Writer
Douglas Newton
Douglas Newton is a retired academic and historian. His new book has just been published, Private Ryan and the Lost Peace: A Defiant Soldier and the Struggle Against the Great War (Sydney: Longueville Media, 2021).
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‘Impactful projection’, 1915 style: Lest we forget Anzac Cove
Anzac Day. We mark it respectfully. True respect demands that we also not forget the essential question about the first ‘Anzac Day’ – 25 April 1915. Why were Australian soldiers at Anzac Cove in the first place? Continue reading »
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Remembrance Day through the lens of Gaza and Ukraine
This Remembrance Day, the great juggernaut of war is crushing thousands. In Gaza and the Ukraine. In that context, we may reflect today on Australia’s role in the Great War. Continue reading »
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‘Dealers’, ‘bleeders’, and a negotiated peace in Ukraine
After a catastrophic year of war, there is talk of a negotiated peace in Ukraine. But those suggesting that it should be explored are often instantly slapped down. Familiar rhetoric is deployed. A negotiated peace is supposedly impossible – or dishonourable. Continue reading »
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War: truly the last resort for Australians?
If war is the last resort, why doesn’t our governance system enforce that condition? Will our War Powers be reformed in 2023? Continue reading »
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Like Mary’s lamb in Imperial Wars-how history rhymes
In the shadow of Remembrance Day, the calamity of war should haunt us. But sadly, contemporary debates regarding our defence policy rhyme uncomfortably with those heard during the slide to disaster before the First World War. Continue reading »
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The fantasy that haunts our cult of the fallen
According to the fantasy, there is a ‘moral obligation’ toward dead Anzacs – but not to democratise the decisions that would throw live Anzacs into war. Continue reading »
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Dutton leads us down a dangerous pre-World War I path
Peter Dutton’s support for the US over China risks putting wind beneath the wings of Washington’s hawks. We have been here many times before. Continue reading »
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Reflections for Remembrance Day: the right to question is incontestable
The first Anzacs challenged the reasons for war, so the federal education minister’s insistence that Anzac Day cannot be ‘contested’ at school is political pantomime. Continue reading »
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Lest we forget: Lessons for AUKUS from the Anglo-German naval race
In the shadow of AUKUS, there are many echoes of debates from the era of the Anglo-German naval race, 1900 to 1914. Are there any lessons for us? Continue reading »
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Whitlam, Keating, Anzac, and the drums of wars past
“I think the war against Hitler was justified. I don’t know whether the war against Wilhelm II was.” Thus spoke Prime Minister Gough Whitlam in a BBC TV interview with Lord Chalfont recorded in September 1973, and aired in December. It was screened in Australia in early January 1974. The transcript is in the Whitlam Continue reading »
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How do we show true respect for the Anzacs?
First things first: let us remember and respect all those lost forever to the juggernaut of war, and all those crushed by it who still live with the trauma. But what does it mean to be truly respectful of our ‘Anzacs’? Should we focus unwaveringly on military achievement, or should we also probe fearlessly the Continue reading »
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Armistice Day: Old Bones, Young Soldiers, Long Wars.
One hundred and two years after the first Armistice Day, as we survey the vast war cemeteries in our minds’ eyes, we may glimpse there a stark truth: then, as now, those who choose war go on to make old bones; too many of those who fight them go on to make neat little rows. Continue reading »
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Thoughts for Anzac Day. ‘Never such innocence again.’
Anzac Day dawns. We acknowledge the heavy costs endured – the loss of life, the broken bodies and broken minds. We reflect, remember, and respect. There will be no big public gatherings this year – mercifully perhaps. Because these sometimes include elements of naivety that make us cringe. Continue reading »
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DOUGLAS NEWTON. Night Thoughts on the 100th Anniversary of the First Remembrance Day
A hundred years ago the victors marked the first anniversary of Armistice Day. Our own memorialisation of the war, then and now, has been mostly in the spirit of ‘Take a bow, Australia’. But we need to lift our eyes from our own narrow horizons and question our ingrained instinct for self-congratulatory narratives. Continue reading »
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DOUGLAS NEWTON. ‘Fine phrases … dark thoughts’. Reflections on the Centenary of ‘Peace Day’, 19 July 1 919.
It is one hundred years since ‘Peace Day’, Saturday 19 July 1919. On that day, celebrations were held across the British Empire to toast the great victory that had been won – supposedly crowned by the Treaty of Versailles. A hundred years later, shall we face up to some of the historic realities of the Continue reading »
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DOUGLAS NEWTON. Reflections for Anzac Day. Why? How? To what end?
On this day, respect for our war dead, and for survivors, eclipses all. The rows of headstones afflict the mind. But real respect demands we reflect on the truly big questions: Why? How? To what end? Continue reading »
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DOUGLAS NEWTON. For Armistice Day: Lest we forget the realities of the Armistice
Armistice Day dawns. Supposedly, it marks ‘the end of the First World War’. It was not. There was no peace. Wars and civil conflicts continued to rage across Eastern Europe, Russia, and the Middle East. Moreover, the victors cruelly maintained the economic blockade of Germany during the eight-month armistice period. Hundreds of thousands of malnourished Continue reading »
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What are the real lessons of the First World War?
The Centenary of the Armistice of 1918 is almost upon us. There will be sincere and solemn events. But prepare also for a hurricane of media puffery, a cascade of clichés, narrow nationalism, the familiar medley of cheers and tears – and little serious attention to the real lessons of the First World War. Continue reading »
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Anzac Day: From respectful remembrance to festival of forgetting
Are our war memorials becoming sites for mere flag-waving? Should they feature exhibition halls boosting national pride in our military prowess? If so, Anzac Day itself risks descending into a Festival of Forgetting. Continue reading »
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DOUGLAS NEWTON. Beersheba – the Scramble for the Ottoman Empire- A REPOST From November 2, 2017
The centenary of the bloodshed at Beersheba this month is being used to bolster a narrow nationalist understanding of Australia’s First World War. Vital truths about the worldwide catastrophe that had enveloped countless millions by October 1917 are being obscured in a flood of media material that focuses almost entirely upon deeds of gallantry and Continue reading »
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DOUGLAS NEWTON. First World War Centenaries that really matter are looming
Centenary moments of huge significance are upon us: the centenary of the so-called ‘Lansdowne Peace Letter’ of 29 November 1917, and the centenary of the publication of the texts of the so-called ‘Secret Treaties’ in Britain, beginning on 12 December 1917. The possibility of peace was suddenly on the front page. Sensational diplomatic deals underpinning Continue reading »
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DOUGLAS NEWTON. Armistice Day – narrow nationalist naiveties and voodoo vindications of war
Every year, in the days leading up to Armistice Day, a little crop of opinion pieces appears urging Australians to do more than merely remember the dead of war. Various writers argue that we should also recognise the justice of the cause. These frankly nationalist opinion pieces are based on a naïve understanding of the Continue reading »
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DOUGLAS NEWTON. The Centenary of the Third Battle of Ypres
On 31 July 1917, one hundred years ago, Britain launched the Third Battle of Ypres on the Western Front. It would climax in the Battle of Passchendaele in November. During this centenary, will the Australian people be showered with stories of special valour? Or will there be more clear-eyed commentary? The catastrophe that unfolded in Continue reading »
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DOUGLAS NEWTON. The “Political Correctness” – of the Right
In a recent speech to CEDA, John Howard denounced an “avalanche of political correctness”. In fact, Howard has helped promote a stifling version of political correctness – on the Right of Australian politics. Continue reading »
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DOUGLAS NEWTON. The forgotten and ignored German peace initiative of 1916.
Forgotten Great War Centenaries This month, truly important Great War centenaries are passing by quite unnoticed in Australia. A hundred years ago, diplomatic events occurred of far greater significance than any battle in which Australians fought. And – if true political wisdom and courage had prevailed – a negotiated peace might have been achieved, cutting Continue reading »
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DOUGLAS NEWTON. The Slide to World War I. Shades of 1914 today?
Are there shades of 1914 in today’s international collisions? So much is different. Talk of ‘parallels’ is probably overstatement. But there are disturbing continuities. The setting in 1914 In 1914, the ‘Hobbesian’ fatalists who believe that nation states are always natural enemies, and that warfare is more or less inevitable, held sway in many Continue reading »
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DOUGLAS NEWTON. ‘A 100 Per Cent Ally’ – ‘Utterly Dependable’ – conscience washing.
The Chilcot report should prompt much heart-searching, and not only about Australia’s commitment to the Iraq War in 2003. It should prompt us to think about two long-standing problems: the use of the ‘war powers’ by the Executive, without any requirement to consult parliament; and the broader issue of balancing Australia’s interests in her Continue reading »
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Douglas Newton. The Centenary of the Great War – and Anzac
The Great War. What we fought for and why were peace initiatives resisted for so long. Many of those promoting the Anzac Centenary appear to believe that there are certain essentials the Australian people must learn about the Great War: that Australians fought exceedingly well; that they fought even better when led by Australians; that Continue reading »
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Douglas Newton. Lost opportunities for a negotiated peace during the Great War: from 1917 to 1918. Part 2.
During 1917-1918, the Australian divisions in France endured casualties far worse than at Gallipoli. There were huge losses.[1] New evidence shows that ‘four out of five’ of the AIF who survived were affected by disability of some kind.[2] Yet, for contemporary Australians, it is battle-honours that leap to mind, especially Villers-Bretonneux. This is scarcely surprising, Continue reading »
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Douglas Newton. Lost opportunities for a negotiated peace during the Great War: from 1914 to 1916. Part 1
A big centenary is approaching: the battle of Villers-Bretonneux, April 1918. Right now $93.2 million is being spent on the battle site to build the Sir John Monash Centre, ready for Anzac Day 2018.[1] Villers-Bretonneux is irresistible. It simplifies everything: German invaders, liberating Australians, grateful French. But it will provide a mere pinhole on the Continue reading »
