War Is Declared!

100 years and a couple of hours ago, the following message from the King was read out on the steps of Parliament House here in New Zealand:

This is an exert taken from the Wellington Evening Post that was published later in the day and is dated 5th August 1914 (so although Britain's declaration of war was on the 4th August, the time difference meant it was the 5th here).

You can see the full broadsheet from that day here. It's worth a look (for us Kiwi's anyway).

And with that we were at war with Germany in what would become one of the most disastrous wars in history that brutally dragged the world into the modern age. For New Zealand, it would forge us as a nation..... but our battles are some time away yet.

Why did it start? Not to make light of the day, but I have always felt this was the simplest and most poignant explanation of why it all started:

Blackadder Goes Forth: "How Did The War Start"

I'll be definitely keeping an eye on the commemorations and will trying to get to what events I can over the next few years.

I also saw this pop up today from the NZ Archives/ww100.govt.nz, which having an interest in history, I thought was pretty interesting:

The telegram that Lord Liverpool received advising that Britain was now at war. 

I wanted to write this post today to take a moment to remember and reflect as the centenary of commemorations start.

"Lest We Forget"