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Europe's leaders hail ties of peace as they mark first world war centenary Europe's leaders hail ties of peace as they mark first world war centenary
(about 3 hours later)
Twelve cannon shots rang out across the peaceful wooded hills above the Belgian city of Liège, one for each of the 12 forts which, exactly 100 years ago, were about to face the full force of Germany's mighty second army.Twelve cannon shots rang out across the peaceful wooded hills above the Belgian city of Liège, one for each of the 12 forts which, exactly 100 years ago, were about to face the full force of Germany's mighty second army.
With a quick curtsey to her king, a small girl in a white dress let fly a white balloon into a clear blue sky; hundreds more followed, these in all the colours of the 83 different countries invited to take part in Belgium's official commemoration of the start of the first world war.With a quick curtsey to her king, a small girl in a white dress let fly a white balloon into a clear blue sky; hundreds more followed, these in all the colours of the 83 different countries invited to take part in Belgium's official commemoration of the start of the first world war.
Liège, just 30 miles (50km) from the German border, was the first battle of a conflict that, over the course of the next four years, would go on to claim 10 million lives – including 750,000 British and Commonwealth soldiers. In the city on the river Meuse alone, more than 1,000 people lost their lives in the first few shocking days of fighting. Here in Liege, just 30 miles (50km) from the German border, was fought the first battle of a conflict that over the next four years would claim 10m lives – including 750,000 British and Commonwealth soldiers. In Liege alone, 1,000 lost their lives in the first few days after August 4; smashed to rubble, the whole city was awarded France's Legion d'honneur.
In a simple, intimate ceremony focusing as much on the future as the past, beneath the imposing 75-metre-high column of the Allied Memorial at Cointe, on the outskirts of town, the city and the country, together with their former foes and their present friends, paid their respects.In a simple, intimate ceremony focusing as much on the future as the past, beneath the imposing 75-metre-high column of the Allied Memorial at Cointe, on the outskirts of town, the city and the country, together with their former foes and their present friends, paid their respects.
Welcoming dignitaries including Presidents François Hollande of France and Joachim Gauck of Germany and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, King Philippe recalled a brutal conflict that "brought together people of different countries under a single banner: the banner of suffering". Later in the day, the focus was to switch to Mons, for Britain's commemorative service. But the morning's ceremony was Belgium's, and welcoming dignitaries including Presidents François Hollande of France and Joachim Gauck of Germany and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, King Philippe recalled a brutal conflict that "brought together people of different countries under a single banner: the banner of suffering".
To commemorate it, he said beneath sullen skies that slowly cleared as the morning advanced, was vital today: not just to "pay tribute to the courage, dignity and sacrifice of those who fought, and those who lived through inhuman conditions", nor to remember the "cruelty and the barbarism", but in order to be reminded that "peace is not only the absence of war ... It has to be based on a shared project."To commemorate it, he said beneath sullen skies that slowly cleared as the morning advanced, was vital today: not just to "pay tribute to the courage, dignity and sacrifice of those who fought, and those who lived through inhuman conditions", nor to remember the "cruelty and the barbarism", but in order to be reminded that "peace is not only the absence of war ... It has to be based on a shared project."
Hollande picked up the theme, paying handsome tribute to France's smaller neighbour, which was "spared nothing" of the horrors of the Great War and whose staunch defence – in particular of Liège, whose forts only succumbed after 11 days of horrendous bombardment – gave Paris precious time to bolster its own defences against the German advance. Hollande picked up the theme, paying handsome tribute to France's smaller neighbour, which was "spared nothing" of the horrors of the Great War and whose staunch defence – in particular of Liège, whose forts only succumbed after 11 days of horrendous bombardment – gave Paris precious time to bolster its own defences.
But the French president, too, stressed the importance of the ties that have bound Europe in peace since the end of the second, even more terrible war: "The risk now is that we may rediscover those national egotisms, those populisms, those xenophobias. That's why Europe must keep moving, cannot grow weary, and above all must never become tired of peace."But the French president, too, stressed the importance of the ties that have bound Europe in peace since the end of the second, even more terrible war: "The risk now is that we may rediscover those national egotisms, those populisms, those xenophobias. That's why Europe must keep moving, cannot grow weary, and above all must never become tired of peace."
Gauck was even more forthright, speaking of his country's "completely unjustified" invasion of Belgium; its deluded belief that its actions were morally and religiously justified; the "triumph of extreme nationalism over empathy, and of propaganda that knew no bounds".Gauck was even more forthright, speaking of his country's "completely unjustified" invasion of Belgium; its deluded belief that its actions were morally and religiously justified; the "triumph of extreme nationalism over empathy, and of propaganda that knew no bounds".
The invasion that started 100 years ago on Monday, Gauck said, brought "misfortune, misery, crippling injury and death to millions of people". The war "taught us a terrible lesson. Let us show, not only through our commemoration and remembrance, but also through our actions in the present and the future, that we have truly learned that lesson."The invasion that started 100 years ago on Monday, Gauck said, brought "misfortune, misery, crippling injury and death to millions of people". The war "taught us a terrible lesson. Let us show, not only through our commemoration and remembrance, but also through our actions in the present and the future, that we have truly learned that lesson."
For his part Prince William, representing, with the Duchess of Cambridge, the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh, said his country owed the people of Belgium "a great debt of gratitude for their fortitude and resistance [which was] as gallant as their suffering was great".For his part Prince William, representing, with the Duchess of Cambridge, the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh, said his country owed the people of Belgium "a great debt of gratitude for their fortitude and resistance [which was] as gallant as their suffering was great".
William also spoke of lessons learned, and of the need to remain vigilant. "Events in Ukraine testify to the fact that instability continues to stalk our continent," he said, but "the fact that the presidents of Germany and Austria are here today, and that other nations – then enemies – are here too, bears testimony to the power of reconciliation.William also spoke of lessons learned, and of the need to remain vigilant. "Events in Ukraine testify to the fact that instability continues to stalk our continent," he said, but "the fact that the presidents of Germany and Austria are here today, and that other nations – then enemies – are here too, bears testimony to the power of reconciliation.
"Not only is war between us unthinkable, but former adversaries have worked together for three generations to spread and entrench democracy, prosperity and the rule of law across Europe. We salute those who died to give us our freedom. We will remember them.""Not only is war between us unthinkable, but former adversaries have worked together for three generations to spread and entrench democracy, prosperity and the rule of law across Europe. We salute those who died to give us our freedom. We will remember them."
The Liège ceremony closed with King Philippe, who appeared to wipe a tear from his eye, laying a wreath of white roses, composed of flowers each guest left on arrival, followed by a minute's silence and the playing of the Last Post.The Liège ceremony closed with King Philippe, who appeared to wipe a tear from his eye, laying a wreath of white roses, composed of flowers each guest left on arrival, followed by a minute's silence and the playing of the Last Post.
Attention on Monday evening switches to Mons, scene of the first battle fought by the British Expeditionary Force, and of the only first world war cemetery to honour the fallen from both sides of the conflict.Attention on Monday evening switches to Mons, scene of the first battle fought by the British Expeditionary Force, and of the only first world war cemetery to honour the fallen from both sides of the conflict.
The event at the St Symphorien cemetery, for about 500 guests, includes readings, music and poetry capturing the history of the site and acknowledging the British, Irish, Commonwealth and German dead who are buried there in almost equal numbers. The service features a collaboration between the London Symphony Orchestra and the Berlin Philharmonic and readings of soldiers' letters and reflections. The wooded, undulating St Symphorien cemetery, with its shaded glades and small plots of German and Commonwealth headstones, is unlike any other first world war cemetery in Belgium. Strolling around it before the British commemorative ceremony, the overwhelming impression is one of peace.
The cemetery, a wooded grove unlike any of the other British and Commonwealth burial grounds in Belgium, is noted for holding the graves of "the first and the last": Private John Parr of the Middlesex Regiment, the first British soldier to be killed on the western front when he was believed to have been fatally wounded in an encounter with a German patrol two days before the Battle of Mons, and, opposite, Private George Ellison of the Royal Irish Lancers, believed to be the last Commonwealth soldier killed, at 9.30am on 11 November 1918 – just 90 minutes before the armistice. St Symphorien famously holds the graves of "the first and the last": Private John Parr, the first British soldier to be killed, aged 17, on the western front on 21 August 1914 and, opposite him, Private George Ellison, the last Commonwealth soldier killed, shortly before the armistice at 11am on 11 November 1918.
But among its headstones – 284 German, 229 British and Commonwealth – the cemetery also counts that of Lieut Maurice Dease, the first Victoria Cross of the war. Dease, of the 4th Battalion Royal Fusiliers, defending the bridges at Nimy, manning his section's machine gun after virtually all his men had been killed or wounded.
But on another side of the site is the grave of the German Musketier Oskar Niemeyer, the first Iron Cross of the war, who swam across the canal in the face of gunfire to help his comrades cross the water. In several places, British and German soldiers lie almost side by side.
St Symphorien's unique character is down to the original Belgian landowner, Jean Houzeau de Lehaie, who agreed to the plot's use as a German army cemetery on condition that "British soldiers be buried and commemorated there with the same dignity as their German counterparts". Germany respected his wishes, erecting three monuments to the British dead at Mons.
The battle itself – the first time British troops had fired in anger on the continent since Waterloo – was fought on 23 August 1914. After skirmishes between reconnaissance parties – one of which cost Parr his life – on the preceding couple of days, the men of 4th Middlesex Regiment, in defensive positions along the Mons-Condé canal, find themselves fighting off German cavalry attempts to cross it.
Neither side knew exactly what they were up against. But by mid-afternoon the hard-pressed British force was beginning to withdraw and by nightfall most had begun the long retreat to River Marne and, eventually, on to Paris, 200 miles away.
Monday's event, for around 500 guests, was to include readings, music and poetry capturing the history of the site and acknowledging the British, Irish, Commonwealth and German soldiers who lost their lives at Mons.
Historian Dan Snow was to narrate the service, for about 500 guests including the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, Prince Harry, David Cameron, Gauck and King Philippe of Belgium, features readings, music and poetry capturing the history of the site and acknowledging the British, Irish, Commonwealth and German soldiers killed at Mons.