Across the world, nations paid respect with moments of silence and solemn ceremonies for their fallen soldiers in World War I and ever since on an Armistice Day pierced by the rumblings of Russia’s war in Ukraine that showed again that peace is all too often elusive.
Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo prepares to lay a poppy wreath during an Armistice Day ceremony at the Menin Gate Memorial to the Missing in Ypres, Belgium, Friday, Nov. 11, 2022. Since the end of World War I in 1918, millions of visitors, from as far away as the U.S., New Zealand, and South Africa, have flocked to memorials in northern France and Belgium to pay tribute to the fallen. (AP Photo/Olivier Matthys)
On the continent that already spawned two world wars in little over a century, casualties since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24 are estimated at around 200,000 and gave any of Friday’s reminiscences about the horrors of wars past a poignant ring of the present.
French President Emmanuel Macron stands at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier during a ceremony at the Arc de Triomphe, as part of the commemorations marking the 104th anniversary of the Nov. 11, 1918 Armistice, ending World War I, Friday, Nov. 11, 2022 in Paris,. (Gonzalo Fuentes/Pool via AP)French President Emmanuel Macron waves as he attends a ceremony at the Arc de Triomphe, as part of the commemorations marking the 104th anniversary of the Nov. 11, 1918 Armistice, ending World War I, Friday, Nov. 11, 2022 in Paris,. (Gonzalo Fuentes/Pool via AP)
“Since 1918 we have marked Armistice Day and paid tribute to the brave men and women who have served to give us peace. Yet as we salute our troops this year, this peace has been shattered by a Russian aggressor,” U.K. Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said. “As we honor the war dead of the past, we also remember Ukraine’s fight for freedom today.”
People look at a wreaths and other tributes at the cenotaph following Remembrance Day ceremonies in Sydney, Friday, Nov. 11, 2022. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
The thought echoed around the globe, starting in Australia and New Zealand, where dawn came first on the anniversary of the Nov. 11, 1918 truce that brought an end to the First World War.
Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo looks at a piper passing by during an Armistice Day ceremony at the Menin Gate Memorial to the Missing in Ypres, Belgium, Friday, Nov. 11, 2022. Since the end of World War I in 1918, millions of visitors, from as far away as the U.S., New Zealand, and South Africa, have flocked to memorials in northern France and Belgium to pay tribute to the fallen. (AP Photo/Olivier Matthys)
At the heart of the Flanders Fields in western Belgium, where several of the war’s bloodiest battles were fought and one huge tower was built under the motto “War Never Again,” the tributes had an all too contemporary ring.
Poppies and other floral wreaths lie, during an Armistice Day ceremony at the Menin Gate Memorial to the Missing in Ypres, Belgium, Friday, Nov. 11, 2022. Since the end of World War I in 1918, millions of visitors, from as far away as the U.S., New Zealand, and South Africa, have flocked to memorials in northern France and Belgium to pay tribute to the fallen. (AP Photo/Olivier Matthys)
“These words sound different this year,” Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said. “Today, we do not only commemorate Armistice Day, but also the brave fight of the Ukrainians for their freedom and country.”
Participants from India prepare to lay wreaths during an Armistice Day ceremony at the Menin Gate Memorial to the Missing in Ypres, Belgium, Friday, Nov. 11, 2022. Since the end of World War I in 1918, millions of visitors, from as far away as the U.S., New Zealand, and South Africa, have flocked to memorials in northern France and Belgium to pay tribute to the fallen. (AP Photo/Olivier Matthys)
In Australia, the “Lest we forget” phrase — gold-engraved into the Moruya granite of the Sydney cenotaph — towered atop wreaths and flowers that people brought.
“We must always remember the brave men and women who’ve defended our nation at our time of need, who’ve made the ultimate sacrifice,” Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese lays a wreath at the cenotaph during Remembrance Day ceremonies honoring Word War I soldiers in Sydney, Friday, Nov. 11, 2022. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
Together with soldiers from New Zealand and other parts of the British Commonwealth like Canada and South Africa, Australians joined the 1914-1918 war in Europe to make it the first truly global conflict.
A drums and pipes band marches during an Armistice Day ceremony at the Menin Gate Memorial to the Missing in Ypres, Belgium, Friday, Nov. 11, 2022. Since the end of World War I in 1918, millions of visitors, from as far away as the U.S., New Zealand, and South Africa, have flocked to memorials in northern France and Belgium to pay tribute to the fallen. (AP Photo/Olivier Matthys)
World War I pitted the armies of France, the British empire, Russia and the U.S. against a German-led coalition that included the Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman empires. Almost 10 million soldiers died, sometimes tens of thousands on a single day.
Armed forces veterans stand, during an Armistice Day service at Poppyscotland’s Lady Haig Poppy Factory in Edinburgh, Scotland, Friday, Nov. 11, 2022. The Lady Haig Poppy Factory has been making poppies and supporting veterans since its founding nearly 100 years ago. The factory produces three million poppies and 10,000 wreaths annually. (Jane Barlow/PA via AP)
For decades in Europe, the return of such mass carnage seemed impossible, but the scenes from Ukraine’s cities and countryside made all think again.
Armistice Day, known as Veterans Day in the U.S., was marked from the smallest cemeteries in Flanders Fields in western Belgium to the Champs Elysees in Paris and countless streets and offices beyond.
City workers attend a Remembrance Day ceremony at Lloyd’s of London, in the City of London, to mark Armistice Day, the anniversary of the end of the First World War, Friday, Nov. 11, 2022. (Victoria Jones/PA via AP)
City workers at Lloyd’s of London stood, almost with military rigor across six floors of their headquarters, to mark the day.
Participants attend an Armistice Day ceremony at the Menin Gate Memorial to the Missing in Ypres, Belgium, Friday, Nov. 11, 2022. Since the end of World War I in 1918, millions of visitors, from as far away as the U.S., New Zealand, and South Africa, have flocked to memorials in northern France and Belgium to pay tribute to the fallen. (AP Photo/Olivier Matthys)
In Paris, French president Emmanuel Macron laid a wreath on the tomb of the Unknown Soldier under the Arc de Triomphe. Later, Macron will attend the annual Paris Peace Forum, leading a debate on how Russia’s war in Ukraine is testing the ideas of universalism and multilateralism that flourished after the world wars of the last century.
