World war one and the Anzacs.
War has been around since medieval times, except back then they fought with sticks, spears and swords and they fought for their castles and territory's Since then people have evolved and started to fight with more dangerous weapons and for more valuable things such as county's World war one started on the 28th of July 1914. The war started to try and take turkey out of the war because they had the biggest army and were doing the most damage.Who where the Anzacs, the Anzacs were the Australian and New Zealand army corps. The Anzacs have fought along side many country's including UK, USA. But they fought for one main reason peace for the world. Because if you think about it we might not be here today doing what were doing and getting along with most other country's. Wars aren't nice but sometimes they are necessary to resolve a problem such as empires becoming much larger.
Indigenous Anzacs Rights before WW1
Many Indigenous wanting to enlist travelled long distances but only about 500-600 Aboriginal soldiers joined the war. Many more soldiers wanted to join but couldn't because of two reasons,one was because most Indigenous had to have a European parent or guardian to enlist to go to war and two was because it was a very racist time and some were considered two black for the army.
Indigenous rights during the war
During the war most Aboriginal soldiers were given lower rated duties such as cook, cleaner and weren't put on the front line except for few quadrants because it was too high risk for more valuable soldiers that weren't Indigenous soldiers. If an order was given from a white soldier to an Aboriginal soldier the Aboriginal soldier must follow it no matter what the circumstance is. Some soldiers that died that were not aboriginal and were given small ceremony's if they died but if an Indigenous soldier died they weren't usually given any appreciation for their sacrifice until long after the war had finished.
Indigenous rights after the war
Records show that up until the 1940s aboriginal soldiers were excluded from formal events because they were considered a lower class. Aboriginals only won access to basic citizenship rights in August 1967, over 22 years after the cessation of hostilities in WWII. The indigenous soldiers that weren't appreciated for the lost lives are now appreciated in special events such as Remembrance day and ANZAC day as well as the aboriginal veterans who are now allowed to attend special ceremony's.
ANZAC poem
By Antony Ernest 1944
Yes, you'll remember Anzac and the men who died for you,
The fighting fools who fought to forge their wage slave chains anew.
How often have you told us that their glory shall not fade?
How often have you gloated o'er the sacrifice they made.
While you boasted loud of freedom and your famed democracy,
You schemed to cheat the orphans of far off Gallipoli.
You remember! You remember each year for just a day,
Sons of Anzac and the Anzacs - in a superficial way.
While we heard your voices choking with sentimental slime,
There were things that we remembered, we'll remind you of sometime.
We remember "the depression" and the aftermath of war,
The doles queues and starvation in the "world worth fighting for".
While you weave a wondrous future of a world grown good and wise,
We are not the least forgetting all the trickery and lies.
Nor shall we be forgetting who owes to whom the debt,
Oh, yes, we will remember - when you're trying to forget.
Yes, you'll remember Anzac and the men who died for you,
The fighting fools who fought to forge their wage slave chains anew.
How often have you told us that their glory shall not fade?
How often have you gloated o'er the sacrifice they made.
While you boasted loud of freedom and your famed democracy,
You schemed to cheat the orphans of far off Gallipoli.
You remember! You remember each year for just a day,
Sons of Anzac and the Anzacs - in a superficial way.
While we heard your voices choking with sentimental slime,
There were things that we remembered, we'll remind you of sometime.
We remember "the depression" and the aftermath of war,
The doles queues and starvation in the "world worth fighting for".
While you weave a wondrous future of a world grown good and wise,
We are not the least forgetting all the trickery and lies.
Nor shall we be forgetting who owes to whom the debt,
Oh, yes, we will remember - when you're trying to forget.
How far indigenous have come
In 1994 an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Memorial was erected in a bushland setting behind the Australian War Memorial in Canberra. The creators of this the went on to start and exhibition called ‘Too Dark for the Light Horse’ which was successful and toured all over Australia. Records show that up to 7000 Indigenous soldiers had enlisted for war before 1994.