This thesis analyses and compares two historic commemorations in Northern Ireland with two in New Zealand, in the period from 1940 to 1990. These commemorations are the Twelfth of July and Remembrance Sunday in Northern Ireland, and Waitangi Day and Anzac Day in New Zealand. Examination of these commemorations has revealed several patterns. In the commemorations studied in this thesis, levels of public adherence generally depended on the extent to which the values that the commemoration symbolised were seen as threatened or highly needed. The commemorations which reaffirmed compelling values tended to enjoy higher levels of public support than those expressing values which were seen as either unnecessary or unthreatened. In both countries, historic commemorations were capable of uniting communities behind core values. However, in cases where there was no general agreement on what those values were or what they meant, commemorations frequently became sites of division and conflict. All four commemorations were regularly used by organisers and participants to express views on contemporary political and social issues and, on several occasions in both countries, different groups battled for the control of particular commemorations. In both countries, increased levels of social conflict often led to the increased use of the past as a rhetorical device. The main conclusion to be drawn from this study is that these historic commemora¬tions derived more of their meaning from their contemporary context than from the historical events which they commemorated. In particular, how the public viewed and understood the values symbolised and reaffirmed by the commemorations strongly affected their levels of support. People were most likely to observe the commem-orations when they were seen as symbolising values which were widely adhered to and seen as threatened or urgently needed. The historic commemorations examined in this thesis were often strongly affected by contemporary events which were seen as relating, positively or negatively, to the values which the commemorations embodied.

This thesis analyses and compares two historic commemorations in Northern Ireland with two in New Zealand, in the period from 1940 to 1990. These commemorations are the Twelfth of July and Remembrance Sunday in Northern Ireland, and Waitangi Day and Anzac Day in New Zealand. Examination of these commemorations has revealed several patterns. In the commemorations studied in this thesis, levels of public adherence generally depended on the extent to which the values that the commemoration symbolised were seen as threatened or highly needed. The commemorations which reaffirmed compelling values tended to enjoy higher levels of public support than those expressing values which were seen as either unnecessary or unthreatened. In both countries, historic commemorations were capable of uniting communities behind core values. However, in cases where there was no general agreement on what those values were or what they meant, commemorations frequently became sites of division and conflict. All four commemorations were regularly used by organisers and participants to express views on contemporary political and social issues and, on several occasions in both countries, different groups battled for the control of particular commemorations. In both countries, increased levels of social conflict often led to the increased use of the past as a rhetorical device. The main conclusion to be drawn from this study is that these historic commemora¬tions derived more of their meaning from their contemporary context than from the historical events which they commemorated. In particular, how the public viewed and understood the values symbolised and reaffirmed by the commemorations strongly affected their levels of support. People were most likely to observe the commem-orations when they were seen as symbolising values which were widely adhered to and seen as threatened or urgently needed. The historic commemorations examined in this thesis were often strongly affected by contemporary events which were seen as relating, positively or negatively, to the values which the commemorations embodied.

This thesis analyses and compares two historic commemorations in Northern Ireland with two in New Zealand, in the period from 1940 to 1990. These commemorations are the Twelfth of July and Remembrance Sunday in Northern Ireland, and Waitangi Day and Anzac Day in New Zealand. Examination of these commemorations has revealed several patterns. In the commemorations studied in this thesis, levels of public adherence generally depended on the extent to which the values that the commemoration symbolised were seen as threatened or highly needed. The commemorations which reaffirmed compelling values tended to enjoy higher levels of public support than those expressing values which were seen as either unnecessary or unthreatened. In both countries, historic commemorations were capable of uniting communities behind core values. However, in cases where there was no general agreement on what those values were or what they meant, commemorations frequently became sites of division and conflict. All four commemorations were regularly used by organisers and participants to express views on contemporary political and social issues and, on several occasions in both countries, different groups battled for the control of particular commemorations. In both countries, increased levels of social conflict often led to the increased use of the past as a rhetorical device. The main conclusion to be drawn from this study is that these historic commemora¬tions derived more of their meaning from their contemporary context than from the historical events which they commemorated. In particular, how the public viewed and understood the values symbolised and reaffirmed by the commemorations strongly affected their levels of support. People were most likely to observe the commem-orations when they were seen as symbolising values which were widely adhered to and seen as threatened or urgently needed. The historic commemorations examined in this thesis were often strongly affected by contemporary events which were seen as relating, positively or negatively, to the values which the commemorations embodied.

No abstract available

The aim of this research is to examine the much neglected body of writings on New Zealand and the Maori by German-speaking explorers and travellers during the colonising period of the 1840s to 1880s. To the nineteenth-century breed of visitor from Germany and Austria, 'Old' New Zealand often presented itself as an unexplored field of scientific curiosities, from botany and geology to ornithology and ethnology, at the same time as a paradise for immigrant workers. The investigation begins with an evaluation of the eighteenth-century account of Georg Forster, who accompanied Captain Cook on his second voyage to the South Pacific. Forster's account is entrenched in the early racial stereotypes and theories of the 'savage', and provides the first major primary source for all of German-speaking Europe up to the period under investigation. The second main source to be considered is the dominant 'paradise' image which evolved out of the propaganda of the New Zealand Company and continued right through the colonising era. The principal figures to be examined include Ernst Dieffenbach, the official Company naturalist, Friedrich August Krull, the first German Consul in New Zealand, Ferdinand von Hochstetter, the resident geologist on the Novara expedition, Julius von Haast, the founder and director of the Canterbury Museum, Andreas Reischek, the taxidermist and collector, as well as other notable visitors including Max Buchner, Franz Reuleaux, Otto Finsch, Alexander von Hübner and Robert von Lendenfeld. Thus, it is the goal of this investigation to analyse the perception of New Zealand and the Maori in selected works by German-speaking explorers and travellers who arrived in the colony between 1839 and 1889 through, first of all, confronting the prevailing stereotypes and images inherent in the philosophical attitudes of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries towards the 'savage' and those present in the 'paradise' rhetoric of the British campaigners of colonisation, and secondly, examining the origins, patterns and evolution of their respective perceptions, impressions and opinions in order to reveal the true extent of their non-British 'Germanic' viewpoint.

From 1840 to the present, the Treaty of Waitangi has been a subject of some significance in New Zealand – a distinctive but subtle thread running through the fabric of the country’s history and shaping attitudes to race relations. A conviction strongly held by New Zealanders is that the treaty has made the country different from other nations, that it initiated an experiment in race relationships that has secured reasonable accord over the years. Only as the climate of public opinion has shifted slightly in the last twenty years and as Maori protest about failure to obtain treaty rights has become more strident have these convictions been challenged.

This thesis analyses and compares two historic commemorations in Northern Ireland with two in New Zealand, in the period from 1940 to 1990. These commemorations are the Twelfth of July and Remembrance Sunday in Northern Ireland, and Waitangi Day and Anzac Day in New Zealand. Examination of these commemorations has revealed several patterns. In the commemorations studied in this thesis, levels of public adherence generally depended on the extent to which the values that the commemoration symbolised were seen as threatened or highly needed. The commemorations which reaffirmed compelling values tended to enjoy higher levels of public support than those expressing values which were seen as either unnecessary or unthreatened. In both countries, historic commemorations were capable of uniting communities behind core values. However, in cases where there was no general agreement on what those values were or what they meant, commemorations frequently became sites of division and conflict. All four commemorations were regularly used by organisers and participants to express views on contemporary political and social issues and, on several occasions in both countries, different groups battled for the control of particular commemorations. In both countries, increased levels of social conflict often led to the increased use of the past as a rhetorical device. The main conclusion to be drawn from this study is that these historic commemora¬tions derived more of their meaning from their contemporary context than from the historical events which they commemorated. In particular, how the public viewed and understood the values symbolised and reaffirmed by the commemorations strongly affected their levels of support. People were most likely to observe the commem-orations when they were seen as symbolising values which were widely adhered to and seen as threatened or urgently needed. The historic commemorations examined in this thesis were often strongly affected by contemporary events which were seen as relating, positively or negatively, to the values which the commemorations embodied.

The aim of this research is to examine the much neglected body of writings on New Zealand and the Maori by German-speaking explorers and travellers during the colonising period of the 1840s to 1880s. To the nineteenth-century breed of visitor from Germany and Austria, 'Old' New Zealand often presented itself as an unexplored field of scientific curiosities, from botany and geology to ornithology and ethnology, at the same time as a paradise for immigrant workers. The investigation begins with an evaluation of the eighteenth-century account of Georg Forster, who accompanied Captain Cook on his second voyage to the South Pacific. Forster's account is entrenched in the early racial stereotypes and theories of the 'savage', and provides the first major primary source for all of German-speaking Europe up to the period under investigation. The second main source to be considered is the dominant 'paradise' image which evolved out of the propaganda of the New Zealand Company and continued right through the colonising era. The principal figures to be examined include Ernst Dieffenbach, the official Company naturalist, Friedrich August Krull, the first German Consul in New Zealand, Ferdinand von Hochstetter, the resident geologist on the Novara expedition, Julius von Haast, the founder and director of the Canterbury Museum, Andreas Reischek, the taxidermist and collector, as well as other notable visitors including Max Buchner, Franz Reuleaux, Otto Finsch, Alexander von Hübner and Robert von Lendenfeld. Thus, it is the goal of this investigation to analyse the perception of New Zealand and the Maori in selected works by German-speaking explorers and travellers who arrived in the colony between 1839 and 1889 through, first of all, confronting the prevailing stereotypes and images inherent in the philosophical attitudes of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries towards the 'savage' and those present in the 'paradise' rhetoric of the British campaigners of colonisation, and secondly, examining the origins, patterns and evolution of their respective perceptions, impressions and opinions in order to reveal the true extent of their non-British 'Germanic' viewpoint.

From 1840 to the present, the Treaty of Waitangi has been a subject of some significance in New Zealand – a distinctive but subtle thread running through the fabric of the country’s history and shaping attitudes to race relations. A conviction strongly held by New Zealanders is that the treaty has made the country different from other nations, that it initiated an experiment in race relationships that has secured reasonable accord over the years. Only as the climate of public opinion has shifted slightly in the last twenty years and as Maori protest about failure to obtain treaty rights has become more strident have these convictions been challenged.

This thesis analyses and compares two historic commemorations in Northern Ireland with two in New Zealand, in the period from 1940 to 1990. These commemorations are the Twelfth of July and Remembrance Sunday in Northern Ireland, and Waitangi Day and Anzac Day in New Zealand. Examination of these commemorations has revealed several patterns. In the commemorations studied in this thesis, levels of public adherence generally depended on the extent to which the values that the commemoration symbolised were seen as threatened or highly needed. The commemorations which reaffirmed compelling values tended to enjoy higher levels of public support than those expressing values which were seen as either unnecessary or unthreatened. In both countries, historic commemorations were capable of uniting communities behind core values. However, in cases where there was no general agreement on what those values were or what they meant, commemorations frequently became sites of division and conflict. All four commemorations were regularly used by organisers and participants to express views on contemporary political and social issues and, on several occasions in both countries, different groups battled for the control of particular commemorations. In both countries, increased levels of social conflict often led to the increased use of the past as a rhetorical device. The main conclusion to be drawn from this study is that these historic commemora¬tions derived more of their meaning from their contemporary context than from the historical events which they commemorated. In particular, how the public viewed and understood the values symbolised and reaffirmed by the commemorations strongly affected their levels of support. People were most likely to observe the commem-orations when they were seen as symbolising values which were widely adhered to and seen as threatened or urgently needed. The historic commemorations examined in this thesis were often strongly affected by contemporary events which were seen as relating, positively or negatively, to the values which the commemorations embodied.