Armistice Day

11 November is a holiday recognized by nations across the world, commemorating the same day in history - 11 November 1918, the end of World War I - but differently. The New York Times has a good overview of how Armistice Day came to be remembered differently by different people.

In the years after the war, official ceremonies in the United States reflected these victorious ideals and celebrated “world peace” — it was only after World War II that the day was dedicated specifically to veterans. The touchstone of loss and suffering for Americans remained the Civil War, the world’s first industrial conflict, which 50 years before World War I had taken the lives of more than 600,000 soldiers. Memorial Day (or as it was originally known, Decoration Day) was first instituted in May during the late 1860s to commemorate these fallen.

In contrast, it was only in August 1914 that the horrors and shock of modern warfare came to Europe. The Great War, as the conflict is still known in France and Britain, was a prolonged and vicious struggle demanding the commitment of nations’ wealth and manpower on an unprecedented scale.

War is a terrible thing, though at times unavoidable. And it takes great courage and sacrifice to be willing to risk physical or psychological injury, or death to protect liberty and justice. Today we pay homage to those, the living and the dead, who have given of themselves when called on by their countrymen.

May we soon see the day when the call to sacrifice is silent evermore.