The imperialist movement and national defence 1900-1909

Abstract

This thesis is an analysis of the debate over national defence from 1900 to 1909 in New Zealand. The defence measures undertaken in 1909, namely the gift of a Dreadnought and the introduction of compulsory military training, were the outcome of a number of factors- ideas about defence and the Empire which originated in the Boer war, a militaristic culture with its foundation in social Darwinist assumptions about race and war, fears about Germany and Japan, and the agitation for radical defence measures by a group of committed imperialists.