Introduction
The First World War may not have physically made it to New Zealand but its impact was definitely felt in the small island nation. Indeed, this war had a major impact on New Zealand during its pendency and even long after it ended. The war created an identity of the New Zealanders as a people by bringing together the Māori people and the European Settlers. The fact that these natives and the Europeans were fighting side by side, under the same banners and sharing a common enemy knit them into one society. Secondly, a lot of technological development, more so in the field of medicine and dentistry were developed because of the devastating impact of the war (Clark, 2016) . Finally, the aftermath of the war brought a transition in the style of governance which introduced a social welfare system in New Zealand that has grown to be among the best in the world (‘NZ History’, 2017) . The direct impact of the First World War may have been devastating to New Zealand but contemporary historiography considers the war to have had a generally positive impact on New Zealand.
Background
New Zealand is a collection of hundreds of tiny Islands and two main ones situated remotely away from most of the populated world and therefore exponentially peculiar. Its native population had lived in general isolation for thousands of years before becoming a British colony in 1841 (Sinclair, 1980) . Having lived in isolation for so many years, the introduction of new culture and ways of life created many complications on New Zealand. In 1907, New Zealand transformed from being a colony into a Dominion under the British Commonwealth (Mann, 2015) . It is in the aftermath of this transition that the First World War commenced only seven years later. As with all remote dominions of the British Empire, the New Zealanders believed in the absolute invincibility of the Empire and overwhelmingly offered to fight for the British in the war. Almost 50% of all men of a military age left New Zealand to fight in the War far away from home (Mulvey, 2016; ‘NZ History’, 2017) . This force was a combination of European settlers and native New Zealanders. This amounted to about one hundred thousand men, out of a total population of just over a million meaning almost everyone in New Zealand knew at least one person who left for the war. Finally, those who remained, almost to the last man supported the military expedition and anticipated the great performance of the New Zealand military force during their first expedition under their own national identity (Sinclair, 1980) .
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The War Itself
It would be accurate to say that the beginning of the military expedition by the New Zealanders was a major disaster and a sad waste of valor. Just as the New Zealanders believed in the invincibility of the British military juggernaut, the British commanders, led by Sir Winston Churchill did the same and their overconfidence led to a military disaster in the Gallipoli Campaign (Kinloch, 2016) . The Royal Navy made major tactical and navigation errors and landed the group that included the New Zealanders at Anzac Cove where they had an absolute military disadvantage resulting in a major defeat. This battle however, united New Zealanders back at home in support of the troops with the 30 th day of April 1915 when news arrived of the ANZAC landing being declared a half holiday. Prayers were held all over the Island nation for their troops abroad. This resulted in the advent of the ANZAC Day, celebrated annually on the 25 th day of April (Winter, 2015) . The troops were also involved in the successful Sinai and Palestine Campaign where they fought valiantly and defeated the Turks who had defeated them in the Gallipoli Campaign. The military top brass commended the valor of the New Zealanders in this campaign, a fact that augmented the national pride of the new dominion (Winter, 2015) . By the end of the campaign, however, of the about one hundred thousand troops, 16,697 died and 41,317 were wounded which amounts to more than half of the entire force. There was also an inordinate delay in transporting the troops back home at the end of the war leading to the infamous Sling Cap and Ismailia riots in 1919 (Di Matteo, 2015) .
The Aftermath
Unlike the tumultuous experience during the pendency of the war, its aftermath was generally positive. For a start, the war solidified the end of the error of colonial masters and subjects in New Zealand with the populace increasingly recognizing one another as compatriots (‘NZ History’, 2017) . Further, as indicated above, a lot of injuries took place in the First World War due to technological advancements more so with regard to ammunition. The New Zealand military doctors gained a lot of knowledge and experience. These doctors also continued to exercise their skill on the tens of thousands of injured soldiers who returned. Professional skills in the fields of surgery, more so plastic surgery and also dentistry grew exponentially (MacDonnell & Hatfield, 2016; Horne & Horne, 2016) . Finally, the government moved to secure the futures of the returned soldiers by providing them with housing, basic amenities, and means of developing a livelihood. This was the very first instance of social welfare in New Zealand. It created the premise for the development of one of the best social welfare systems globally (Riches, 2016; Kelsey, 2015) .
Conclusion
There was a lot of uncertainty before the advent of the war about the nature of New Zealand as a dominion. Further, there was a lot of tumult and chaos during the pendency of the war for the New Zealand fighters. However, the aftermath of the war to the nascent nation was generally positive. It reduced the almost divine concept of the British Empire in the eyes of the New Zealanders, a fact that combined with national pride to build a better nation. Further, the injuries suffered in the War helped create massive growth in the nation’s healthcare system. Finally, social welfare began as an aftermath of the said war and is one of the positive attributes of New Zealand today.
References
Clark, H. (2016). Sisters in a distant land: The exploration of identity and travel through three New Zealand nurses' diaries from the Great War. Women's Studies Journal , 30 (1), 17
Di Matteo, V. (2015). Australia and New Zealand in the Great War: revisited reactions
Horne, J., & Horne, J. (2016). The “knowledge front”, women, war and peace. History of Education Review , 45 (2), 151-167
Kelsey, J. (2015). Reclaiming the future: New Zealand and the global economy . Wellington: Bridget Williams Books
Kinloch, T. (2016). Devils on Horses: in the Words of the Anzacs in the Middle East 1916-19 . London: Exisle Publishing
MacDonnell, M., & Hatfield, A. (2016). Lest We Forget: Medical Care and Anesthesia during the Second World War in the Pacific. The Interaction and Cooperation between New Zealand, Australian and American Armed Forces. Journal of Anesthesia History , 2 (4), 127-132
Mann, J. (2015). The British world during the First World War: Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the question of Japan. Journal of New Zealand & Pacific Studies , 3 (1), 5-23
Mulvey, P. (2016). World War I and empire. The Encyclopedia of Empire .
NZ History. (2017). First World War - overview. Retrieved from https://nzhistory.govt.nz/war/first-world-war-overview/introduction
Riches, G. (Ed.). (2016). First world hunger: Food security and welfare politics . New York. Springer
Sinclair, K., & Dalziel, R. (1980). A history of New Zealand . Auckland: Penguin
Winter, J. (2015). 12 Shell shock, Gallipoli and the generation of silence. Beyond Memory: Silence and the Aesthetics of Remembrance , 13 , 195
