The Significance of the anti-Vietnam war protests to NZ
During the 1960's issues arose that provoked the rise of the counter-culture movement. The anti-war movement as well as many other issues surfaced and gained momentum in the late 1960's, yet many of these were reflecting New Zealands stance on international issues, these issues include concerns about the environment, gay liberation and the second women's liberation movement. The anti-war movement formed the beginning of an era of change, which shaped society in the coming decades. The protest movements were not limited to young people but involved thousands of people across New Zealand.
The anti-Vietnam War movement could be seen by many to be a failure as it did not achieve its objective of ending New Zealands combat deployment or impact New Zealands military involvement. The political aims of gaining enough support to remove the National party from government. Historian Roberto Rabel states in his book titled 'New Zealand and the Vietnam War' that "amongst the thousands of pages of official documents on which the research for this book rests, not one confirmed that any significant New Zealand decision about military involvement in Vietnam was affected by protest activities." The anti-war movement was hindered by internal division and hypocrisy as no further action was taken against the war in Vietnam after the withdraw of New Zealand troops. The anti-Vietnam war protest movement was significant in society, as it brought issues of the war from radical groups to the public and political landscape. Despite the lack of impact it had militarily in New Zealand, the protest movement shifted the support for the issues of the Vietnam War from the small groups and individuals to mainstream culture. Historian James Belich explains in his text 'Paradise Reforged' that "what gave the protest era its force were an intersecting set of new groups... the liberal section of the growing middle class; university students and graduates, and a somewhat wider group of woman, young people and men prepared to question long-accepted norms." The 'norms' that Belich discusses are the societal factors that are usually accepted without question, such as New Zealands foreign relations and policies. Belich also describes the anti-Vietnam War movement as the precursor to new public contestions against accepted norms and as the first of seven major issues of contestation occurring between 1967 to 1985. The anti-Vietnam war issue is expressed by Belich as "part of the decolonization process..." where New Zealand started to distance itself from major countries of Britain and the United States and forged its own independent foreign policy. |
The new ideas and arguments that arose in New Zealand society during the 1960's can be attributed to the protest movement. In the post-war era there had not been an issue of foreign policy that created the polarization of public opinion in a drastic way. The New Zealand anti-war movement reflected the concerns of their international counterparts, particularly the unnecessary loss of innocent Vietnamese citizens lives. The anti-war movement in New Zealand gained further support by highlighting the public debate of issues. Public opinion was shifted as issues were debated publicly and involved a wide range of New Zealander's who brought issues to the next generation. Historian Toby Boraman in his book entitled 'Rabble Rousers and Merry Pranksters' discussed that "A generation seemed to be in revolt...New Zealand culture was seen as terribly stultifying, conformist, racist and sexist... the radical student and youth movement questioned the lack of democracy and the quality of life (or alienation) in society." Society was divided in New Zealand between the conservative older generation and the younger radical generation, who sought for change and expressed their desires for New Zealands society through protest, the radical younger generation was beginning to question the social norms set by previous generations. Historian Ian McGibbon explains the reasons for opposition to the Vietnam War, "...there was opposition on moral grounds for reasons ranging from pacifist convictions to objections to the weapons being used...The charge also made that the United States and its allies were interfering in a civil war." much of the New Zealand public supported the anti-war movement and believed strongly that New Zealand and other foreign countries had no place in what was seen as a civil war. The anti-war movement contested and questioned not just New Zealands involvement in the war, but introduced criticisms of all of New Zealands foreign relationships and considered the morality of war, this is expressed by historian Ian McGibbon, "...the debate precipitated by the Vietnam War was not merely about a tragic conflict in a distant Asian country or the correctness about American policy, but brought to prominence competing visions of the role New Zealand should play in the world." New Zealands involvement in the Vietnam War spurred the anti-war movement to grow as wider members of society began to question the significance of alliances to major countries and if it was really for the benefit of New Zealand. The momentum gained from the anti-Vietnam war movement continued to support future movements such as the anti-Springbok tour in 1981 and the second wave of feminism during the 1970's and 1980's.
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According to James Seixas' model of historical significance the three criteria for historical significance are that the event had deep consequences, affected many people and that the consequences of the event lasted for a long period of time. I can conclude that the anti-Vietnam war protests were significant to New Zealand as the consequences lasted for a significant amount of time and deeply effected many members of New Zealand society at the time, the remnants of events during the protest era continue to effect how society is run today.