A key impetus behind establishing the New Zealand Labour Party during 1916 had been to present a more unified front against conscription. Yet in 1940, it was the First Labour Government – comprising several leaders of the 1916–1918 resistance – that decided men should again be compelled to serve. While recent studies have described this as a swift and reluctant change in attitudes occasioned by the Allied defeats in France, numerous documents and speeches suggest otherwise. Senior ministers had in fact accepted the notion of wartime conscription by 1938, before waiting for a moment when the political and military circumstances favoured its introduction.

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“过去的辩论”：新西兰第一届工党政府与1940年征兵制度的引入

1916年成立新西兰工党的主要推动力是提出一个更加统一的反对征兵的阵线。然而，在1940年，第一届工党政府（由1916年至1918年抵抗运动的几名领导人组成）决定再次迫使人们服役。尽管最近的研究将其描述为盟军在法国大败后引起的态度上的迅速和勉强的改变，但大量文件和演说却相反。实际上，在等待政治和军事形势有利于引进时，高级部长实际上在1938年就接受了战时应征的概念。