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Hatred as an Instrument of War

Malcolm Fraser
In one of his most dignified and courageous speeches, Menzies lambasted the Government’s ‘use of hatred as an instrument of war’.

During the Second World War, in late 1941, the Curtin Government needed to find a way to encourage a sustained war effort from the Australian people. The Department of Information initiated propaganda which used a hate campaign against the Japanese as an instrument of war. The message was, “we’ve always despised them – now we must smash them.”

On 10th April 1942, Robert Menzies, then an opposition back-bencher, gave a radio talk in which he spoke of the dangers of that policy. It was a policy which to its credit, the Curtin Government soon abandoned. The relevance of Menzies speech to today’s world is obvious.

Paul Ham, in his book Kokoda (published by Harper Collins), says:

“The Australian press was reliably jingoistic and colourfully apocalyptic. ‘War has ceased merely to be on Australia’s doorstep,’ wrote Ek Dum of The Bulletin on 11 March. ‘It is on the mat reaching for the knocker.’ The Government launched a propaganda campaign to incite hatred of the Japanese, which fitted snugly into the Daily Telegraph’s existing editorial policy. It was a pointless exercise, which did not reflect well on Curtin. In one of his most dignified and courageous speeches, Menzies lambasted the Government’s ‘use of hatred as an instrument of war’.”

From Menzies’ broadcast:

The last advertisement I saw ended by announcing, apropos of the Japanese, that “We always did despise them anyhow.” Now, if I may take that last observation first, it does seem to me to be fantastically foolish and dangerous. It is, in my opinion, poor policy to try to persuade people to despise the Japanese…

Their courage is admitted; their skill is much greater than we thought; their resource and ingenuity and capacity for devising novel means of warfare have been at times staggering…

To despise such people is absurd. Such an attitude is merely of a piece with the constant underestimation of our enemies, which has been one of our great handicaps in this war… we are not dealing with a contemptible enemy whom a second-rate effort will serve to overthrow, but with a tremendously powerful enemy whom we will have to go at full stretch to defeat…

But this is only one aspect of the problem. The real thing that troubles me about this campaign is that it appears to proceed from a belief, no doubt quite honestly held, that the cultivation of the spirit of hatred among our own people is a proper instrument of war policy…

We all – and very naturally at a time like this – have our moments of burning hatred. But the real question is whether we should glorify such a natural human reaction into something which ought to be cultivated and made a sort of chronic state of mind.

It is conceded the world over that the Australian soldier is a good fighter. But I have never heard it suggested that he was a good or persistent hater. He has very frequently respected his enemy though he has fought him, and fought to kill.

Do we want to change him, or are these campaigns directed to the civilian? Is it thought that Australian civilians are so lacking in the true spirit of citizenship that they need to be filled artificially with a spirit of hatred before they will do their duty to themselves and to those who are fighting for them? It is an offence to an honest citizen to imagine that the cold, evil and repulsive spirit of racial hatred must be substituted for honest and brave indignation if his greatest effort is to be obtained.

A man who could write these words in April 1942, at a time when Australia was in extreme danger, under threat of invasion from a powerful enemy, showed remarkable courage. What would he have said about the handling of the War on Terror and the fears which too many have sought to create in the minds of average Americans and Australians about the dangers of Islam?

About Rt Hon Malcolm Fraser

Malcolm Fraser was Prime Minister of Australia from 1975 to 1983. He had previously served in various junior and senior Ministerial portfolios after entering the Federal Parliament in 1955.

As Prime Minister, Malcolm Fraser welcomed refugees from Vietnam and elsewhere, led international condemnation of the apartheid regime in South Africa, moved to recognize aboriginal land rights, championed the cause of multi-culturalism (including the establishment of SBS Broadcasting) and developed significant strategic relationships with Asian and sub-continent nations.

He remains a prominent member of the InterAction Council. He was Chairman of CARE Australia from 1987 to 2001, President of CARE International from 1990 to 1995. In 2000 Malcolm Fraser was awarded the Australian Human Rights Medal.

He is a prolific writer, columnist and speaker on human rights issues.

Other articles by Malcolm Fraser