by JOAN SOLEY

What is known as Veterans Day in the United States, and called Remembrance Day in Great Britain and the commonwealth countries, began as Armistice Day in 1919.

King George V of England issued a proclamation that year that “all locomotion should cease, so that, in perfect stillness, the thoughts of everyone may be concentrated on reverent remembrance of the glorious dead.”

World War I was the “war to end all wars”; it was unimaginable at the time that such bloodshed would ever been seen again. The number of military deaths for the four-year conflict, is an estimated 8.5 million. More than 600 thousand died in two battles alone, the Somme and the Verdun. In total, it is estimated that between 19 and 21 million people died during WWI.

Photos by Frank Hurley, greatwar.nl
Australian Light Horse Brigade on parade in a Palestinian desert, 1918.

Although World War I officially ended on June 28, 1919 with the signing of the Treaty of Versailles, the fighting between the Allies and Germany had stopped several months earlier. A declared armistice at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month was the end of war for almost all in 1918.Today, Nov. 11 is still dedicated to remembering those who have served their countries.

Armistice Day began in the United States by a proclamation from President Woodrow Wilson in 1919.”To us in America, the reflections of Armistice Day will be filled with solemn pride in the heroism of those who died in the country’s service and with gratitude for the victory…because of the thing from which it has freed us,” he said.In 1954, after World War II, Armistice Day was changed to Veterans Day in the United States to better reflect the of honoring all those who serve the country –those who fought and survived, and those who did not come home.

It is estimated that 50 million people died during WWII. In the United Kingdom, and in its former colonies such as Canada and Australia, at 11 a.m. (local time) on Nov. 11 each year, a two-minute silence is observed nationwide. From cars in traffic in Sydney to the stock market in London, millions of people stop all activity and remember the fallen.

A large part of Remembrance Day in the U.K. is the wearing of a paper or plastic poppy. Sold in stores and on the street, the proceeds support different charities for ex-military members. The significance of wearing the poppy began with a Canadian medic who fought in WWI. In a moment of relative calm, John McCrae described in a poem the scene in front of him, attempting to find words for the carnage he had witnessed.

An Australian soldier picks poppies on a battlefield, 1918

McCrae’s “In Flanders’ Fields” remains a lasting legacy of the horrific battle in the spring of 1915.

In Flanders’ Fields

In Flanders’ Fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders’ fields.