The end began in early November. A war that had begun in August 1914 under bright summer skies with the glow of patriotism and promise of glory now staggered to a close as the leaden clouds of November 1918 reflected the somber mood of war’s end.
World War I - The Great War – The War To End All Wars – one of the most horrific wars of all time, was finally over. The Armistice agreement was signed in a railway car in a forest near the French city of Compiegne at the much repeated eleventh hour, of the eleventh day, of the eleventh month. Later a granite block was placed at the site engraved with the words: "Here on 11th November 1918 perished the criminal pride of the German Empire defeated by the free people whom it set out to enslave."
King George’s Request
On the first anniversary of Armistice Day, King George V requested that all nations within the British Empire and Commonwealth should afford an opportunity "so that in perfect stillness the thoughts of every one may be concentrated on reverent remembrance of the glorious dead." The king’s wishes were observed throughout Canada and all businesses, offices and traffic came to a halt for two minutes at exactly 11:00 a.m. local time.
Adopting the Poppy
In 1921, one of the last acts of the Arthur Meighen’s Unionist government was to draft legislation making Armistice Day a legal holiday to be celebrated on the same day as Thanksgiving Day, which was to be the first Monday of the week in which November 11 fell. It was in this same year that the Canadian Great War Veterans Association adopted the poppy as the official symbol of "remembrance for war dead". The first poppies were cloth replicas manufactured in France but by November 1922 disabled soldiers in Vetcraft shops throughout Canada made the poppies. The Canadian Legion took over the project when in was formed in 1925.
A Day of Remembrance
The two holidays remained merged for ten years before it was finally decided, at the urging of veterans and the Canadian Legion, that while Thanksgiving was a day of celebration and goodwill, Armistice Day was a day of somber remembrance. A bill was passed in 1931 proclaiming that Armistice Day be renamed Remembrance Day and conducted on November 11, while Thanksgiving Day was moved to the third Monday in October. (Thanksgiving would later be moved to the second Monday in October in 1957.)
Today, Remembrance Day is to commemorate Canadians who perished in the First and Second World Wars, the Korean War, the War in Afghanistan and the many Canadian Peacekeeping situations. Every year millions of Canadians gather in all parts of the country, around myriad shapes and sizes of cenotaphs, to remember those who gave their lives so that others could live in peace.
"Because of what they did the rest of us have known peace and freedom. Remembering is the least of the obligations we owe them." - J.L. Granatstein and Desmond Morton "Bloody Victory"
Bibliography
Berton, Pierre. Marching As To War. Random House – 2001
Esposito, Brig. Vincent. A Concise History of World War I. Frederick Praeger - 1964
Goodspeed, D.J. The Road Past Vimy. Macmillan of Canada – 1969
Langer, William (ed.) An Encyclopedia of World History. Houghton Mifflin Co. – 1948
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