Commemorating End of World War I, With Poppies and a Pause

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/11/world/europe/armistice-day-remembrance-day-world-war-i.html

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With bright red poppies and moments of silence, people across the world on Saturday commemorated World War I’s end 99 years ago, gathering for Armistice Day events that honored the millions who died in the conflict and those who have perished in wars since.

In Britain, the country paused for two minutes of silence that began at 11 a.m., the moment on Nov. 11, 1918 that World War I officially ended. The bustle of city life in London came to a halt as Big Ben chimed the hour. The clock had been silenced in August for repair, and only this week began tolling again.

Thousands of wooden crosses adorned with poppies and the names of the dead were planted at the Field of Remembrance at Westminster Abbey in London.

On Sunday, Britain’s royal family will attend an annual Remembrance Sunday event at the memorial Cenotaph, where Prince Charles, rather than his mother, will lay the head of state’s wreath. It will be the first time he has taken her place at the event while Queen Elizabeth is in the country.

In France, President Emmanuel Macron led commemoration events on the Champs-Élysées in a light rain. He laid a wreath at the statue of Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau, who was at the center of peace efforts at the time.

Former French Presidents Nicolas Sarkozy and François Hollande were in attendance as Mr. Macron inspected the troops and laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the Arc de Triomphe.

Sydney’s Opera House was illuminated with a display of red poppies to commemorate the day.

Poland, which regained sovereignty at the end of World War I, held its Independence Day on Saturday. European Council President Donald Tusk joined Polish leaders in his home country for a ceremony in Warsaw.