A homage to war

Re: Why we shouldn’t forget ANZAC

It is an inescapable truth that the commemoration of ANZAC Day is a homage to war, violence, the pointless sacrifice of youth, and the greed of imperial masters. WWI was the culmination of the Great Game, the European scramble for colonies, the British defending their imperial possessions from the rising power of Germany. It was the worst atrocity in the history of mankind. 

There were no good guys. Nobody fought for your freedom or mine. The ANZACs were an invading force - and failed. We weren’t taught this at school. 

We were taught to view it as some noble sacrifice at the dawn of our nationhood, as if the centuries that preceded the arrival of Europeans (millennia, in Australia’s case) meant nothing. 

The Turks remember it as ‘Victory Day’ - but they lost twice as many men (and boys) as the invading forces combined, mostly to illness, & they also lost the war, and with it their once sprawling empire. 

But at least there is some justification for commemorating the defense of the homeland more than a century after the fact. 

The Aussies and Kiwis would do better paying homage to the only wars fought on their own soil against an invading force - namely Britain.

 

Istanbul

Samoa Observer

Upgrade to Premium

Subscribe to
Samoa Observer Online

Enjoy unlimited access to all our articles on any device + free trial to e-Edition. You can cancel anytime.

>