Impact on the society ?
New Zealand returned to it's normal state after the world war one but the huge number of deaths had a major impact on the society and the nation itself. Economy ways, our country lost a lot due to the men being away at war lead to less people working therefore less money was earned. After the war it was harder to replace the dead ones and this had an impact on the families as well. E.g. the children who lost their fathers, the wives who lost their husbands and others who lost their loved ones at the war had to move on without them. The book 'A Short History of New Zealand', published in 1925 makes reference to this particular quote 'the strong ties that bind us to the homeland and the keen sense of the continuity of British ideals in this new land'. In this book Britain is constantly referred as 'home' or 'motherland' and it is proven that New Zealanders follow the British customs and traditions more than any other part of the commonwealth. This book thoroughly emphasis how the society of New Zealand had an impact on it's way of living and after the war they found their own identity. The society went through emotional traumas after losing their loved ones, the people also had respect and remembrance for the dead ones. In the early stages of the battle, the public thought that Gallipoli was a place of glory because newspaper articles and illustrations told a different story. These evidences did not show the difficulties our soldiers were facing but instead came with captions such as ''New Zealanders Win Undying Glory by their Heroic Fighting'' and also artistic cartoons showing shirtless soldiers in the sun.
The only way the society could be engaged with the war was through letters, soldiers and families wrote each other letters. In the letters the soldiers mentioned about the suffer, pain, condition and situation of war. This made the family worry, however they knew that there was no turning back and waited for the day when the war will be finished. This letter is a evidence of the relationship and bond the society had with the soldiers
http://www.anzacheropolicelegend.com/Letter_from_Gallipoli.html |
A few of the soldiers who left their newly wedded wives and also those families whose sons/men went to war had a hard time filling the huge gap of the main family member missing. Each day, they woke up to the hope of seeing their men, fathers, husbands and sons again. As they got more aware of the actual issues at the war, the family got more worried and suddenly from the fake glory of joy the nation went to a complete fear of losing their loved one. This battle had a great impact on the society as it defined us at the end of the battle and also during the battle about the identity of our nation. It emphasized the society of what our country was among other nations and also our victory defined us among the rest of the world.
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