To not want to 'celebrate' VE

[Ramblethroughthebrambles]

I've been asked to take part in VE celebrations this week. I've politely declined. It feels OK to me to join in a solemn commemoration, with a focus on how to make sure this never happens again, but not a celebration of victory which all the UK events seem to be. I'm grateful for the sacrifices so many soldiers and others made and that we didn't become part of the Nazi empire. I completely get why people originally celebrated the end of such an awful war and its hardships. But celebrating military victory 80 years on doesn't sit right with me, especially given the conflicts in the world today. It seems to normalise military intervention and sends the message that military victory is a 'good thing' when often it's a result of failures in international diplomacy/ strategy / long term thinking. I'm not a complete pacifist and recognise there are times when military intervention is a necessary evil. But that doesn't make me want to celebrate it.

I never hear anyone else expressing this view in public. There seems to be an expectation that we'll all want to get the bunting out and have a tea party. So AIBU?

I think that the “expectation” is that the majority of the people in the UK will want celebrate the hard earned triumph over the forces of evil, that is still in living memory for some. I don’t agree that VE Day isn’t something to celebrate. But you probably wouldn’t be allowed to express this view if the other lot had won. That is reason enough to celebrate.

Well don't take part then. But it's very weird that you don't see the end of world war 2 as an event we should commemorate and celebrate.

I didn’t even know it was this week until it was on bbc breakfast news this morning about “all the activities happening up and down the country”! I haven’t seen any mention of it or any activities locally.

I am totally with you op.
When remembrance Sunday started to be called poppy day I felt we had lost the true meaning and purpose.

I kind of agree OP. We are being asked to celebrate Victory in Europe at the same time that there is an awful, terrible and significant war in Europe. It’s hard to to try to reconcile this.

VE Day doesn’t commemorate the end of WW2. Fighting was still going on for months after VE Day.

Do you believe that jesus rose from the dead, or a virgin called mary gave birth?

I completely agree with you OP. I'm happy to celebrate the end of the war but that's not the way it's being positioned.

It's hard to look around the state that the country is in and think that much is worth celebrating. All these 'celebrations' are meaningless, a better legacy for the men and women that died would be a safe country with happy healthy people not the swathes of poverty and selfishness and hatred we see now.

Redpeach, what's that got to do with the price of fish?

Commemorate absolutely on board with - the inconceivable sacrifice and Loss, the bravery, the overcoming of evil.
Remembrance and respect yes.
Celebrate no.

I totally agree with you OP, anything that glorifies war makes me very uncomfortable. My DD will have to take part in something at school but I don't feel able to say I disagree because it's not acceptable to not take part, same with remembrance Sunday.

I think part of it up until now has also been about thanking the veterans with a bit of fanfare. This is likely to be the last major milestone anniversary with an appreciable number of veterans still living and then it will most likely transition to a commemoration that's more sombre.

I think commemoration is a better word to describe it.

Yes, they were extremely evil forces that were defeated and that is worthy of celebration. But many people died to bring that about.

We also live in a world where evil is on the rise again, and in many places never went away.

We understand now that in order to defeat the evil of the Nazis, we had to ally with an equal evil in the USSR. And their successors in russia today are as evil as ever the Nazis were, and are celebrating VE Day too. Personally I have no desire to give any impression of celebrating with those monsters in the Kremlin so personally I’ll stick to commemorating.

I completely agree but it feels like something that can’t be easily expressed without being criticised as being ‘anti-British’ or unpatriotic. I think this country has quite an unhealthy obsession with WW2 and the insistence on celebrating (rather than commemorating) a victory that was 80 years ago, rather than worrying about current conflicts and the rise of facism now.

Oh yes! @Ramblethroughthebrambles your sanctimonious, judgy self righteous rambling will totally tell them!! 'Military intervention' shows you know sod all about what ww2 was all about and the horrific experiences people had. Do you think we shouldn't have 'intervened' in the death camps?...

I agree. I think commemoration is fine, but celebrating implies some sort of a jamboree, which feels inappropriate to me too.

VE Day itself was simply the end of the war in Europe. Fighting was still going on in the far east for several months until VJ Day on 14th August of the same year.

I prefer the term commemoration personally. It seems more appropriate because so many people (especially young men) died on all sides.

When did that happen? Never heard that said. Remembrance Sunday/Day here always.

I agree, VE day was never celebrated in my family because one relative never came home and another had a traumatic time as a POW, so while obviously everyone was glad the war was over its never felt like a time to start hanging the flags out and having a party.

I am sure many if not all of those who were part of British and Commonwealth forces and their allies would say that they were on the side of freedom. Which includes the freedom not to commemorate VE Day if you don't wish to.

Thank you for this perfectly expressed sentiment. It’s exactly where I am at.

I think celebrating 80 years of peace between us and our nearest neighbours is fine.

YANBU I was saying similar earlier.

I think it's time to end the fuss over ww1/2. I'm not saying I do have compassion for the men and their families, but how long is it so going to go on for? Lest we forget? Maybe we should be picking many of the other wars that have happened since 🤔 I find do much of it very distasteful.

Edited for putting my ideas the wrong way round! 🤦🏻‍♀️

Before the declaration of war there were years and years of negotiation, treaties, diplomacy, and appeasement. UK didn't suddenly spit the dummy, European countries inc. UK tried various ways to avoid war and especially to avoid the horrible mess WWI was.

What else other than military intervention was there left with such a people who'd chosen that regime?

I'm of an age where members of my family fought and some died in that war so it's hard to see your point. I do understand why you'd expect people to try to sort it out first but they did, to a point where JFK wrote a book accusing the UK of being asleep called While Britain Slept. Was JFK right? I'm not sure, but there were many attempts at peace and a huge amount of reluctance to jump into a war to the point where it nearly worked for the Axis powers.

For that you are unreasonable IMO

I'm guessing red peach is going to condemn OP participating in Christmas or Easter