Free Republic

What do you think about during the two minutes silence? I used to think of men at war, and hear in my head the shouts and the clash of arms. Now I see a narrow street of small houses at dusk. A young man in army uniform is embracing his wife and little children in a lighted doorway. He will not return. I recently learned that, on the first day of commemoration, in 1919, the silence was often far from silent. In many places, when the traffic and the factories stopped, the sound of uncontrollable weeping could be heard in...

US President Donald Trump was forced to cancel his attendance on Saturday at a commemoration in France for US soldiers and marines killed in World War I because rain made it impossible to arrange transport. “[The attendance of the president and first lady] has been canceled due to scheduling and logistical difficulties caused by the weather,” the White House said according to Reuters, adding that Chief of Staff John Kelly, who is a former general, went instead. While the president was scheduled to attend the ceremony at the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery in Belleau, rain and low clouds prevented his helicopter...

Heads of states and governments attend ceremonies to mark the 100th anniversary of the signing of the Armistice which brought the First World War to a close. Watch live Sunday, Nov. 11 at 4am ET.

The Queen and senior royals attended a remembrance concert at the Royal Albert Hall on the eve of Armistice Day. It came ahead of Remembrance Sunday on 11 November, which this year marks 100 years since the end of World War One. The dukes and duchesses of Cambridge and Sussex, and Prime Minister Theresa May were among the audience. The royals stood as thousands of people in the audience held up photos of World War One soldiers - including Mrs May and husband Philip who held pictures of two of her ancestors. Poppies fell from the ceiling of the iconic...

More than 60 heads of state and government are converging on France for the commemorations that will crescendo Sunday with ceremonies at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Paris on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, exactly a century after the armistice.

The Great War of 1914-1918 was the defining event of our time: a lost generation of millions dead or maimed; mournful widows and orphans; empires toppled and nations shattered; Western civilization damaged; vast treasures sacrificed. And in war's aftermath, democracies stillborn and totalitarianism and vengeance enthroned. How did it happen? Keegan, despite his vast expertise, confesses that even when one knows what happened, it is difficult to explain why. "The First World War is a mystery. Its origins are mysterious. So is its course. Why did a prosperous continent, at the height of its success as a source and agent...

German Chancellor Angela Merkel will mark the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I on French soil, and German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier will be in London at a ceremony in Westminster Abby with Queen Elizabeth II. But while the leaders visit the capitals of Germany's wartime enemies, at home there are no national commemorations planned for the centenary of the Nov. 11 armistice that brought an end to the four-year war that killed more than 2 million of its troops and left 4 million wounded. Next week, German parliament is holding a combined commemoration of the 100th anniversary...

Did the horrors of the Great War cause Canadian soldiers to lose their faith? Or is it true that there were no atheists in the trenches? The war has generally been seen as a powerfully disillusioning experience. Books such as Paul Fussell’s widely influential The Great War and Modern Memory portray the war as the origins of modern skepticism and cynicism. The idea of a “lost generation” of disillusioned Anglo-American vets is a widely accepted one. The situation in Canada, however, is a little more ambiguous. In his study of the war’s impact on Canadian culture, Death So Noble, Jonathan...

Donald Trump is to hold meetings with Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Paris as world leaders arrive in western Europe for ceremonies to mark 100 years since the end of the first world war. Emmanuel Macron, the French president and host for the armistice ceremonies in Paris on 11 November, hopes to use the emotion of the occasion to warn that a nationalist resurgence led by authoritarian leaders – an outcome of the flawed ending of the first world war – will threaten liberal democracies and the institutions of multilateralism, the chief outcome of the second world war....

World War I ended with the Ottoman Empire vanquished and facing imminent collapse, its doomed alliance with Imperial Germany costing hundreds of thousands of Ottoman lives and dealing a death blow to the already creaking empire. But 100 years after the surrender of the Ottomans to the Allied powers at Mudros on October 30, 1918, the Great War is in no way seen as a pointless waste or even a defeat by modern Turkey under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Rather than focusing on the four years of devastating conflict that ended in the capitulation and eventual dissolution of the empire,...

In the land of religious history, Philip Jenkins towers like a giant. Here, we discuss the religious dimension of World War I and his newest book, “The Great and Holy War: How World War I Became a Religious Crusade.” RNS: You say that World War I was “a religious crusade.” This sounds like a scandalous idea. Can you explain what you mean? PJ: If I myself believed that it was a crusade, that would indeed be scandalous. Actually, I am arguing that a great many people at the time saw it in those terms, which is also scandalous, in a...

World War I was one of the major events that shook mankind. Originated in Europe, the war lasted from July, 1914 to November, 1918. Filmmakers across the globe have tried to capture the essence of the events that changed the world forever. As First World War marks a century, here are 5 films that delved deep into what happened among the warring nations and how it affected the humanity at large. Paths of Glory The film starring Kirk Douglas as Colonel Dax is a narration of a soldier’s dilemma while motivating others for a bloody war. Douglas plays the commanding...

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex paid tribute to Australia and New Zealand’s war dead as Harry unveiled an extension to the Anzac memorial at a sombre ceremony in Sydney. Harry, wearing his Blues & Royals tropical dress, medals and Knight Commander of the Victorian Order, also sported the insignia of his new position as the Queen’s personal aide-de-camp for the occasion in the city’s Hyde Park on Saturday. The 34-year-old was joined by Meghan, in a black Emilia Wickstead dress and black Philip Treacy hat, as the couple attended the opening of the memorial which commemorates those who fell...

Silent film footage from World War One has been painstakingly restored for a new documentary by Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson. The archive footage has been combined with original interviews with soldiers who fought in the war.

US President Donald Trump announced on Friday that he will be visiting Paris on November 11th in honour of the centenary of the end of WWI. Trump who had planned to organise a military parade in November in Washington announced Friday that he would travel to Paris for the commemoration of the end of the First World War. The US president made the announcement on Twitter (see below) on Friday afternoon at the same as criticizing local politicians in Washington who he said were asking for too much money for the parade. "Never let anyone take you hostage!" he wrote....

First World War battlefield in Verdun still a danger with thousands of exploded shells 100 years on Nearly 100 years since the end of the First World War and there are still areas of France unsafe to be visited because of unexploded shells. Some 300,000 soldiers were killed in the Battle of Verdun between France and Germany from February to December 1916. During the onslaught, around six million shells - including many containing mustard gas - were fired by the opposing sides. One million of those failed to explode. Dozens of unexploded shells are unearthed every day. At the end...

Photo of the Serbian and American flags flying at Serbian National Defense headquarters in Chicago by Aleksandra Rebic July 2018. The Significance of JULY 28 in Serbian-American History / WWI begins and America formally honors Serbia as an Ally, paying tribute to her contributions and sacrifice.Aleksandra's Note: Today, July 28, 2018, marks two important anniversaries. On this date in 1914 Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, thus beginning what would turn into the First World War. On this date in 1918, exactly one century ago, the Serbian flag flew at the White House in Washington, D.C. at the request of American...

​Exploring the impact of World War One on British, German and French art Marking the 100 years since the end of World War One, Aftermath: Art in the Wake of World War One looks at how artists responded to the physical and psychological scars left on Europe. Art was used in many ways in the tumultuous period after the end of the war, from documenting its destructive impact, to the building of public memorials and as a social critique. This fascinating and moving exhibition shows how artists reacted to memories of war in many ways. George Grosz and Otto Dix...

Troops serving in France during the first Christmas of the war were given the Colonies Gift Tins, made in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire. Just one of the 10 bars had been eaten and the tin is being sold at an antiques auction on Tuesday. In October 1916, he was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal, by then he was home because of shrapnel head wounds. He recovered and in 1919 joined Leicestershire Police, where he rose to the rank of superintendent. He died in January 1967.

Irving Stroberg made it, dying of cancer in 1977.