How long are we likely to commemorate the world war events?

[SprigatitoYouAndIKnow]

Seeing the footage of the D Day today made me wonder how long this will go on for. My generation had grandparents who fought and some parents who were young children in WW2. I remember grandparents saying about their parents experienceof WW1 too. I feel lucky to grow up in a free country, but my kids don't have the same links or memories.

We don't still commemorate ancient battles that were won, or any infighting between the nations of our island. The world wars were on a much larger scale and had a very clear and evil enemy, so I would expect more collective remembering. I very much hope we don't have an equally big, or bigger, conflict in the future, so I assume that these things will go on for many years to come. Is there precedence from history?

we don't really though- we still have fireworks but if you asked someone if they're genuinely celebrating the foiling of a catholic plot to blow up the protestant king (who was by all accounts an utter bellend) they'd likely say "er nah" and go back to throwing bangers at their mate.

Not that I personally bother with Guy Fawkes in anyway (I usually hide away from fireworks tbh) but thats still a thing is what I meant....... the story of why that event gets remembered still gets told so yes absolutely its right to still remember D Day etc.

To be fair, we commemorate the attempted murder of the king and others in the HoP then the torture and death of the conspirators with fireworks, hot donuts and sparklers. I'm not convinced that's the same type of "remembering" or "commemorating". Especially given the flack the poor OP was given for daring to even ask the question!

@LaPalmaLlama its still taught in schools is what I meant really. And people do still generally associate fireworks night with Guy Fawkes and that its (supposedly!) 5th November rather than any other night or month. Even if they dont know the Catholic plot bit.

My parents both served in WW2, (Dad was a Jaoanese POW for most of it having been captured at the fall of Singapore). My grandfathers both served in WW1.
I am aware though that my children don't have the same connection to these events as I do since neither of them met my dad.
I tend to think that when my generation dies out the commemoration will become significantly less meaningful and probably lower key.

But I think it's still got a good 20 or 30 years.

I’m 44, both my grandfathers fought in WW2. One lost a brother in this war. My grandmother worked in a munitions factory. My maternal grandfather spent the entire war fighting, he lost all of his friends. He died of lung cancer caused from spending years fighting in tanks. There are still people living who have stories such as mine. And while WW2 is not within my living memory the impact it had on my family is known and I want the sacrifices my family members made to be remembered.
Hitler was rampaging across Europe, he was a brutal dictator, he was stopped by the hundreds and thousands who stepped up and prevented Europe becoming ruled by a dictator.
You need a better understanding of history and how people who are alive today benefitted from the bravery of the men and women we are celebrating today. I can’t imagine how terrifying landing on a Normandy beach 80 years would have been.

Also important to not how increasingly mobile the world is becoming. My DC for example are only half British - history is not universally shared.

Yes to be honest I’d say that the Irish feeling towards England might have something to do with the commemorations. (Though things were pretty good at the turn of this century and for the first decade or so and they’re not hugely bad now either).
In relation to WW2 though I’d say Jewish feeling towards the German people probably isn’t great even still.

Young men giving their lives up fighting against totalitarianism so that others could be free in the biggest war against evil the world has seen (so far). Quite a foreign idea, I know.

My great grandfather was one of them and I’ll always be grateful for his sacrifice.

More cynically, it says a lot about today’s society. Marches in the streets in support of rapists ‘freedom fighters’ but true heroes forgotten and dismissed.

I'm 41 and I'm a generation ahead as my grandparents were pre-schoolers in WW2 and my Nan's memories were always unreliable for that reason. So it's easier to be dispassionate about it. I personal disagree with performative remembrance, I think some people go to these big events for the wrong reasons (politicians!). Should we remember armistice day annually, with particular focus on the huge loss of life in both WW and especially WW1? Absolutely. Should we, as a country that is struggling, spend money on big commemorations of one action from WW2? I think D Day gets remembered as it's romanticised a bit which in itself isn't great. I think it would be reasonable to make this the last one.

The Americans still celebrate 4th of July. Why can we not celebrate a moment in our history that we are proud of?

As an outsider (immigrant) I get the feeling no British person is allowed to be proud of anything in the British history. Ever.

Luckily the rest of the continent disagrees and even if Britain decides to forget its own heroes, they will be remembered elsewhere.

You think D Day is romanticised? Really? Thousands of lives brutally lost to bring about the end of a war. Old men weeping on the shores of the beaches they stormed 80 years ago, who still cry to this day due to the trauma they witnessed. You live in a free, democratic country due to their sacrifices that they made. Go and live under a dictatorship and make your comments about romanticising D Day and making it the last one, I’m pretty sure you’d be back in a flash and willing to remember thus day if you were in that position.

I was thinking about this a few months ago as well, what got me thinking was the annual poppy furore - I was thinking that when I started primary school in the early 80s, there were still many people directly mourning fathers, brothers, sons from the war as well as civilian casualities, it was still alive in millions of people's memories. But it isn't anymore, you can't expect people to feel the same way about it, or to be as reverent when it is passing out of living memory.

It should still be marked, by all means, but I wonder if things like Remembrance Day will become more of an event for the military and military families rather than the general public. But we can't expect it to continue to have as much emotional weight.

Yes, but this is not a reason for countries to stop marking significant events in their history.

This.

It's not being proud.

It's remembering and commemorating.

How long do we commemorate WW1 for?

It was an awful war. Milllions died. It ended 106 years ago

You may not have been trying to be, but you still are.

I was thinking about this recently.

I think it's really important that we keep talking about and remembering what Hitler did.

Once there is a generation that doesn't know about it, history will repeat itself because nobody will be watching for the warning signs.

The best possible thing we can do is to never forget.

But people whose parents fought in WW2 are repeating the same thing.

And when the warning signs are mentioned, the same people dismiss them

In reality, it will be though. I'm not suggesting commemorations will be intentionally stopped, but they likely will taper off as society changes and other things take precedence. Twas ever thus.

Guy Fawkes is taught in school, but I don't think that's what OP is asking really. I think she's asking specifically about commemorating, the kind of events we've had the last couple of days.

Personally I think this year will be end up being the most significant, because it's the last significant anniversary where there may be people present who were actually involved. I think once we pass 100 years, it will dwindle in terms of large events. Not Remembrance Day, but anniversaries of specific events.

My grandma was 5 when her father was killed in WW2, and her younger sister never even met him, so I am not unaware of the personal significance. But realistically, I just don't think that large scale commemorations will happen at 110, 120, 130 years on.

However Remembrance Day isn't about WW1 & WW2 it's about all those who've served. Korea, Aden, Falklands, Gulf, Afghanistan and all those other conflicts that have happened and still happen

I was just about to say that the trouble is that warning signs are deeply debated. I would argue that some of Trump's behaviour is from a Nazi playbook. I would point to specific examples that are reminiscent but it is equally easy for someone to dismiss my 'warnings' as unfair or politically motivated.

Its never going to be so exactly the same that we can stand there and point to the same moustache, unfortunately, so I do worry about the 'learning' bit of commemoration.

I don't think it's a disrespectful question. Millions of people died to free Europe from Napoleon but we don't have special celebrations, TV programs and school events to remember their sacrifice. I doubt most people on the street could tell you when the Napoleonic wars were fought, or the Battle of Trafalgar. At some point, probably when the last veterans have died, there will be less coverage around individual events of both world wars.

I hope that the focus will move on to the important lessons from them. Remembering the terrible danger of dehumanising groups of people and giving power to a demagogue. Humanising warfare so that the horrific losses and trauma suffered by the survivors are individualised in the mind of leaders who make decisions that could lead to war. How acts of bravery by ordinary men and women, civilian and military, can have a powerful impact on the future.