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World War 1 was known as 'the great war' 'the world war' or the 'war to end all wars' 135 countries participated and 15 million people died 18,500 of those people were New Zealand soldiers. The first world war started on 28 July 1914 and ended on the 11 November 1918, it was meant to finish before Christmas in 1914. The war first started due to the assassination of the archduke and his wife. Before long most of Europe was involved. At this time the British empire was the biggest in the world and out of fear of Germany taking over their french colonies the Brits declared war on Germany. NZ being a part of the British empire was quick to rush to their aid. Back in 1914 New Zealanders that were of British decent still recognized themselves as being British although they had never actually been there for this reason the majority didn't even hesitate to join the war because they wanted to defend and protect their homeland. It wasn't until during the war that the soldiers realized that they weren't anything like the British that how we talked and acted was completely different to the Brits and started to identify as New Zealanders or 'Kiwis'. During the time of the war it was still mans job to be at work and a women's job to be at home but with only a small country of 1 million people and 103,000 of the men overseas at war the women had to step up to doing men's job in order to keep food on the table but also to be able to keep sending things over to the men. This resulted in a huge change of society. Also the men that came back from the war weren't always the same as the ones that left 41,000 were injured which meant they couldn't work and the women had to stay on doing their jobs. It wasn't only physical injury's that disabled the men that returned, many of them faced mental issues after what they had seen during the war.
After 100 years WW1 still impacts New Zealand and the world and the actions of the soldiers haven't been forgotten. Also the results of WW1 that shaped our national identity and our society are still remembered.
After 100 years WW1 still impacts New Zealand and the world and the actions of the soldiers haven't been forgotten. Also the results of WW1 that shaped our national identity and our society are still remembered.