Wednesday, May 6, 2020
Anlaysis of Anzac Legend Australian and New Zealand Army Corps
Question: Discuss about the Anlaysis of Anzac Legend Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. Answer: Introduction ANZAC is an actual initial that stands for; Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. Anzac Day is an Australian national holiday that is often celebrated on the 25th April of every year. The aim of the celebration is to commemorate the first military action that was fought by the Australians during the First World War. The celebration is often aimed at remembering the militants who died in the war (McKenna Ward 2007). Anzac is a special day for Australians as they remember the day that their soldiers who had participated Gallipoli fight were murdered (Thomson 2013). The war between Peninsula and the Anzac took place in 1915 where more than eight thousand Australians were killed. The Australians who remained at home during the war were significantly affected by the failure of the Gallipoli war, thus leading to them marking April 25th as a memorial day for the soldiers who died. Despite the failure of the Anzacs in achieving the military objectives, the Australians viewed the great sacr ifice of the killed militants' to have left behind a great legacy in fighting for the freedom of their people. The Anzac celebration was therefore marked as "Anzac Legend" so as to shape the two nations identities in remembering their past and shaping their view of the future (Clark, 2017). Discussion: I firmly conquer that; "The Anzac Legend has petite to do with the reality of the experiences of members of the Australian Imperial Force (AIF). The nationally told war stories of the Anzac have greatly been exaggerated throughout generations basing more emphasis on myths while leaving behind the actual effects of the war on the participants and the family. For years, the Anzac legends and folklores have been deep-rooted in the creation of national awareness while the assessment fails to analyze the post-war impact (McDonald, 2010) critically. One major crucial thing that the Anzac Legends organizers have terribly ruined to realize is that the Australian Imperial Force soldiers did not just die out of sacrificing their life, but they were also brutally killed (Thomson, 1989). The traditions and rituals celebrated on the Anzac Legends day are more of a manipulation (Pacella, 2011). This is because; only the typically known war heroes are honored. Nothing is known about the men who survived the killings and returned to Australia to face the darker side of the experiences they had undergone during the war. The soldiers who survived the killings are mostly likely to have suffered psychological torture due to the experiences they had witnessed during the war. Some soldiers, for instance, had difficulties coming into realities with observed events. From a psychological perspective, it is more likely that some of the Gallipoli war survivors must have suffered from mental illness, depression, and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (Nelson, 2007). Such like impacts have been ignored as the Anzac legend only celebrates the soldiers that were killed and ignored the events that preceded the war and the killings. Anzac Legend does not, therefore, take full control of the past as it only unleashes little information; this is riskier for future generations as it may misguide militants in planning for war in case it reoccurs in the future. More often, most of the young people who joins in the Anzac public celebrations often leave with a desire to accede to the military (Pyne, 2016). It is however sad that most of these young people are not aware of the darker side of the militant's war. The Anzac legend poses little information of the reality of the experiences of members of the Australian Imperial Force as it forgets to appreciate and to recognize the role of the least key players during the war. The Anzac legend is more built on sexism as it only celebrates the Australian military manhood heroes and ignores the women (Dixon, 1984). The women took part in the war by taking care of the men that participated in the war. For instance, the women role were more of domestic such as cooking for the men and helping them nurse their wounds. Focusing on the women role in Anzac legend is of crucial importance as it shows appreciation to the effort of women. The Anzac legend is also more patriarchy based. Men seem to be the driving force and beneficiary of the Anzac day celebration glory. First, only the men are celebrated during the commemoration of the event. Secondly, during the 1950's the Australian War Management board of trustees saw it relevant to compensate all members that had participated in the war. All people who had died during the war were paid by remembering them in the generation bronze panels. However, women were ignored as they were not included in the role of honors of the bronze group. The bronze panel included even men who had committed crimes such as brawling and killings after the war. Australian women played a significant role in building the shape of Australia. Due to the awareness of the inherent sexism in the 1970's women began protesting against marginalization. Women protested against male violence and rape. They also protested against the Anzac day as it had ignored their contributions. Women complained that the Anzac day had glorified men and institutionalized morning (Bromfield, 2016). The decision of women towards protesting on Anzac day is a demonstration that the Anzac legend was based on inequality and injustices rather than the commemoration of the peaceful event in the nation. The Anzac legend event was more likely to cause conflict instead of promoting peace as women would fight against their exclusion from the celebration and the historical book. All the same, the Anzac legend has failed to formulate the cause of the war and forgotten the purpose of the Gallipoli fight. The major dimension of the war has been underestimated as it has depicted and featured so many stories of heroism and great courage, thus creating a positive image of the Anzac tradition. In the real sense, the Anzac tradition has been a non-unifying force of Australian history. Idolization of the Anzac is a form of history distortion to Australian history as it limits people understanding of the events that took place during the war. The Anzac legend is very unflattering; it hides the actual perspectives of the experiences of the soldiers who returned from the war. Most of the soldiers who survived the war felt very embarrassed and resorted into disorderly behaviors (Bates, 2010). For instance, some soldiers resorted into drinking as an attempt to managing the stress they were undergoing due to the embarrassments as a result of the war failure. In the verge o f trying to administer the soldier's disorderly behaviors, drinking dens referred to as wet canteens were set up so as to seclude the drinking soldiers from the civilians (Bates, 2010). More often, war usually results in conflict, non-peaceful co-existence and break up of norms that the society holds as paramount. Some of the effects of war are; Loss of life, rape, war crimes and people taking the law into their hands instead of living such responsibility to the government. Anzac legend tends to pose a positive picture of the Gallipoli war as it fails to identify with other negative influences of the war. The legend is more limited to celebrating those who lose their lives, yet many other underlying factors occurred as a result of the war. For instance, some soldiers who survived the brutal murder suffered from some injuries which were as a consequence of the war. Australian women were also raped during the war.Anzac also fails to identify with the Surrafend massacre which was carried out by the Anzac as a revenge strategy towards the Surrafend (Kinloch, 2016). The Anzac due to the hunger of the killings of their soldiers attacked the Surrafend villages and over one hundred men from the village (Kinloch, 2016). The Anzac day celebration does not put into considerations the war that the soldiers fought in the verge of revenge. The omission of such factors may fail to renew Australians commitments towards peace. Recommendations The Anzac legendary has omitted a lot of information in its historical memory. The omissions of such information are undistinguishing because Anzac Day does not perform its role of peace and diplomacy renewal. It finds glory in the military death as a sign of national pride. Anzac should consider improving its historical commemoration story by providing all comprehensive information that will incorporate the effort of every individual that participated in the war. The Anzac day ceremony begins with morning, followed by a public march of veterans and later an engagement in traditional activities which is inclusive of participating in illegal gambling. Such like activities should not be the center of pride for a nation celebrating their legends. Instead, Australians should replace the operations of the Anzac day with peace building activities such as spreading a message of peace, community building and teaching the citizens on the importance of national unity to their country. War should not be the most of the Australian history and national identity. The Anzac legend celebration should also consider celebrating the legends that went to the war but were lucky enough to come back alive. Most of these legends also underwent lost of sufferings as many of them incurred physical injuries and psychological torture having witnessed some of their brothers being killed. Celebrating these titles adds value to the pride of the nation as it will depict Australia as a good nation that value the sacrifices and efforts made by their warriors in protecting their country. Conclusion Anzac day is an important day for Australian citizens as they get to celebrate all legends that were killed during the war. The Anzac day is marked with lots of celebrations that are geared towards remembering those who lost their lives. When Australia joined the military, they were a new nation and therefore had no much experience in the military war, thus leading to the failure of the Gallipoli campaigns. The Gallipoli campaign is a major defining historical moment for Australia; its more of a birth period for the nation, the celebration is characterized by lots of stereotypes about the soldier and offers little information about the soldiers experiences (Scates, 2006). It is however unfortunate that the Anzac Legend describes the Anzacs as egalitarians, courageous, loyal and self-sacrificing while it doesn't celebrate the full life of the legends that sacrificed for the nation. The Anzac Legend only gives full recognition to those who lost their lives. The Anzac legend offers litt le information about the AIF soldiers as it ignores major events that led to the death, sufferings and the experiences of the soldiers. References Bates, S, 2010. The Anzac Day Legend: Its Origins, Meaning, Power and Impact on Shaping Australias Identity. Bromfield, N.J., 2016. The Turn to Anzac: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Prime Ministerial Anzac Entrepreneurship, 1972-2007. Clark, A., 2017. The Place of Anzac in Australian Historical Consciousness.Australian Historical Studies,48(1), pp.19-34. Dixson, M., 1984.The Real Matilda: Woman and Identity in Australia, 1788 to the Present. Penguin Books Australia Kinloch, T., 2016.Devils on Horses: in the Words of the Anzacs in the Middle East 1916-19. Exisle Publishing. McDonald, M., 2010. Lest We Forget: The Politics of Memory and Australian Military Intervention1.International Political Sociology,4(3), pp.287-302. McKenna, M. and Ward, S., 2007. It was moving, mate': The Gallipoli pilgrimage and sentimental nationalism in Australia.Australian Historical Studies,38(129), pp.141-151. Nelson, E., 2007. Victims of War: The First World War, Returned Soldiers, and Understandings of Domestic Violence in Australia.Journal of Women's History,19(4), pp.83-106. Pacella, J., 2011. Crikey, it's Commodified! An Investigation into ANZAC Day: The next Nike?.Social Alternatives,30(2), p.26 Pyne, M.J., 2016. Relationships between officers and other ranks in the Australian Army in the Second World War Scates, B., 2006.Return to Gallipoli: Walking the Battlefields of the Great War. Cambridge University Press Thomson, A., 1989. Steadfast until death? CEW Bean and the representation of Australian military manhood. Thomson, A., 2013.Anzac Memories: Living with the Legend. Monash University Publishing.
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