Special commemorations were scheduled for the occasion, in the weeks leading up to and including the date of the centenary itself—11 November 2018. Over 70 heads of state and government gathered in Paris for an international ceremony marking the anniversary of the end of the war, and a series of Armistice Day, Remembrance Day and Veterans Day events were also organized across Europe, the Commonwealth, and in other locations throughout the world.
Following the end of the war, 11 November is observed as an annual day of remembrance in multiple countries under different names (Armistice Day, Remembrance Day in Commonwealth countries and Veterans Day in the United States). The first Armistice Day observance took place in 1919.[2]
Throughout the course of the First World War centenary, which covered a four-year period beginning in 2014, several governments, including those of the United Kingdom and France, had already planned centenary programmes up to that point, including marking key dates of the war such as the Gallipoli campaign in 2015, and the battles of Verdun and the Somme in 2016.[3][4]
France
The Franco-German memorial plaque at Compiègne
Commemorative events were organized as part of the French government's wider Mission Centenaire committee.[4]
On 4 November 2018, Macron and his spouse Brigitte Macron hosted German president Frank-Walter Steinmeier at the Strasbourg Cathedral, marking the official start of the week-long commemorative period. A concert was held in their presence, and the flags of France, Germany and the European Union were hoisted outside the cathedral.[6]
In the lead up to the centenary itself, Macron carried out a "memorial tour", visiting symbolic locations on the Western Front. The tour, however, mainly drew "the scorn of ordinary French voters over his perceived metropolitan disregard for their pocketbook concerns."[7] Macron also announced that writer Maurice Genevoix, author of numerous books on the First World War, would be listed on the Panthéon in 2019, alongside 14 other authors.[8]
On 10 November, Macron and German chancellor Angela Merkel visited the Glade of the Armistice at Compiègne, where they laid a wreath, unveiled a reconciliatory plaque and signed a book of remembrance in a replica of the railway carriage where the Armistice was signed. The visit was symbolic as it marked the first time that French and German leaders had visited the site since 1945.[9][10]
At 11:00 CET on 11 November, bells across France rang simultaneously to mark a century since the armistice came into force, including at Notre-Dame de Paris and at churches in overseas territories of France.[11][12] At the same time, international dignitaries, led by Macron, arrived at the Arc de Triomphe for the planned international ceremony, which began after a presidential inspection of troops, followed by a roll call of French soldiers killed in the preceding year and an army choir rendition of La Marseillaise, the French national anthem.[13][14][15]
The event included performances by cellist Yo-Yo Ma, French violinist Renaud Capuçon and Beninese musician Angélique Kidjo, and 1918 testimonies being read out by a group of teenage students.[n 1][18] Macron then delivered a speech in which he denounced nationalism as a "betrayal of patriotism", and warned of the resurgence of "old demons".[19][14] This was followed by a performance of Ravel's Bolero by the European Union Youth Orchestra.[20]
The end of the service included a rekindling of the Tomb to the Unknown Soldier, where Macron also laid a wreath. The "Sonnerie aux morts" and a minute of silence, concluding with the "Cessez-le-feu" bugle call, marked the end of the ceremony.[21][22] The inaugural Paris Peace Forum was opened at the Grande halle de la Villette in the afternoon, with Macron, Merkel and United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres giving remarks.[23]
Over 120 foreign dignitaries, including 72 heads of state and government and representatives of several international organizations, were reported to have attended the commemorations in Paris.[4][27][28] According to the French presidential office, only countries "which sent troops or workers to the European theaters of war" were invited to be represented.[29] In preparation for the events, around 10,000 police officers, gendarmes and soldiers were placed on duty.[28] Dignitaries included Merkel, US president Donald Trump, and Russian president Vladimir Putin.
French president Macron held a bilateral meeting with Trump at the Élysée Palace on 10 November. The meeting was timed a day after Trump published a tweet saying Europe should "first pay its fair share" of NATO in response to the former's suggestions for a continental European army.[30][31] A similar meeting was planned between Trump and Putin, but it was ultimately scrapped due to the forthcoming 2018 G20 Buenos Aires summit.[32][33][34]
Also on 10 November, Justin Trudeau, the prime minister of Canada, participated in separate commemorations at the Canadian National Vimy Memorial in northern France, prior to his attendance at the events scheduled for the following day.[35]
On the day of the ceremony itself, Trump, Putin and Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu used their own transportation—ultimately showing up late to the venue at the Arc de Triomphe—due to security concerns, in contrast to other guests who were taken in coaches.[22][36][37]
Visiting dignitaries were invited to an official reception dinner at the Musée d'Orsay on the evening of 10 November, and attended a reception at the Élysée Palace the following morning.[38][22] All international guests who attended the ceremony were invited to a luncheon at the Élysée immediately after its conclusion, with their consorts gathering at the Palace of Versailles.[36][39] Most also attended the Paris Peace Forum, with Trump notably opting to instead visit the Suresnes American Cemetery and Memorial, where he made an address before returning to Washington.[23][13]
In October 2018, reports circulated in the French press that Philippe Pétain, who served in the Battle of Verdun and later led Nazi-aligned Vichy France, would be paid tribute at the Hôtel des Invalides alongside other World War I marshals. In response, the office of the Élysée said it didn't understand how such a tribute "ended up there", explaining that it was "not in the [official] program".[61] President Macron in particular described Pétain as a "great soldier", while remarking that he made "disastrous choices" during the Nazi occupation.[7] The resulting public controversy led to the tribute to Pétain being withdrawn from the schedule.
A planned visit by US President Donald Trump to the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery and Memorial, due on 10 November, was cancelled due to what the White House termed "bad weather".[62] The decision was met with harsh criticism, particularly from former secretary of state John Kerry, former Obama national security advisor Ben Rhodes and British Conservative politician Nicholas Soames, a grandson of Winston Churchill.[63][64]
During the procession to the Arc de Triomphe, Trump's motorcade passed by a topless woman who ran towards it and was quickly dragged out by French police. The radical feminist group Femen claimed responsibility for the incident.[65] French police had already arrested three Femen demonstrators who staged a protest at the Arc de Triomphe on the morning of 10 November welcoming "war criminals".[n 4][67][68] Anti-Trump demonstrations were also held at the Place de la République.[69]
The seating arrangement caused a major controversy in Serbia. As the Serbian army had a pivotal role in forcing both Bulgaria and Austria-Hungary out of the war, with Serbia itself having the most extensive casualties compared to its population number and a historical friendship with France, the positioning of Serbian president Aleksandar Vučić away from the frontline seating areas in place of representatives of countries which were on the opposing side in the war or didn't even exist as separate states at the time, was taken as an insult in Serbia.[70][71][72]
On 4 November, 10,000 torches were lit in the moat of the Tower of London, in an artistic installation entitled Beyond the Deepening Shadow which repeated nightly ending on 11 November.[73] The Shrouds of the Somme, designed by artist Rob Heard and comprising 72,396 shrouded figures representing all servicemen from the British Commonwealth with no known grave, was laid out at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, being on display from 8 to 18 November 2018.[74] The BBC planned a week-long series of special programming across its platforms.[75]
On 9 November, Prime Minister Theresa May and French President Emmanuel Macron jointly paid respects at the Thiepval Memorial in northern France. May also laid wreaths at the graves of John Parr and George Edwin Ellison, respectively the first and last British soldiers killed during the war, during a visit to the St Symphorien Military Cemetery in Belgium. Her wreaths were engraved with handwritten messages, invoking wartime poems to express gratitude to the dead for being "staunch to the end".[76]
As Remembrance Sunday in 2018 fell on 11 November, the National Service of Remembrance was held concurrently with other commemorative events in Europe. The service at the Cenotaph in London began at 11:00 GMT, with a two-minute silence being observed, after which Prince Charles then laid the first wreath on behalf of Queen Elizabeth II.[58][77] Thousands were able to pay respect to relatives and soldiers killed in the war during a march past the memorial.[78] Despite ongoing renovations, the Big Ben rang eleven times at 12:30 GMT.[79][80]
German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier was invited to attend as a special guest, becoming the first German leader to lay a wreath at the Cenotaph.[19] The invitation was reportedly planned as early as September 2018.[81] The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport described his presence as "a symbol of the friendship that exists between the two countries today".[77] A memorial service was held in the evening at Westminster Abbey, where Steinmeier read out a passage from 1 St John 4:7–11 in German.[19] The Queen and several senior royal family members also attended a remembrance concert.[82]
Part of the crowd outside the Australian War Memorial prior to the 2018 Remembrance Day ceremony
Remembrance Day ceremonies were organized in Commonwealth countries, as on previous occasions, in conjunction with the Armistice centenary.
The centenary was commemorated in Australia with a national Remembrance Day service in Canberra, alongside a national minute of silence in remembrance of Australian soldiers who fought and died in overseas conflicts. Prime Minister Scott Morrison addressed a crowd of more than 12,000 attending the ceremony. An extension of the Anzac Memorial in Sydney was opened to the public for the occasion.[85][86] In addition, over a thousand people attended a commemoration at the Australian National Memorial in the French town of Villers-Bretonneux.[85]
In India, a memorial service was held at the Delhi War Cemetery, where Indian and British delegates laid wreaths. Conservative MP Tom Tugendhat led the British delegation and was joined by Sir Dominic Asquith, British High Commissioner to India, and defence attaché Brigadier Mark Goldsack.[87] In a series of tweets, Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid tribute to Indian troops and pledged to "further an atmosphere of harmony and brotherhood".[88][89]
In New Zealand, the Pukeahu National War Memorial Park in Wellington hosted an Armistice commemoration service, which was organized as part of the wider New Zealand WW100 commemorations. A 100-gun salute was held at the Wellington waterfront, and two minutes of silence were observed at 11:00 NZDT, followed by a cacophony of noise replicating how the public initially reacted to the news of the Armistice a century prior. Governor-General Dame Patsy Reddy and Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern gave speeches at the event.[90][91][92]
Ceremonies in Kenya and Zambia were scheduled for 25 November 2018; German forces fighting in Northern Rhodesia only received news of the armistice on 14 November 1918, and eventually surrendered later that month.[93][94] In Voi, the Commonwealth War Cemetery hosted a small ceremony, which was attended by British and German diplomats; a Kenyan army bugler played the Last Post during the ceremony, and wreaths were laid by a Kenyan general and some local and international visitors.[95] The Zambian government sponsored a centenary event in the town of Mbala organized by the national tourism agency, saying that attraction to the region would unlock the "tourism and investment potential of Northern Province".[94][96]
Commemorative events took place in Hong Kong, Italy, Myanmar, Romania, and Russia on the occasion of the centenary.[98][99][19]
Belgium
National commemorations were held in the capital of Brussels. In an address, King Philippe pledged to keep "the memory of those who sacrificed themselves for us and the values for which they fought", and to "engage together in building a world of peace." A dove and 11 pigeons were released during the memorial service.[100] In Ypres, a series of tributes to Commonwealth veterans was attended by the Minister-President of Flanders, Geert Bourgeois.[101] The Last Post, traditionally performed nightly at the Menin Gate since 1928, was additionally played at 11:00 CET to mark the centenary.[101]
Public memorization of the First World War in modern Germany was muted, mainly owing to the defeat of the German Empire and the chronology of events resulting from the aftermath of the war. Nonetheless, some individual events were organized, including a religious service at the Berlin Cathedral, and an exhibition showcasing works by 31 international artists representing countries involved in WWI peace negotiations.[n 5][105][106]
Hungary
The Hungarian National Bank released a series of commemorative coins on 16 October 2018, which included a silver collector coin with a face value of 10,000 Hungarian forint and a non-ferrous metal variant with a fifth of the face value.[107]
Ireland
A service was organized at Glasnevin Cemetery, and attended by President Michael D. Higgins, who was due to be sworn in for a second term on the same day, along with representatives of at least 47 countries. The Last Post was played during the ceremony.[108][109]
Luxembourg
A ceremony was held at the Gëlle Fra monument in the capital during the late afternoon, in the presence of Henri, Grand Duke of Luxembourg, and Grand Duchess Maria Teresa, as well as prime minister Xavier Bettel, who also paid tribute to war casualties.[110]
President Donald Trump proposed that a military parade at the Capitol be held on 10 November to mark the centenary, in admiration of France's Bastille Day military parade (which Trump attended as a guest in 2017). However, Trump cancelled the proposed event in August 2018 over cost concerns, with estimates that the parade would have cost as much as US$92 million.[113][114][115]
Vatican City
In remarks made during a weekly Angelus address, Pope Francis appealed for a rejection of a "culture of war", quoting Benedict XV, who served as pope during the majority of the First World War, and reflecting on the occasion of St. Martin's Day, which also fell on 11 November. The bells at St. Peter's Basilica were tolled in the afternoon in unison with other church bells across Europe.[116]
^Ali Bongo Ondimba, the then-President of Gabon, was unable to attend as initially scheduled following a stroke.[50]
^In a statement, Femen specifically listed Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump, Benjamin Netanyahu and Recep Tayyip Erdoğan as examples of this description, along with Mohammed bin Salman, who was not invited.[66]
"99 państw świętuje zakończenie I wojny światowej" [99 countries celebrate the end of World War I]. Interia (in Polish). 11 November 2018. Archived from the original on 22 September 2022. Retrieved 22 September 2022. Na czele polskiej delegacji stał minister spraw zagranicznych Jacek Czaputowicz. [The Polish delegation was headed by Minister of Foreign Affairs Jacek Czaputowicz.]
"The Latest: Leaders discuss Ukraine elections at Paris meet". Associated Press News. 12 November 2018. Archived from the original on 25 October 2023. Retrieved 25 October 2023. Ambassadors, Romanian army officers and others laid wreaths at a war memorial as Romania marked the end of World War I a century ago.
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