WWI Poem Stuffed Outline
Stuffed Outline
To represent New Zealand in WWI I decided to choose the battle of Gallipoli. I chose this because it was the first major conflict in WWI to largely include and utilize New Zealand. Additionally, this battle paints an interesting portrait of the Allies during the starting months of WWI. It is not widely known exactly how the Allies functioned at the start of WWI. Therefore, choosing this battle will assist in shedding light on that material. Finally, I am choosing this as my event because it stands out as a decisive military engagement that will supply me with many perspectives to choose for my final piece.
In 1909, a perceived German threat forced Prime Minister Sir Joseph Ward to announce that New Zealand would fund the construction of a battlecruiser for the Royal Navy. Construction of HMS New Zealand cost £1.7 million. Almost five years later, once war became unstoppable, New Zealand’s prime Minister William Massey had made it clear that New Zealand’s main contribution would not be funding naval combat, but supplying troops to, “The major theatre of conflict.” In total, WWI claimed the lives of 18,000 New Zealanders and lead to the wounding of 41,000. New Zealand met the start of war with enthusiasm sending in total some 100,000 overseas. However, the rate at which progress was made frustrated the remaining NZ population and by 1917 there was outrage at not only disrespectful German propaganda, but for the amount of casualties New Zealand suffered. All in all, New Zealand played a major role in many famous conflicts such as The Battle Of The Somme and even went on to fight in the second world war years later. (http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/war/first-world-war-overview/introduction) My event is the campaign of Gallipoli, specifically New Zealand's involvement in the battle of Gallipoli. The campaign of Gallipoli began on the 25th of April and lasted until the 9th of January 1916. The reason for this battle was for Britain to be able to neutralize the Ottoman Empire and secure a trade route with Russia. If this succeeded Britain would be able to further support Russia with resources resulting in the end of the war. The campaign began with a british led naval assault on the Ottoman coast. This string of attacks failed leading the allies to forcefully invade the Gallipoli peninsula and dig in for the summer. With the scorching heat came an epidemic of dysentery that left Allied forces weakened. By the time winter had arrived there was no progress towards the campaign which lead to an evacuation of Allied forces. This evacuation was spearheaded by Australia who had grouped their men with New Zealanders. Even though the result of this battle were interpreted as defeat it lead to further Allied success at later dates. (https://archive.org/details/TheLittleBookOfTheWar)
My event is important because it would have lead to the decisive capture of the Ottoman Empire and a foothold for the Allies to force German surrender. The Ottoman Empire had been experiencing an economical decline prior to WWI and had a people in turmoil after a young Turk was elected in 1908. Even though the Ottoman Empire was in shambles its military was strong and comprised of fit men exclusively from the ages of 20 to 45. The Allied forces knew this and heavily considered it when formulating the Gallipoli campaign. Another major reason why my event is important was its vitality to the Allies. Especially in the early months of WWI the success of the Gallipoli campaign would have lead to a direct path from Britain to Russia. This meant that the two superpowers could combine, supplying each other with resources through their Turkish trade routes, and swiftly defeat the axis forces. To New Zealand this battle’s purpose was to support the Australian troops and aid in an Allied victory. In the end, this battle was very important to both New Zealand and other Allied powers and even though a loss was suffered it assisted in later conquests.
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBs7n6nyJfY)
((http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/new-view-battle-gallipoli-one-bloodiest-conflicts-world-war-i-180953975/?no-ist) )
To represent the Gallipoli campaign I will be writing from the perspective of one of the soldiers, William Malone, who was present during that time. It will be written in the first person as if Malone had said it himself. The point of the piece will be to communicate the truth of war for trench men such as Malone. William Malone is the best fit for this because he was a farmer just as any other New Zealander before becoming a soldier and serving in the South African War. He moved on to command the Wellington Battalion ruthlessly pushing them in training and then leading them into Gallipoli. Although he was killed during before the Gallipoli evacuation, he is the perfect soldier through which to show New Zealand during WWI.
(http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/people/william-george-malone)
To represent New Zealand in WWI I decided to choose the battle of Gallipoli. I chose this because it was the first major conflict in WWI to largely include and utilize New Zealand. Additionally, this battle paints an interesting portrait of the Allies during the starting months of WWI. It is not widely known exactly how the Allies functioned at the start of WWI. Therefore, choosing this battle will assist in shedding light on that material. Finally, I am choosing this as my event because it stands out as a decisive military engagement that will supply me with many perspectives to choose for my final piece.
In 1909, a perceived German threat forced Prime Minister Sir Joseph Ward to announce that New Zealand would fund the construction of a battlecruiser for the Royal Navy. Construction of HMS New Zealand cost £1.7 million. Almost five years later, once war became unstoppable, New Zealand’s prime Minister William Massey had made it clear that New Zealand’s main contribution would not be funding naval combat, but supplying troops to, “The major theatre of conflict.” In total, WWI claimed the lives of 18,000 New Zealanders and lead to the wounding of 41,000. New Zealand met the start of war with enthusiasm sending in total some 100,000 overseas. However, the rate at which progress was made frustrated the remaining NZ population and by 1917 there was outrage at not only disrespectful German propaganda, but for the amount of casualties New Zealand suffered. All in all, New Zealand played a major role in many famous conflicts such as The Battle Of The Somme and even went on to fight in the second world war years later. (http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/war/first-world-war-overview/introduction) My event is the campaign of Gallipoli, specifically New Zealand's involvement in the battle of Gallipoli. The campaign of Gallipoli began on the 25th of April and lasted until the 9th of January 1916. The reason for this battle was for Britain to be able to neutralize the Ottoman Empire and secure a trade route with Russia. If this succeeded Britain would be able to further support Russia with resources resulting in the end of the war. The campaign began with a british led naval assault on the Ottoman coast. This string of attacks failed leading the allies to forcefully invade the Gallipoli peninsula and dig in for the summer. With the scorching heat came an epidemic of dysentery that left Allied forces weakened. By the time winter had arrived there was no progress towards the campaign which lead to an evacuation of Allied forces. This evacuation was spearheaded by Australia who had grouped their men with New Zealanders. Even though the result of this battle were interpreted as defeat it lead to further Allied success at later dates. (https://archive.org/details/TheLittleBookOfTheWar)
My event is important because it would have lead to the decisive capture of the Ottoman Empire and a foothold for the Allies to force German surrender. The Ottoman Empire had been experiencing an economical decline prior to WWI and had a people in turmoil after a young Turk was elected in 1908. Even though the Ottoman Empire was in shambles its military was strong and comprised of fit men exclusively from the ages of 20 to 45. The Allied forces knew this and heavily considered it when formulating the Gallipoli campaign. Another major reason why my event is important was its vitality to the Allies. Especially in the early months of WWI the success of the Gallipoli campaign would have lead to a direct path from Britain to Russia. This meant that the two superpowers could combine, supplying each other with resources through their Turkish trade routes, and swiftly defeat the axis forces. To New Zealand this battle’s purpose was to support the Australian troops and aid in an Allied victory. In the end, this battle was very important to both New Zealand and other Allied powers and even though a loss was suffered it assisted in later conquests.
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBs7n6nyJfY)
((http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/new-view-battle-gallipoli-one-bloodiest-conflicts-world-war-i-180953975/?no-ist) )
To represent the Gallipoli campaign I will be writing from the perspective of one of the soldiers, William Malone, who was present during that time. It will be written in the first person as if Malone had said it himself. The point of the piece will be to communicate the truth of war for trench men such as Malone. William Malone is the best fit for this because he was a farmer just as any other New Zealander before becoming a soldier and serving in the South African War. He moved on to command the Wellington Battalion ruthlessly pushing them in training and then leading them into Gallipoli. Although he was killed during before the Gallipoli evacuation, he is the perfect soldier through which to show New Zealand during WWI.
(http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/people/william-george-malone)