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anniversaries



  • Paris celebrates its liberation from Nazis, 75 years on

    Paris celebrated the American soldiers, French Resistance fighters and others who liberated the City of Light from Nazi occupation exactly 75 years ago on Sunday, unleashing an eruption of kissing, dancing, tears and gratitude.


  • My Shocking Confession: I Love Congress

    by Ray Smock

    Well, former House historian Ray Smock isn't thrilled by THIS Congress, but when examined critically, the institution has had a remarkably effective 225 years of operation.



  • Berlin Denies Rift with UK over WWI Centenary

    The German government has denied British media reports that it tried to influence the tone of Britain's planned ceremonies to mark the centenary of the outbreak of World War I. A spokesman has confirmed Germany sent an envoy to London to discuss the plans, though.The German Foreign Ministry on Monday denied allegations that it was attempting to influence Britain's plans to commemorate the 2014 centenary of the outbreak of World War I.A spokesman for the ministry confirmed reports that it had sent an envoy to London in early August to discuss the centenary ceremonies. But he added: "There was no intervention of any kind in how our friends and partners intend to shape their commemoration of World War I."The Daily Telegraph reported on Sunday that the visit by Andreas Meitzner, a German diplomat tasked with coordinating European commemoration plans for the centenary, was prompted by German concerns that the ceremonies might have an excessively "declamatory tone," placing more emphasis on victory rather than reconciliation....



  • Henry Porter: The Great War: We Are as Blind to Our Times as the Innocent Lovelorn Boy was in 1913

    Henry Porter is a writer and journalist specialising in liberty and civil rights.The inscription carved into the huge beech tree, which stands on a hill path in Gloucestershire, reads PM 10/9/13 MKN. Next month, this piece of vandalism – though I cannot see it as that now – will be 100 years old, which seems incredible for something probably done on the spur of the moment. I often wonder about PM and MKN – if their love lasted and whether both made it through the First World War, which broke out 11 months later, on Tuesday 4 August.



  • No peace for Koreas 60 years after war

    Stooped and frail within the ranks of veterans, Lee Duk-bin watches the memorial parades marking 60 years since the end of the Korean war.He was 25 years old when the conflict began, an officer in the South Korean army, who believed passionately in the ideological fight against the communist North....The irony is that Lee Duk-bin is originally North Korean. He came to the South to fight with the UN forces against his own communist government.Sixty years after the fighting ended in a truce, he says it is still too soon for a permanent peace treaty."The very idea of a peace treaty is just North Korean trickery," he said....



  • Matthias Strohn: Remember World War I as a Global War

    Dr Matthias Strohn is a senior lecturer in the war studies department at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. He has advised German and British government bodies on the centenary commemorationsThis time next year, nations across the globe will begin the centenary commemorations of the first world war – "the great seminal catastrophe" of the 20th century, as the American historian George F Kennan called it. It seems that Britain has chosen a sensible approach: a handful of national and international events, spread out over the four years from 2014 to 2018, supplemented by activities at a local level. By limiting the number of high-profile events, the UK will prevent a "commemoration fatigue" setting in among the population....