Commemoration of a Nation: The Infatuation with Anzac in Australia’s WWI Centenary

<p dir="ltr">This thesis is a political, social, and economic history of Australia’s WWI centenary commemorations (2014-2018). It addresses the power of the Anzac myth in modern Australia by investigating how it was used for political and commercial gain during the centenary period. The centenary presented a prime opportunity to further promote the national emotional investment in the ‘Anzac legend’ as the foundation of Australian national identity. An examination of commemorative events, speeches and exhibitions, many endorsed by the federal government, alongside media coverage, television series and various attempts to ‘commodify’ the centenary, reveals the extent of political and commercial exploitation of Anzac during this period. It equally demonstrates a substantial overestimation of the extent of public engagement with the Anzac narrative across the four years of the centenary.</p><p dir="ltr">Twelve case studies of commemorative practices, events and products present a multifaceted analysis of Australian commemorations of the centenary of WWI. These assess: the success and failings of the official, government ‘Anzac Centenary Program’; how the centenary was represented in print media news outlets and television entertainment; and the corporate desire to financially capitalise on the romanticisation of Anzac. Several case studies document and assess the extravagant expenditure and political rhetoric that the Australian federal government engaged in to maintain the place of Anzac in the national identity.</p><p dir="ltr">Through these case studies, the thesis reveals the extent to which the actual history of WWI was manipulated or suppressed to maintain a singular, idealised vision of the Anzac legend that was believed to be politically and commercially advantageous. Simplistic, ahistorical and nationalistic representations, aimed at encouraging community cohesion and support for the military, overwhelmingly predominated. Critical voices were subjected to censure and more nuanced representations of war were sidelined. Academic scholarship was almost entirely discarded to ensure this mythology was preserved.</p><p dir="ltr">Consequently, Australian public knowledge of war history was not significantly diversified during the centenary period, and the oversaturation of commemorative, mythologised information created a national sense of exhaustion and disengagement. The thesis thus also analyses the appearance and trajectory of what came to be termed ‘commemoration fatigue’- a phenomenon that underscored the substantial overestimation of public investment in Anzac and the centenary. Ultimately, its findings call into question the power that the Anzac legend still holds in contemporary Australia and whether it will continue as the key foundation for the Australian national identity.</p>