In the 1914-18 war, civilian society in New Zealand had to turn itself into a militarised society. The population of New Zealand at the beginning of the Great War was a little over one million, of that number 100,000 were eligible to serve. Persuading those eligible to join up did not happen ‘naturally’: it required coercion on a grand scale. Throughout WWI New Zealand Police were the invisible military machine.
We have researched and written seven essays that explain the role of New Zealand Police during WWI. Please feel free to read and share but don’t forget to reference the source.
- WWI Section 1: Introduction (PDF, 40KB)
- WWI Section 2: Cullen vs O'Donovan (PDF, 75KB)
- WWI Section 3: Core business demand vs resources (PDF, 83KB)
- WWI Section 4: Core business crime fighting (PDF, 51KB)
- WWI Section 5: (PDF, 182KB)
- WWI Section 6: Alien's espionage and sedition (PDF, 83KB)
- WWI Section 7: Police as professional body (PDF, 68KB)