Armistice Day/ Remembrance Day : A World Without War

Armistice Day/Remembrance Day, also known as Poppy Day  commemorates the sacrifices of members of the armed forces and of civilians in times of war, and is specifically observed November 11, 2021, marking the time and date since World War I was ended 

Because red poppies bloomed on the Western Front during World War I they became a symbol of remembrance of the the horror of war  especially to those who have experienced the suffering and grief that war brings and are often worn in the UK around the time of Armistice Day, with sales raising funds for people who have served in the armed forces, and their dependents, through the poppy appeal of the Royal British Legion

Armistice Day was born and was designated as “a day to be dedicated to the cause of world peace and to be thereafter celebrated.”and became a focus of grieving families who vowed that never again should valuable lives be wasted. In the 1920s and 1930s it became an occasion for peace activists around the world to rally in support of disarmament. However the annual dedication to world peace somehow mutated into the glorification of war and hero worship of the military. Armistice Day changed from a day for peace into a day for displays of militarism.  This “rebranding” of Armistice Day has continually gnawed at me. My unease has nothing to do with honoring veterans: indeed they should be recognized, supported and held up for their service. But what happened to the “peace” aspect of the original Armistice Day?

The Peace Pledge Union  the oldest secular pacifist organisation in Britain. along with many pacifists support the wearing of white poppies as an alternative. They were first produced in 1933 by the Co-operative Women's Guild, a coop  made up largely of women who had lost husbands, fathers, sons, brothers and friends in World War One. They were worried by the growing militarisation of Remembrance events and the detachment between the red poppy and the need to work for peace. The Guild's General Secretary, Eleanor Barton, called for renewed commitment "to that 'Never Again' spirit that was strong in 1918, but seems to grow weaker as years go on". 

 On the Peace Pledge Union they  write: "There are three elements to the meaning of white poppies: they represent remembrance for all victims of war, a commitment to peace and a challenge to attempts to glamorise or celebrate war.

"White poppies symbolise the conviction that there are better ways to resolve conflict than through the use of violence. They embody values that reject killing fellow human beings for whatever reason.

"Nearly 100 years after the end of the “war to end all wars” we still have a long way to go to put an end to a social institution that even in the last decade has contributed to the killing of millions."

White poppies represent remembrance for all victims of war (including the vast majority of war victims who are civilians), a commitment to peace, and a challenge to attempts to glamorize or celebrate war. Some have claimed the wearing of the white poppy is a sign of disrespect for former soldiers and armed forces personell. However the Royal British Legion, has made no official opinion on the wearing of white poppies stating it is a matter of choice and 'does not have a problem' with people wearing the white poppy. Some people choose wear both red and white, so please be aware of  creeping poppy fascism that to me serves no purpose at all.

Lest we forget that the trenches of  the First World War were a vast area of darkness and danger, dank and miserable conditions, often infested  with rats who ate the flesh of the dead. The stench  of unwashed humanity, all squashed together, combined with the smell of rotting flesh, and overflowing latrines, and the lingering smell of death and battle on accounts must have been unbearable.  Over 16 million deaths and 20 million wounded in what is considered to be among the deadliest of conflicts in human history.

With the incomprehensible loss of life of that Great War, communities back home were in some ways silenced too. Not just by the silence of peace but by the silence of loss: The silence of the Lost Generation, who never returned home to talk and joke, and live and breath. They were silenced by the grief of so many lost in communities, often because their loved ones had signed up with their friends together, Kitchener’s ‘Pals Battalions’ from the same factory, or sports team, or village.

We should not forget either the 306 British and Commonwealth soldiers who were shot  on the orders of the military top brass, many suffering from shell shock, and what is now known as Post Traumatic Stress. Charged with desertion after  becoming dazed and confused, young disturbed, traumatised teenagers some of them , who had simply volunteered for duty. https://teifidancer-teifidancer.blogspot.com/2015/11/shot-at-dawn-in-first-world-war-and.html

Many other soldiers during the First World War were driven to suicide, or left with  mental exhaustion, depression and shell shock because of this war. It has taken time, but the stigma of mental health issues  caused by conflict are  very real indeed. In the end  no glory in war, only sadness. 

Today I  remember the millions killed, wounded, widowed, imprisoned, orphaned,and honor military resisters, not forgetting either, those caught up in conflict across the globe in Syria, Yemen, Afghanistan, Gaza etc nor do I forget  the arms dealers currently still making profits out of war, from slaughter and mass misery , not sparing a thought to the carnage they continually help unleash while still wearing their red poppies with pride. Let us all live in the hope that a world of war will be no more.

And yes  people have said that it's not possible but the sanctity of human life beyond its own unreasonable divisions is not worth abandoning.