World War II: Legacy of War

Anzac Day attracts both huge crowds and mass patriotic sentiment, but Michael Brissenden of "The Drum" wonders if it shouldn't also inspire historical reflection and a national conversation.

The First World War (WWI) was fought from 1914 to 1918 and the Second World War (or WWII) was fought from 1939 to 1945. They were the largest military conflicts in human history. Both wars involved military alliances between different groups of countries.

“Enduring Legacies” is a series of essays [found under "Essays" on the left-hand menu] published by “Griffith Review” exploring the consequences of Australia's involvement in war, reflecting on the many wartime legacies – human, political, economic, military – that forged independent nations from former colonies and dominions.
Subjects traversed include the politics of commemoration and forgetting; the fear of Asia and the racial dimension of our participation in wars; how wartime experience has shaped political leadership; the personal experience of war and the broader historical perspectives that make sense of it; protest and dissent in wartime; the legacy of wars for democracy; indigenous Australians and the effects of twentieth century wars; the Labor Party and the Anzac tradition; the POW experience; veterans and trauma, plus myriad other legacies of war, including the familial, the psychological and the surgical.