losing the history wars

It frustrates me to observe the way that Anzac Day has been hijacked by conservatives and ultra-nationalists to encourage a false pride and arrogance about Australia's position in history, especially among the bogan class.

I was amazed, while watching an interview with a footy coach on tv before the big game tonight, to learn that his team had used the example of the tragedy at Gallipoli as an inspiration about how to win in the face of adversity. Huh? Did we win at Gallipoli? That's not how I learned about it! In the years before the Howard History Wars in the early 21st century, Anzac Day was a day to commemorate our honoured war dead, not to glorify our war 'triumphs'!

The focus on Gallipoli has obscured and, by comparison, belittled, the efforts of our military across all of the other theatres of war where they have defended our country's interests (and sadly, been sacrificed to the interests of foreign powers).

There's no doubt that the Gallipoli expedition was a significant campaign in our military history, but it was not the only important one, and it was not even conducted in defence of our country. Its legacy has unfortunately come to be as a rallying point for the political Right... and as such, I feel a little reluctant now to participate in the hype.