New Zealand enters the First World War
- When
- 1914–1918
- Reach
- Nationwide
About 100,000 served overseas from a population of just over a million. Around 18,000 died and 41,000 were wounded — proportionally among the heaviest losses of any country.
New Zealand was at war the moment Britain was, without a separate decision. A force took German Samoa within weeks. The scale of the commitment reshaped the country: conscription from 1916, women into new work, and after the war a landscape of memorials in almost every town. Waikato Māori, remembering confiscation, largely refused to serve and were subjected to conscription in 1917 while other iwi were not.
Regions affected
Sources
Written for this project from these references rather than copied from them. Follow a link to check the account against the original.
Related
New Zealand declares war on Germany
‘Where she goes, we go’ — 140,000 served overseas and nearly 12,000 died, from a population of 1.6 million.
First refrigerated cargo sails for London
The Dunedin left Port Chalmers with 4,900 frozen carcasses and arrived in London 98 days later with the cargo sound. It changed the country’s economy permanently.
Port ChalmersVogel’s public works and immigration scheme
Julius Vogel borrowed £10 million in London to build railways, roads and telegraph lines, and to bring 100,000 assisted migrants.
Britain joins the EEC
New Zealand’s guaranteed British market for lamb, butter and cheese began closing after ninety years. The economy has never worked the same way since.