NZ IN THE 1920’S

Justalittlelookdownunder.

RECAP

We lost how many men during the war?

They were lost in three major fighting efforts.

Geographically where were they?

Who was New Zealand's Prime Minister?

What empire was New Zealand joined at the hip

with? Why?

1919

New Zealand was at both Versailles and a member

of LON

Significant because NZ was able to sign as an

individual entity for the first time. Beforehand the

Empire would have signed on behalf of them. Why is

this important?

NZ given Western Samoa (previously under

German occupation)

NZ AND SAMOA

Controlled until 1962. Massey not interested.

1918-1919 – 1/5th pop killed via flu. Blame on nz

Black Saturday - resistance movement against

colonial rule. 11 people shot, over 50 injured

2002- Helen Clarke apologises for both incidents.

TURMOIL

Along with the war casualties there were also monumental losses and

effects through two diseases. One was the influenza. The other was?

Venereal Diseases (gonorrhea, syphilis).

Ettie Route - In April 1918 Ettie Rout went to Paris where she set up a

one-woman social and sexual welfare service for soldiers. As troop trains

arrived from the front, she stood on the platform of the Gare du Nord,

greeted the New Zealanders - with her trademark kiss on the cheek - and

handed out cards recommending the brothel of Madame Yvonne, who had

agreed to run her establishment on hygienic lines. Rout regularly

inspected it.

THE SHADOW OF WAR

Many returning soldiers carried physical and emotional scars

Few New Zealanders had not lost a relative, friend,

workmate or neighbour

Many people yearned to contact lost loved ones, sparking an

upsurge of interest in spiritualist beliefs.

More than 500 war memorials erected during the decade.

With almost all the war dead buried overseas, these became

surrogate graves for grieving families and friends.

POPULATION

NZ’s popn grew steadily during the decade,

climbing from about 1.24 mill in 1920 to 1.48 mill in

1930. Despite the deaths of 18,000 soldiers the

country still had slightly more men than women.

Following the revival of assisted immigration from

Britain, more than 120,000 migrants arrived from

the UK between 1919 and 1930.

Nz had a burgeoning sense of identity and were

not overly receptive to migrants.

ECONOMY AND INFRASTRUCTURE

Economic fortunes fluctuated during the 1920s, with a post-

war boom followed by a sharp recession in 1921–22. Much

worse was to come in the early 1930s when the Great

Depression reached New Zealand. Overall, the 1920s was a

period of modest growth, with this country’s economy

outperforming Australia’s. Exports of meat, dairy products and

wool to Britain continued to provide most New Zealanders with

a comparatively high standard of living, but there was a wide

gap between rich and poor.

POLITICS

For most of the twenties New Zealand was ruled by

the conservative Reform Party. In 1925 Prime

Minister William Massey died after 13 years in

office. He was succeeded by the much younger

Gordon Coates, who won a sweeping victory in that

year’s election. But in a startling 1928 result, Reform

was defeated by a new party, United, with an old

leader, Sir Joseph Ward.

POP CULTURE

Technological innovations in recreation and media – especially

radio, gramophone records and cinema – helped fashion a new,

and increasingly Americanised, popular culture in the twenties.

Modern dancing was labelled ‘morally dangerous’: in 1926 NZ

Truth complained that ‘young girls of 15, who should be at home

in bed, can be seen any night of the week stepping to the rhythm

of King Jazz.’ Groups like the YMCA sniffed that ‘dancing is not a

Christian past-time’.

FLAPPER TREND

SPORT

Between September 1924 and February 1925, the

team played 32 games including four test matches,

one each against Ireland, England, Wales, and

France. They won all 32 games, scoring 838 points

and only having 116 points scored against them. All

Black team known as the invincibles.

JOLLY GOOD

While the 1920s has often been overshadowed by the Great War and the Depression,

this was a crucial era in the making of ‘modern’ New Zealand. The word itself was

widely used at the time, as in this Ladies′ Mirror story from 1926:

“The modern girl has, during the past dozen years, either acquired or increased her

regard for:- Drinking and smoking; Paint and powder; Slang; Pastimes demanding

physical vigour; Work, apart from the household variety; Individual independence and

freedom of action; Speed; Late hours”.

Many of the trends evident in the twenties – suburban drift, high home-ownership

rates, consumerism, American cultural influences, mobility and leisure – foreshadowed

the prosperity and stability of the 1950s and 1960s. To get there, however, New

Zealanders would have to endure their greatest economic crisis and another terrible

world war.