Before 1914: Nationalism and War. Carolyn Holbrook

Synopsis of the Chapter

Before 1914: Nationalism and War

“Before 1914: Nationalism and War” is the opening chapter in the book ”Anzac: the unauthorized biography” by Carolyn Holbrook. The author discusses Anzac history as a cultural icon in the book. The author begins by querying why Australians believe the nation was born in Turkey in April 1915 rather than January 1901. According to Holbrook, their concept of war influenced Australians’ attitudes toward the Great War of 1914-18 at the turn of the twentieth century. The first chapter examines the relationship between nationalism and war memorial prior to 1914. The participation of Australia in the Boer War marked the time.

Australia’s Nationalism in the 19th Century

Settler societies like Australia suffer the curse of anxious nationalism, as they struggle to conform with the conventions of nationalism that were established in the 18th – 19th Century in Western Europe. The conferences emphasize the historical past. According to Gerard Bouchard, most settler societies deal with the problems of the ancient times in three ways: borrowing the history of the mother country; integrating the history of the indigenous population or rejecting the need for the history of the nation at its struggle for independence. Even though Bouchard’s analysis does not provide for the variations in Australia’s nationalism during the 19th Century, it possesses the ring of truth about the type of society that Australia exhibited before the first world war.

Australians and Nationhood

According to the Parliamentarian Alfred Deakin, Australians were either classified as either imperial loyalists, radical nationalists, or independent Australian Britons. However, irrespective of the group to which one belonged, the European Australian were attached to the conventions of nationhood. By the end of the 19th Century, the rise of Germany, and the military threat due to unification created an aggressive nationalism leading to the incorporation of the word ‘nation’ into ‘race.’ the author further notes that The white Australians of the 19th Century believed that they were being used as a scientific experiment for the looming racial discrimination. There were also questions whether the nationhood would maintain the determination, self-reliance, energy, and enterprise or if the fatal influence of the climate would lead to a degenerate into a weak, lazy and inferior race. According (Holbrook 2014), only the war would answer the questions.

Psychological Preparedness for War

The adventure story genre prepared young men in Britain for war. Indeed, the weekly magazines and even local literature encouraged the young men to be patriotic, be gentle at maintaining stoic masculinity, with the main objective of exposing them to the ideas of war. In 1901, the Victorian Education Department embarked on a project to encourage devotion to sovereignty, love for the country and respect for the laws among the school going children. By the turn of the 19th Century, the Australians were psychologically prepared for the war. The tension between the South African rebels and Britain was also a factor behind the looming war because Australian contingents had been sent to participate in the war.

The Aftermath of the Boer War

When the war finally broke out in South Africa, the Australians were defeated. After the initial wave of excitement and the jingoism of Mafeking, the vigor, and enthusiasm for the war had waned. The rebel republics and the Britons signed a treaty in the year 1902 to stop the fighting. The Queensland’s memorial for the Boer war was held in 1919 through the support of a fundraising that was started in the year 1901. Monuments were established to provide a long-lasting tribute to the war. Even though most Australians subscribed to British imperialism, they were reluctant to let go of nationalism.

Bibliography

Holbrook, Carolyn. ”Before 1914: Nationalism and War.” In Anzac: the unauthorized biography, by Carolyn Holbrook, 8-31. Kensington: New South Publishing, 2014.