Germany? Were the ties of empire invoked? Was the German Emperor’s description of Belgium’s 1839 Treaty of Neutrality as a mere “scrap of paper” held up by the Prime Minister, Bill Massey, as an indisputable casus belli – cause for war? Were the Members of New Zealand’s Legislative Council and House of Representatives enjoined to stand by their King-Emperor and commit the Dominion’s armed forces to helping Britannia put Germany’s upstart Kaiser back in his box?

Massey’s conservative Reform Party would certainly have voted for war. But what about the Opposition? Would the Liberal Party leader, Joseph Ward, have dared oppose Britain, France and Russia’s war with Germany? Not likely. With an election looming in December, Ward would, almost certainly, have thought it better to play the “national unity” card. Everyone knew that the Liberal Party had never yet been defeated at the ballot-box. Bill Massey was Prime Minister only because, two years earlier, he had managed to carry a Vote of No Confidence against Ward’s predecessor. Reform was desperate for a popular mandate – especially after the events of 1912-13. On the question of whether or not to join Mr Asquith’s War, Ward would undoubtedly have thought it best to allow no daylight at all between his own party’s position and the Government’s.

But the Liberals were not the only occupants of the Opposition Benches in August 1914. Alfred Hindmarsh’s United Labour Party had two votes to cast – as did the new, more left-wing, Social Democrats. What would Paddy Webb, the firebrand socialist from the West Coast seat of Grey, have to say about New Zealand joining an imperialist war? And James McCombs, the SDP Member for Lyttelton? Why would a left-wing intellectual, and the newly-elected representative of Lyttelton’s working-class, vote for a war between Kings and Emperors?

The truth is, we shall never know how the New Zealand Parliament would have voted on the question of whether or not to go to war alongside Great Britain, the French Republic and the Russian Empire and against the empires of Germany and Austria-Hungary – for the very simple reason that all the key decisions that led New Zealand into the First World War were made in London – not Wellington.

New Zealanders officially learned that they were at war with Germany and Austria-Hungary when, on 5 August 1914, the Governor of New Zealand, one Arthur William de Brito Savile Foljambe, fifth Earl of Liverpool, stood upon the steps of Parliament, in front of a crowd of 15,000 Wellingtonians, and read the following missive from the King-Emperor, George V.

“I desire to express to my people of the Overseas Dominions with what appreciation and pride I have received the messages from their respective Governments during the last few days. These spontaneous assurances of their fullest support recall to me the generous self-sacrificing help given by them in the past to the Mother Country. I shall be strengthened in the discharge of the great responsibilities which rest upon me by the confident belief in this time of trial My Empire will stand united, calm, resolute, trusting in God.”

To which the Governor, Liverpool, responded:

TDB Recommends NewzEngine.com

“New Zealand desires me to acknowledge Your Majesty’s gracious message, and to say that come good or ill she, in company with the other dominions and dependencies of the Crown, is prepared to make any sacrifice to maintain her heritage and her birthright.”

And that was that. Flanked by the Speakers of the Legislative Council and the House of Representatives, and with the Judges of the Supreme Court and an assortment of MPs providing him with a fine patriotic backdrop, the Governor acknowledged the cheers of the King-Emperor’s subjects and returned to Government House.

Liverpool’s words were very far from being empty. In the years ahead, and in the company of “the other dominions and dependencies of the Crown”, New Zealand would send nearly a tenth of her population – 100,000 young men – to “maintain her heritage and her birthright” as a member in good standing of the British Empire. Fully 18,000 of that terrible tithe of New Zealand manhood would lose their lives in the service of King-Emperor, and a further 41,000 would be wounded.

Exactly how Liverpool, the man who in October 1913 – less than a year earlier – had authorised the deployment of military and naval personnel to suppress what came to be known as the “Great Strike”, was in any position to know what “New Zealand” thought about sending her sons to war is difficult to discern. There had been no debate by those whom “New Zealand” had elected to speak on her behalf. Nor is it clear by whose leave Liverpool authorised the making of “any sacrifice” in the name of victory. Not a single vote had been taken.

Amidst all the commemorations, and all the tearful invocations of the 18,000 young men who did not “grow old, as we grow old”, it is as well to remember that it is not in the monarchical tradition to ask the King’s (or the Queen’s) subjects if they want to – let alone whether they should! – go to war. It remains a matter for the “Executive” exclusively.

This is as true today, as a much smaller force of New Zealand soldiers prepares to depart for the Middle East, as it was in 1914 when thousands of volunteers embarked for their fateful rendezvous with terror, disfigurement and death on the sheer slopes of Gallipoli.

Lest we forget.

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

43 COMMENTS

  1. Lest We Forget…

    Probably the greatest intrusion on individual rights imposed during the war was the conscription of men into the armed forces. Those who fought at Gallipoli may have all volunteered for service in the first flowering of patriotic enthusiasm following the war’s declaration, but as the horror of their story (and that of their fellow combatants in other theatres of war) began to leak home, others became increasingly loathe to follow their example. Consequently, a great many of those whose “bravery” and “sacrifice” we celebrate on ANZAC Day did not choose to serve, but rather were compelled to do so under the threat of quite draconian legal sanction.

    And we weren’t all that enthusiastic about the sacrifices demanded either.

    • Indeed, from 1916 when conscription began, via the use of what was described at the time as ”the lottery of death” 30,000 were sent to this particular war against their will, my paternal Grandfather among them,

      I have often wondered whether the trail of industrialized mutilation of those conscripted was equal or worse than the fate of those who volunteered,(perhaps an ‘historian’ could enlighten us)…9

      • Ummm… no. Do you know what Godwin’s law is about? It isn’t about WWII. It is specifically making a reference of something to Nazis. I’m not making any reference to Nazis. I asked the question about why a Labour PM declaring war unilaterally was any difference to the Governor General.

        • Yes indeed, anyone quoting ‘a Godwin’ should go to the Wiki and have a good read of ‘Godwins Law’ while paying particular attention to the citations below the main text,

          He who dreamed up ‘Godwins Law’ has a citation there saying that there is such a thing as a reverse ‘Godwins Law’ where ‘Godwins Law’ itself is used as a tool to shut down debate,

          What Frank M has posted would seem to fit that definition where He proposes simply mentioning World war 2 is a ‘Godwin’…

    • Different wars and different circumstances. The Great War was a war in which NZ only became involved due to some imagined kind of empirical duty. NZ didn’t have a whole heap of choice about WW2, at least the Pacific part of it, the enemy was coming our way. History is obviously not one of your strong subjects, Gosman.

      • History is actually one of my strengths. You are aware of what Michael Joseph Savage stated when he stated the reason we went to war against Germany aren’t you? It had little to do with protecting our country about aggression in the Pacific.

        • @ Gasman. History might be one of your strengths but grammar certainly isn’t . ( I’m not so flash myself mind you . )

          History’s a funny old whore . It bends to whom ever finds best use for it.

          I think the reality is that until someone invents a time machine no one will ever really know what the fuck went on.

          All I know is that war sucks and it’s best not to have ‘em .

        • Good trolling Gosman, you’ve managed to divert the debate into a left v right shitfight.

          Just so everyone is clear about what I mean, the way NZ got dragged into WW1 is not a partisan left v right issue and the main point (that ordinary kiwis were not consulted) doesn’t somehow dissolve because 25 years later Labour did something similar.

          The beauty of this bit of trolling is that by making the Labour connection sully Chris Trotter’s argument by association and bait a few lefties and at the same time.

          The real issue is that those in power have a habit of unilaterally committing other people’s sons to war and nothing has changed 100 years later – all Gossy’s comment does is confirm this thesis.

  3. World War 1 and World War 2 were designed by the illuminati.
    This is mostly unknown and it goes way above governments. All
    of these wars, etc. have been planned and in the works
    for a very long time.
    Their power is sunk deep in most countries as well as our own.
    Have an open mind when reading the following as much of it
    is not told or taught or known by most people, I feel.

    The UN ; World Bank ; WTO and the Tavistock Institute – etc. . . .
    all work together and their wars perpetuate their plans towards a NWO.

    http://humansarefree.com/2011/03/3-world-wars-planned-by-illuminati.html

    • This is true wether its believed or not,all wars were instigated to make profit.
      Hitler wasn’t on his own ,he was a puppet set up by financial interests, he didn’t die by his own hand ,a lookalike was shot to be used to say Hitler was dead.Hitler like many other Nazi was rescued by American interests ,he died in late nineties in Argentina, If people just read MSM news real truth is never told for obvious reasons.
      Look beneath the surface, read Wake up New Zealand, and learn about the New World Order, its not a conspiricy theory , its reality.

  4. I call on John Key, to lead by example, and join the armed forces, to serve as a guard for the “trainers” that New Zealand and Australia have committed to go to train and thus support the Iraqi armed forces.

    Yes, Mr Key can be assured to get a “special passport”, protecting him from any possible prosecution, should he need to use a gun, in self defence, or to protect his comrades at the front line, near where ISIS are now holding territory, and fighting.

    There is no conscription, so the average New Zealander may express concern, but can otherwise lean back and watch the developments on the TV screen (as far as will be shown and allowed). Our dear politicians, and leaders, they can also sit down on their cushy chairs, in Parliament, and praise or lament the engagement that is commencing. They do not need to worry about being shot at, being maimed or even killed.

    All efforts and sacrifice will be left with those, who for personal or other reasons, have chosen a career with the forces, usually to defend their country and people, for not the best of pay. They see it as their jobs, but they are the ones risking a lot, while others simply rely on them.

    So perhaps, after all the grand speeches, the talk, the appeals and warnings to us in the public, Mr Key and Abbott will take it upon themselves, to lead by example, to defend Queen and Country, and the sponsors of their political movements, which claim to speak for us all.

    Lest we forget, the blood of the many, the foot soldiers and so, that was spilled, and lest we forget what often is behind it all, and also those, who send them off from rather safe positions.

    It is no time to be cheerful, not at all.

    And I wonder, when are the useless “media” starting to ask the hard questions, about WHY some young western youth decide to go and join IS? Could it perhaps be, they see no purpose in their own society? Could it be, that they have no faith in their leaders, often speaking with double speak or forked tongues? Could it be, they see no sense and purpose in a society that gives an individual the only “purpose” to go out and work each day, some at very low pay, in precarious jobs, to earn money, to be spent on consumer goods, to pay taxes, but for no other purpose, as being such “number”, somehow a “mercenary” or “slave”, with very little choices?

    Is it because there is no feeling and understanding of “citizenship” they have, which may not be “taught” or encouraged much in other terms? Is it that they cannot identify with a commercialised, consumerist, materialist society, where rights get cut back, where the law favours the rich and wealthy, where the dreams are choked by the bizarre, increasingly divided, unjust and also unsustainable systems we have?

    I wonder, it cannot just be “brainwashing”, there must be other reasons, but NO questions are asked. In modern day fashion, all we get is short items with “bad” images of “the bad” and how “the good” and “innocent” are affected, and how “the bad” must be fought.

    When a society leaves too many with feelings of no real purpose, and when the better off do not care, maybe some lose all hope, and dream of alternatives, some of which are tempting, but leading them into traps and disaster.

    Once the media start researching and asking questions again, instead of celebrating “brave soldiers” and presenting the old black and white, good and bad picture, then I may start take them serious again.

    I do as a migrant not relate to ANZAC Day, I fear, and many other migrants to this country will feel the same. And I have no ancestors that fought on either side.

    Lest we forget ALL fallen, for often questionable reasons and purposes!

      • @ John . You are aware of the concept of ‘ advertising ‘ ? To convince people to do things that might not necessarily be in their own best interests . Psychology used to manipulate is psychology in its most basic form.
        Personally ? I’m hugely suspicious of all authority figures and deepy mistrustful of all politicians so I’m on high alert for the smell of bull shit . Imagine then what it must be like to be a trustful and gulliable young mind with none of lifes experiences and all of lifes enthusiasm. A bright young brain rendered into pink mist in a ditch as some other racks up another dollar . War is a brutal reminder that we’re not as smart as we’re told we are .

        • Why do people generally join the armed forces? I think you will find that one of the main reason is for the opportunity to take part in a deployment to a country like Iraq.

          • How do you why people join the Armed Forces? You couldn’t possibly know all the different motivations. Methinks you are making some pretty unsustainable assumptions based on your own (narrow) worldview.

          • What a load of rubbish you spout Gosman ,young men often join up because they cant get a decent job and see the army as a career ,for some it ends up being a death sentence.
            Gosman you just argue for the sake of it ,you sad, sad, soul,you deserve all our pity, go and get some councelling .Gosman you are like a mosquito whining around us, has anyone got a can of insect spray?

          • I would assume that there are many reasons.

            Service to community and the people of their nation is likely to be high on the list. This deployment does nothing towards those two values.

            Playing with guns and tanks is another. But we shouldn’t create wars to kowtow to those who are that way inclined.

            ” I think you will find that one of the main reason is for the opportunity to take part in a deployment to a country like Iraq.”
            Disagree with you there. I have never seen a recruitment ad for the Armed Services that says: Join the army, assist in the failed invasion of another country and perpetrate chaos and destruction with no exit strategy.

          • Wake up Gosman and spend some time listening to Noam Chomsky and then you will speak with some authority and some knowledge more often rather than so much dribble.

          • Yeah right, Gossy!?

            Most of the soldiers in modern armend forces, that are no longer conscript forces, join simply for the very reason, that due to their background, their humble education and ethnic or cultural belonging, they have few job “alternatives”.

            States that keep forces know how to attract recruits, and part of the strategy is offering free training, education, further training and education, and job SECURITY, with a bit of a chance of “action” and perhaps seeing other parts of the world!

            That is what attracts young Americans, many Latinos, Black Americans and also some of other migrant backgrounds in the US, same as Maori and some Pacifika and other migrants in New Zealand to join, usually in disproportionately higher numbers than their actual percentage of the total population.

            You will find the same in not so well of countries, and the “temptation” to go to places like Iraq, and actually lie in ditches or sit in armoured vehicles, like some “bait” or “game” sitting there to be “taken out” by and IED or sniper, or suicide bomber, is not really what “attracts” them.

            The patriotic, idealist “heroes” are rather small in numbers, and few are like Prince Harry, from “better backgrounds”, who then though also gets stationed in places, where he will be at lower risk of being harmed.

      • “Asking” our troops to go, is the equivalent of “asking” an Amish person to help with barn-raising.

        The camaraderie and training of all our armed forces emphasises team effort and support. You expect this to be overcome by a rhetorical “you want to volunteer?”.

        Not all will want to go. Those who do not, but are still going, will not want to let down their “mates”. Those who have not “volunteered” – are there any? – will have to make known a compelling reason why not, else their future in the army will be grim.

      • If we focus on peace and stopping these insane useless perpetual wars, then our young men can train for something more useful than offering up their lives for a ridiculous cause. They have been brainwashed and lied to about why they are going to Iraq.

        Again Noam Chomsky is the one to read and listen to about all of this as he is light years ahead of all of us in this historic realm.

  5. Point of order, my barnstorming Kiwi chums.

    There was only one war, started in 1914 and concluded (rather badly) in 1945.

    Oh yes, and there was a half time intermission between 1918 and 1939.

    The first half was about the fall of empires and the second half was about rejecting the solution our Teutonic half-brothers came up with to the first half.

    Stick to the article: Monsieur Trottoir points out very eloquently that in both cases (1914 and 2015) none of the “brave” got any representative say in the decision to go or not to go to war. In fact you could prolly add 1939 to that shopping list as well.

    As long as you dunderheads keep returning to power a party that believes in its God-given-right to rule you’ll all continue to be disenfranchised and your sons and daughters will be required to go and be killed for whomever’s need; invariably overseas.

    But you will be rewarded with state organised remembrances and lots of hoopla (like right now on TV and radio), but you can bet your sorry arses that no one will be encouraged or even allowed to look at the moral question of whether or not going to war in the first place was a moral and democratic decision. Your Gallipoli heroes were invaders fighting a threat that wasn’t even relevant to Godzone’s beaches and farms. But of course such opinions are very unwelcome at this time. No son, this day’s for the dead heroes, not politics.

    Suckers…

  6. Communications was limited to a point and centralized back then…it was more difficult to disseminate information to the populace…to a point.

    Therefore easier to shape public opinion. Also…the old ties to Mother England still fresh and raw…therefore that also was easy to assume and manipulate…although in reality …much of it had to do with trade and economics and the threat of that being denied as it had to do with ‘patriotic pride’.

    And lets not forget…that the Allies – like the Axis with company’s like the Krupp military arms manufacturers in Germany had a lot to gain by having a war….

    Think in terms of all the famous names, ….Browning , Vickers , Rolls Royce….and many more…

    And who lent the capital to finance that war machine?…..the international bankers.

    Considering that in the Vietnam war the USA lost 40,000 troopers lives…from a huge country like that….in the modern 1960’s….

    Then compare NZ in 1914…with a population of …say , ..1 ,000,000 at the time?…..loosing 18,000 with 41,000 wounded???….

    It was a HOLOCAUST.

    Ah , but we were so much older then…..we’re younger than that now…

    Or are we?

  8. And further to that, I really don’t know why people bother to engage with Goatman. Though I admit, I have succumbed to the temptation myself on a few occasions, when he’s particularly got on my goat about something.

    Goatman is someone who simply enjoys playing games with public opinion, and should be responded to as such.

    He doesn’t for example offer well researched and well documented commentaries in the way the that, for example Frank, to his credit, offers on this website from time to time.

    Instead he offers vague, unsubstantiated, often ungrammatical and usually rather hackneyed restatements of the official National party line. They are often, intentionally or not, the cause of much wasted time and wasted effort put into replying by some of the more able, thinking readers of this blog.

    We should all, (myself included), attempt to simply ignore his deliberately ambiguous rants.because in them, nothing is ever defined,and nothing of substance is offered, other than a bilious regurgitation of tenuously-linked observations that Goatman happens to think will advance the party line.

    Yeah I know its difficult to ignore. But hopefully if everyone simply ignored it, in a way that is deserving of the ignorance that it purveys, then there might be less distraction into side issues, and instead a more healthy debate of the actual issues underlying some of the excellent contributions that are posted on this site.

    Well, as Pinky, or the Brain, ore some other Animaniac observed on a number of occasions (in the good old days when free-to-air TV had something worth watching) . . . . “Its worth a crack!”

    • Murray Simmons you are so right.

      We must ignore these paid NatZ trolls like Goosmin as he/she is paid to disrupt the focus of the blog.

      Those who engage with these idiots are assisting these NatZ to receive evidence that they are effective in disrupting the focus of our blogs so they are continued to receive payment for services.

      best to ignore them and starve their financial rewards, that they will fiercely deny that they are paid hired NatZ trolls.

  9. As much as I enjoyed viewing the blog and the following comments, A little perspective please people? The First World War was terrible, (as is every war). There will always be questions as to “why” we got involved. There will always be conspiracy theories to the end, too. But do we not remember ANZAC Day in memory of those who gave their lives – whether it was necessary or not?
    I am opposed to war. But if my family comes under attack, then I WILL defend them.
    There are those who would fight to defend our little country, if we were invaded. But today, we are being invaded by economic means. economic terrorists.
    Who’s up to fighting that?

Comments are closed.