From the Editors

The editorial team of History Australia are very happy to present this special issue of the journal, entitled ‘Peace and Patriotism in Twentieth-Century Australia’. We are particularly proud that this special issue, edited by Kyle Harvey and Nick Irving, showcases new work from both early career researchers as well as established scholars, underlining once again History Australia’s determination to publish work from a broad cross-section of historians.

To our minds, this issue stands as a valuable attempt to push beyond the more formal (and occasionally formulaic) state commemorations of the centenary of World War One that have sought to funnel the nation’s collective memory along well-rehearsed and easily recognisable lines of public ritual, and which have been calibrated to maximise the social resonance of the war as a foundational national moment. The articles here have neatly sidestepped the familiar and often overtly politicised characteristics of the ‘Anzacified’ and ‘Gallipolised’ commemorative tradition that steadfastly foregrounds the battlefield as the true interface between the nation and its enduring civic values. These articles, each in their own way, offer a reassessment of the assumptions that underpin the nation’s collective memory of war.