'To Be Truly British We Must Be Anti-German': Patriotism, citizenship and Anti-Alienism in New Zealand During the Great War

Abstract

During the period of the Great War (1914-1918), New Zealand evinced many of the characteristics of nationalism, xenophobia and anti-alienism which could be observed in many other parts of the English-speaking world. Yet such conditions were also shaped by peculiar New Zealand contexts. This work examines two main interrelated research questions arising from the conditions of global war which shaped the particular New Zealand experience. The first, arising from the pre-existing character of a population shaped overwhelmingly by migration and settlement, concerns the treatment during the Great War of New Zealand residents who were Germans or Austro- Hungarians by birth or descent. It analyses public, press, political and legislative responses to their presence between 1914 and 1918, and within that, it describes how patriotic associations, trade campaigners, journalists, and xenophobic, opportunistic individuals led a vigorous and destructive anti-alien campaign. Second, it assesses the degree to which pro-imperial sentiment, and issues of citizenship and national identity, determined the actions of British New Zealanders during the conflict, with regard not only to the 'enemy in our midst' but also towards each other. It has been argued that the level of intolerance shown towards enemy aliens throughout the conflict was far too deep and sustained to be explained as a simple knee-jerk response to wartime conditions. It was a product of late-Victorian and Edwardian growing unease over continental European settlement in the dominions and the metropolitan centre. This thesis assesses a number of themes to determine the extent to which nineteenth century continental European settlement, the legislative racism directed at Chinese and Indian immigration, an increasingly volatile European scene, and New Zealand's role within the British Empire, laid the foundations for the manner with which the dominion treated its enemy alien residents. Common and general wartime themes including naturalisation legislation, the policy of internment, the role of the popular press in manipulating and mobilising home front attitudes, issues of class and ethnicity, and boycotts against foreign-owned businesses and commodities, have been assessed within both a national and wider imperial context. Since this thesis seeks to determine whether New Zealand's treatment of aliens was unique, or indicative of a wider imperial psychosis prevalent at the time, a comparative test-bed has been established. Hence, the final chapter provides a transnational comparison with Canada to identify the degree to which the enemy alien experience was peculiarly national in its consideration or, as with many aspects of New Zealand, was to an extent shaped by wider imperial considerations.