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1818 War Memorial - Neue Wache, Berlin
“Mother with her Dead Son”
Photo by Barbara Weibel
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Until 1954, the day devoted to the memory of those who fought
in the Great War (now known as World War 1) was referred to as Armistice Day;
alternatively in some countries, Remembrance Day. The Day denoting the surrender of Germany and Central allies to
the Allied Powers of France, Great Britain and the British Empire, the United States, Russia, Greece
and other allies.
Armistice Day is celebrated on the 11th of
November at 1100 hours, as that was the time that the Central Powers surrendered
their arms and armies to the Allies in a railroad carriage in Compièane. The
same railroad car where the French had been forced to accept terms by the German army
following the fall of France in WWII. By
no coincidence did the surrender to Germany take place in the same railroad car.
The earlier “tit for tats” would foretell the retributions
that Germany would be required to repay to the Allied Nations in the form of
payments to the governments who fought the Axis. This, along with the basic
dissolution of the German Army, would ultimately become the fodder for the
resentment that grew into the basis for the growth of the populist Socialist Party
of Germany and the rise of the Third Reich.
The Great War differed from World War II in that the events
leading up to war were caused by nationalism within the Ottoman Empire. For a
more thorough and comprehensive review, the reader’s attention is directed to
“The Sleepwalkers, How Europe Went to War in 1914” by Christopher Clark. Regrettably,
you will find a much recurrent theme to today’s events in the Middle East,
Europe and the United States.
Of interest to contemporary society and the world’s
governments, there is a similarity between events in the Middle East and the
affairs in Serbia, Hungary, Albania, Croatia, the Ukraine, leading up to the
Great War. There is a lesson to be learned from the war from 1914 to 1918
and the political, religious, and ethnic wars, revolutions, terrorism taking
place in countries we read of daily .. Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Egypt, Yemen
and of course Syria. It would seem that our remembrance of Armistice Day has
done little to enhance our understanding of the potential events the
contemporary world is watching – oblivious to the potential world conflict that
might erupt.
God bless the memory all the nations’
soldiers of The Great War, World War II and all wars. And the tears of their mothers.
Victory Cocktail
French Vermouth 1 oz./ 3 cl.
Italian Vermouth 1 oz./3 cl.
Lemon juice
.25 oz./ .75 cl.
Orange juice
.25 oz./ .75 cl.
Grenadine
syrup – couple dashes
Music – ‘Requiem for Fallen Soldiers’ – Eduard
Tubin
Selection
provided by Raymond Jones, Evening Host, WHRO-FM
Appetizer – Cold beans with baguette
f.n. 1 The Allied Powers were: France, British Empire, Russia, Serbia,
Montenegro, Japan, Belgium, Italy, Portugal, Romania, Hejoz, United States of
America, Greece and Siam.
The Central Powers were: Germany, Austria-Hungary, Ottoman
Empire and Bulgaria.
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Replica Victory Medal
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f.n. 2 Christos Buluheris, Private, 322nd Division,
“Wildcats”. Christos's war record denotes
participation in the battles Somme Dieu, La Foram, Meuse-Argonne Offensive, St. Die along with being
wounded in action – being gassed on the 10th of November 1918, St. Die at Elam just
east of Verdun. He received the Victory Medal ,
Meuse Argonne Offensive Clasp. Christos’s son Constantine holds his
father’s war records from the Great War.
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| Christos Buluheris Pvt. 322nd Infantry Division Photo likely taken in France, post war |
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