Posted on 06/06/2014 1:33:01 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Why the memory of the liberation of Europe is still a battlefield.
War is politics by other means and so is its commemoration. World leaders will gather on the beaches of Normandy on June 6 to mark the 70th anniversary of D-Day and they will bring their political and historic baggage with them. Though the Battle of Normandy is over, the war over its significance continues and the day's events will represent the latest in a long series of conflicts over the ever-shifting meaning of one of the most decisive days in modern European history.
Among the presidents, prime ministers, and chancellors in attendance, only the group's lone constitutional monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, is old enough to remember the war. The other leaders will probably experience a certain kind of nostalgia for an age when choices were clear and wars were good. But clarity and goodness are as much inventions of each nation's postwar narrative as they were part of the actual past.
There is no single history of D-Day. There are, instead, only histories that vary from nation to nation and era to era, histories sculpted by changing political priorities and cultural concerns. Both as individuals and nations, we remember the pasts we choose to remember. All told, it is a pretty parochial exercise. And as the authors of the recent book D-Day in History and Memory suggest, "national parochialisms are shaped by transnational imperatives."
For many Europeans, perhaps no great power has been more parochial than the United States. But American parochialism has universal ambitions. Hardly had Europe been liberated from Nazi Germany before the American government began public commemoration. With the consent of the Élyseé, the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) took control of strategic sites along the Normandy coast. And when the Normandy American Cemetery was inaugurated
(Excerpt) Read more at foreignpolicy.com ...
They invited Putin because he is only one with experience invading another country.
All my uncles that served in Europe are gone ,, Army.
May their footprints in fighting to free the world from tyranny..
Never be erased from the sandy beaches of time or our hearts and memories.
Nicely said, NormsRevenge.
Or John F. Kerry--he invaded Cambodia in December 1968, on Nixon's orders, you know.
Or John F. Kerry--he invaded Cambodia in December 1968, on Nixon's orders, you know.
Yes, we Americans know that Stalingrad was the decisive battle in the European war. But we're still going to celebrate D-Day anyway. Deal with it.
Well Bush senior was in the Pacific. But still ...... better than Clinton who did that walk on the sand and made a cross out of pebbles that aren’t found on the beach. They were handed to him by his staff and he “walked alone in contemplation and made that cross” big phoney.
I’ve often thought of how long the USSR could have held out had America not provided food, fuel, armaments, munitions, etc.
Besides the Soviets started the war along with the Nazis.
I saw a photo today of an old man in civilian clothes talking to some American GIs in Europe, and an odd thought struck me.
If one was ever going to play a fake warrior, now would be the time for an old American (or British, etc) man to enjoy a couple of weeks in Europe, with a collection of war stories to share, depending on which city or country he was in.
IBTZ
The Sov's got a huge amount of "lend-lease" material and since they weren't giving us any leases that meant free. Most of the Red Army's truck fleet was built by Studebaker.
Marshall wanted to go striaght to a French invasion. The Brits talked us into doing North Africa and thank God they did. We were not ready for prime time and working the problems in North Africa and Sicily got us ready for the big show.
Plus, it became apparent as 1943 progressed that even though America was working miracles we were not going to have sufficient forces, landing craft or equipment to do the cross-channel invasion until 1944.
Hardly had Europe been liberated from Nazi Germany before the American government began public commemoration. With the consent of the Élyseé, the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) took control of strategic sites along the Normandy coast.
To the Victor go the spoils......
They may have been able to hold a line at roughly the Ural mountains.
It was common knowledge that the communist party would have ditched Stalin if Moscow fell. Even so, he had a train waiting to leave the city if the Germans broke through. It was a close-run thing.
I just recently learned that the number of German graves in that vicinity of France outnumber the allied graves.
I don’t understand why the celebrations don’t cover the valiant German defense of the country, against the indiscriminate allies whose bombings killed military and civilian alike.
Sorry, didn’t mean to upset anyone. Just applying a little liberal logic on the Crusades to WWII.
Thanks, my dad was flat footed and a farmer, already had 6 kids, soo.. Most of the local healthy guys went to war. Somewhere. Only 1 local from our immediate neighborhood was lost.
As a kid , I always looked for graves that had military notations. But for them..
Ah! We had six kids too...:)
“Sorry, didnt mean to upset anyone. Just applying a little liberal logic on the Crusades to WWII.”
I’ve often wondered what ceremonies occur for the hundreds of Americans killed by the French in North Africa during Operation Torch (the Allied invasion of French North Africa).
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