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First World War commemorations – a missed opportunity

First World War commemorations missed a major opportunity to share with the public less well-known stories about the impact and significance of the war on former members of the British Empire.

 Co-editors, Dr David Monger, Senior Lecturer in Modern European History at the University of Canterbury, and Sarah Murray, Curatorial Manager at Canterbury Museum, say that anniversary was commemorated around the world in exhibitions and events. Unfortunately, in many instances, these simply reinforced the dominant local stories of the event – in New Zealand’s case Gallipoli and Anzac – and did not attempt to share less well-known, but equally important, stories with the public.

 The book resulted from a 2018 conference at Tūranga in Christchurch, attended by more than 100 participants from local and international organisations and heritage institutions to mark the end of the First World War centenary period. The aim of the book is to offer a fresh perspective on First World War narratives and, for those involved in the cultural sector, an analysis of what worked and what didn’t.

 “The interesting thing about the commemoration of the First World War was that it was out of step with how history scholars’ thinking has evolved beyond long-held views and analysis,” Dr Monger says. “For many New Zealanders, their connection with the war is almost exclusively with Gallipoli, soldiers, death and futility. According to one of our contributors, this repeated ideas people derived from a New Zealand nationalism of the 1980s.

 “Galleries, libraries and museums are trying to overcome persistent clichés; however, what academics, historians and curators think often differs from what politicians and the public think about the war’s significance.”

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