Australians & New Zealanders
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On the 25th of April each year Australians & New Zealanders alike celebrate and remember all the Australians & New Zealanders who had fought in World War I.
World War I started when the Archduke Franz Ferdinand of the Austro-Hungarian Empire was assassinated in Sarajevo on the 28th of June 1914, by Serbian Terrorists. On the 26th of July 1914, the Officials of the Austro-Hungary offered a proposal containing five concessions to the Serbian government. Once the time limit of the proposal had expired, Austro-Hungary declared war on Serbia. Russia supported Serbia and Germany backed Austro-Hungary, declaring war on Russia and their ally, France, on August the 1st and 3rd, 1914. Great Britain then declared war against Germany on the 4th of August. Countries all over Europe took sides and two groups emerged:
Central powers – Germany, Italy, Austria and Hungary
Allies – Britain, France, Russia and America
HISTORICAL RECOUNT:
In December 1914, Australians & New Zealand forces were brought together under the command of Lt. General William Birdwood. From then, the force was known as the Australian & New Zealand Army Corps (ANZACS). Andrew Fisher made his statement “Should the worst happen, after everything has been done that honour will permit, Australians will stand beside the mother country to help and defend her to the last man and the last shilling.” Joseph Cook also said “If the old country is at war so are we”.
The ANZACS were commanded to take over Gallipoli in order to gain control of Dardanelles, a waterway leading to Istanbul. This would allow the British & French armies to Istanbul. When the ANZACS landed at Gallipoli on the 25th of April 1915 by boat at dawn, what was supposed to be a surprise attack, didnt work. Firstly, they landed in the wrong place; they were on the other side of where they were supposed to be. The ANZACS needed to climb a cliff to reach the other side. Unfortunately the Turks had somehow known that they were going to attack. The battle took eight months! At the end of 1915, the ANZACS evacuated with over 8000 Australians and 2700 New Zealand soldiers dead. Some of the conditions they had to face were the food; they could only eat and drink only tea, water and biscuits. The cove where the ANZACS fought is now known as ANZAC cove.
THE IMPORTANCE OF ANZAC DAY:
ANZAC day is important to Australians because it showed how the 2 countries worked together for their countries. We as Australians should celebrate ANZAC day to show how grateful we are for the ANZACS.
HOW IS IT CELEBRATED TODAY?
Today locally, Australians Commemorate ANZAC Day firstly with services that are held at dawn. The dawn service had its beginning in an operational routine