The Significance of the Movement
At first glance, New Zealand's anti-Vietnam War movement could easily be interpreted as quite the failure.
Amidst all of the research put into this website, I have not come across confirmations of any significant decision about New Zealand military involvement in Vietnam being affected by the protest activities from 1965 to the early 1970s. The core objective of the protest movement was end New Zealand combat deployment and involvement in Vietnam, which did come to fruition but no evidence suggests that it was due to their efforts. Any potential effectiveness of the movement was also hindered by the vast endemic internal divisions that it caused throughout New Zealand and even once the war had officially come to an end the majority of those who opposed the issue no longer took interest in Vietnam and its long-lived recovery. In his book 'New Zealand and the Vietnam War' historian Roberto Rabel comments that, "it seems curious that former protestors appeared unperturbed by the undemocratic character of the regime that has ruled Vietnam since 1975."
Despite the fact that in the grand scheme of things, New Zealand's anti-Vietnam war efforts were technically unsuccessful, in that it did not achieve what it set out to achieve, it is equally possible to see the movement as a success in other ways. The fact that New Zealand was able to create an anti-war movement that was able to sustain momentum for roughly a decade is an achievement in itself. This success comes with the adoption of new methods of protest (i.e. teach-ins, sit-ins) that kept not only the protesters but also the public and the media, interested in their movement. The spontaneous growth of various groups across the nation like the PYMs and COVs (Committees on Vietnam) transformed the protest movement into a much more mainstream political issue whilst creating a lively movement that encompassed an extensive range of views. The Vietnam War protest movement was the first foreign policy issue of the post-war era to polarise public opinion in New Zealand, and the movement's methods and overall structure profoundly influenced the way in which other movements for change established a much more mainstream approach, including; the anti-apartheid and anti-nuclear movements. As this particular movement gathered such a large amount of supporters across the country, many of its supporters would go on to become activists in further protest movements in New Zealand's near future including the Women's Liberation Movement, and the aforementioned anti-nuclear and anti-apartheid movements.
Amidst all of the research put into this website, I have not come across confirmations of any significant decision about New Zealand military involvement in Vietnam being affected by the protest activities from 1965 to the early 1970s. The core objective of the protest movement was end New Zealand combat deployment and involvement in Vietnam, which did come to fruition but no evidence suggests that it was due to their efforts. Any potential effectiveness of the movement was also hindered by the vast endemic internal divisions that it caused throughout New Zealand and even once the war had officially come to an end the majority of those who opposed the issue no longer took interest in Vietnam and its long-lived recovery. In his book 'New Zealand and the Vietnam War' historian Roberto Rabel comments that, "it seems curious that former protestors appeared unperturbed by the undemocratic character of the regime that has ruled Vietnam since 1975."
Despite the fact that in the grand scheme of things, New Zealand's anti-Vietnam war efforts were technically unsuccessful, in that it did not achieve what it set out to achieve, it is equally possible to see the movement as a success in other ways. The fact that New Zealand was able to create an anti-war movement that was able to sustain momentum for roughly a decade is an achievement in itself. This success comes with the adoption of new methods of protest (i.e. teach-ins, sit-ins) that kept not only the protesters but also the public and the media, interested in their movement. The spontaneous growth of various groups across the nation like the PYMs and COVs (Committees on Vietnam) transformed the protest movement into a much more mainstream political issue whilst creating a lively movement that encompassed an extensive range of views. The Vietnam War protest movement was the first foreign policy issue of the post-war era to polarise public opinion in New Zealand, and the movement's methods and overall structure profoundly influenced the way in which other movements for change established a much more mainstream approach, including; the anti-apartheid and anti-nuclear movements. As this particular movement gathered such a large amount of supporters across the country, many of its supporters would go on to become activists in further protest movements in New Zealand's near future including the Women's Liberation Movement, and the aforementioned anti-nuclear and anti-apartheid movements.
Auckland Anti-War Mob, 1972
~Photograph by John Miller.
~Photograph by John Miller.
Although they may not have persuaded the government, those activists involved in the anti-Vietnam War Movement did however, succeed in persuading large numbers of New Zealanders that their involvement in Vietnam was a component of a much larger issue with New Zealand's foreign policy. The significance of the protest movement's influence and appeal to so many young New Zealanders meant that this king of protest and uprising would be a key moment in the lives of the generation coming into political maturity at the time which not only included the previously mention Time Shadbolt but also the future Prime Minister Helen Clark.
The anti-Vietnam War movement managed to do what the forces of the US, Australia and New Zealand couldn't do in Vietnam, which was to ultimately win over the nations people in a bid for support.