Anzac Day Becomes A Sacred Holiday

First and foremost, the Anzac Spirit is about the remembrance of the sacrifices made by men and women who have and are still serving in the military.

New South Wales, especially Sydney, has long celebrated 26 January as the beginning of British occupation of Australia. All other Australian states and territories came to accept Australia Day as a day to celebrate in 1935, celebrating it altogether with a long weekend.

The ANZAC Legend ANZAC stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. The soldiers in those forces quickly became known as ANZACS, and the pride they soon took in that name endures to this day. The ANZAC legend began with the landing at Gallipoli on April 25 1915, signaling the start of the disastrous Dardanelles campaign on the Turk Peninsula. This campaign saw thousands of ANZAC fatalities before its conclusion in January 1916.

World War 1 (1914-1918) was the first official war that Australians took part in, only thirteen years after federating as a country in 1901. During this time, thousands of lives were lost, families were torn apart, and friends were never seen again. April 25th became the national day to commemorate the ANZAC soldiers who had served overseas. Even now, 100 years later, people still remember those who sacrificed themselves for Australia, those who fought and fell in many battles to protect the country they lived in. The Gallipoli Campaign is the most famous battle of World War 1, the battle that every Australian household knows about. However, other battles such as the ones on the

On January 26, 1788 the first fleet arrived, marking the beginning of genocide of the Aboriginal People. By 1935 all states came to acknowledge the colonisation of Australia, and January 26 became known as “Australia Day”.

The Battle of Gallipoli, also referred to as The Gallipoli Campaign of 1915-16 or the Dardanelles Campaign, was a decisive battle in World War One during which Allied Powers attempted to take control over the sea route between Europe and Russia. Overall, the battle is largely considered a failure. There were many forces that acted against the Allies during the campaign, main causes of the loss were the repelling of the initial naval attack, the failure of the invasion of the Gallipoli Peninsula by the British, French, and ANZAC (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps), and the high level of resistance from the Turks, and an extreme lack in planning

World War One is regarded as a major turning point in history and modern warfare which has impacted Australia monumentally, scarring the nation’s history. Australia played a significant role in World War One and the Gallipoli campaign, which is considered the birthplace of the ANZAC legend. These events have immensely shaped Australia as the nation we know of today. World War One began in 1914 from the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and ended in 1918 on November the 11th which is now recognised as a day of mourning and a time given recognition to the lives taken on the battlefield. To a prominent extent, the ANZAC legend is significant to the concept of Australian identity and nationalism through the origins of the ANZAC legend, the key events that have helped form Australia as an independent nation, and in addition to how ANZAC day is commemorated today.

The intended objectives were to gain control of the Dardanelles, capture Constantinople, and open a Black Sea supply route to Russia. It ended up being an unsuccessful attempt by the Allies. The battle lasted about eight months. The invasion of the Gallipoli started on April 25, involving British and French troops. By October, Allied forces had suffered many casualties and had made little improvements from their initial landing sites. Evacuation began in December 1915, and was completed in January. With many casualties on both sides, the land campaign was abandoned and the invasion was withdrawn. (2) By the time the Gallipoli Campaign ended over 100,000 men were dead. Approximately 44,150 Allied soldiers died and 86,690 Ottoman Expired soldiers died. Many soldiers were wounded; there was approximately 262,000 total wounded. The final outcome was failure. It became clear to Allie leaders that a ground force was going to be needed to drive out the Turkish out of the Gallipoli Peninsula.

Also the anzacs were forced to cling on to the side of a cliff with the sea at their back and with the Turkish Army covering higher ground and in full control.

‘A massive increase in the popularity and national significance of ANZAC Day’ (Source 1), grew throughout the twenty-first century. Since the landing of Gallipoli, it has been celebrated and as it continued, it quickly adapted to the cultural change of the media and technology which further improved the growth of its popularity. This day joins all Australians as one, in celebration to show their respect, compassion and pride for those people who sacrificed their lives for our freedom. Damian Morgan conveyed the change in society, but also the well-kept, treasured ANZAC Spirit.

ANZAC Day was first commemorated in London in 1916, by Australian and New Zealand soldiers to commemorate

The Battle of Gallipoli, or the Gallipoli Campaign, was fought during the First World War. It is known by either name because the Battle of Gallipoli featured many different battles and phases that comprised the entirety of the campaign. This engagement began on February 17, 1915 and ended on January 9, 1916. The Allied forces were tasked with attempting to secure the strait. The purpose of this was twofold: first, it provided the Russian Empire with much-needed shipping access, and second, it would serve to cut the Ottoman Empire in half. The Allies also planned to capture the capital of the Ottoman Empire during this operation. The British and the French attempted to launch a combined naval offensive

For many January 26th is a day to celebrate Australia and the country it is today but the date is not marked for celebrations for all Australians. For many Aboriginal Australians January the 26th is referred to as ‘survival day’, ‘invasion day’ or the ‘day of mourning ‘it marks the day when the white settlers landed on Australian shores and devastated the lives of the indigenous people who had lived there for thousands of years. The aborigines say “for us it is a day of mourning. This day we lost our land, we lost our spirit culture and we lost our language.”

Nevertheless, the Australians pledged around 420,000 people to the Great war with around half of them becoming casualties. The Australians were a dominant force in WWI, specifically in the Western Front with over 290,000 people fighting in the Western Front at one point in their military involvement. This secondary source shows the grave at Polygon Wood, Polygon Wood was a military campaign in the Third Battle of Ypres. The British and Australian Campaign was of devastating effect with over 20,000 casualties and no ground was actually taken in the calamitous campaign. Thousands lost their lives and this source demonstrates the gravity of Australia’s actions and the sheer numbers and effort that Australia poured into a War that they would have no benefit from. Australians not only pledged time on the Western Front but many lost their lives, Australia not only contributed with the thousands of lives that they sacrificed for the greater good but also for saving lives of millions that they did not

Why did Australia go go to Gallipoli? What was the aim of the Dardanelles campaign?