Rally round the flag, Boys.
Every day is a special day for someone. My calendar consists of an amazing list of anniversaries and commemorative days. May 9th, for example, is a national holiday here in Kyrgyzstan – Dehn Pobeda – Victory Day, commemorating the end of the Second World War.
For many of the combative nations in the global conflict, however, the war was not over with the surrender of Germany, only the War in Europe. As a result the event was commemorated in Britain and other countries as VE Day – Victory in Europe Day. The conflict with Japan in the East was continue until the Atom Bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki forced the Japanese to surrender in August. That particular event was commemorated as VJ Day – Victory in Japan Day.
In fact, the German surrender document was actually signed in Rheims, France, in the early morning hours, (02:41) of May 7th, 1945. It was supposed to come into effect at 23:01 the next day. There were problems, however. The Soviet representative didn’t have the necessary authority to sign the document and it also turned out that the text was actually different from the draft which had already been approved by the Big Three. As a result it was treated as a “preliminary protocol of surrender” and had to be “ratified” by the Government in Berlin and was signed once again, just before midnight on May 8th. In the Soviet Union, because of time differences, the instrument of surrender did not come into effect until the next day, May 9th, hence whilst the rest of the Allies celebrated VE Day on May 8th, whereas the Soviet Union celebrated the victory on May 9th.
I remember my mother telling me about the joyous celebrations that ensued after almost six years of fighting. The announcement was greeted by more than a million people emptying onto the streets of London, in Trafalgar Square and the Mall up to Buckingham Palace where the King and Queen, and the two Princesses, Elizabeth and Margaret together with Prime Minister Winston Churchill emerged onto the balcony, just as, just over a week ago, the crowds massed to celebrate the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton.
One of the iconic photographs taken on that day shows a young sailor sitting atop one of the lions at the foot of Nelson’s column in London’s Trafalgar Square. Shortly after he had climbed up to get a better look at the celebrations going on below, someone handed him a Union Jack and he started to waive it. Then he was handed a “Stars and Stripes” of the United States … and then the red flag with the “Hammer and Sickle” of the Soviet Union. When he got back to his ship, he discovered that the photograph had got back before him – featured on the front page of the Picture Post. (You can read his story and other reminiscences of that day here.)
There were celebrations in America too, where it was President Truman’s 61st birthday. What a birthday present!
For the record: In Germany, May 8th is known as the Day of Capitulation.
Winston Churchill declared the day as a public holiday. It’s no longer a holiday, but in Europe it is still designated as a special day, an annual celebration of peace and unity in Europe: Europe Day. An occasion when activities are organized to illustrate the work of the European Union, (EU), and encourage support for its aims and objectives.
In fact, life is never simple … there are two days designated as Europe Day … May 5th as well May 9th.
May 5th commemorates the founding, in 1949, of the Council of Europe: an international organization which promotes co-operation, (in legal standards, human rights, the development of democracy, the rule of law and cultural activities), between all countries of Europe. It is sometimes confused with the European Union, partly because it shares with it certain symbols such as the European Flag, but it is an entirely separate body and has 47 member states, whereas the EU only 27
May 9th, on the other hand, was chosen by the European Union to commemorate the speech by French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman in 1950 in which proposed the pooling of the French coal and steel industries with those of West Germany. This limited declaration was to spawn the European Community which later enlarged and evolved into the European Union.
I am not sure if the day is going to be marked here in Kyrgyzstan – after all, we are in Central Asia and not a part of Europe.
On the other hand, it’s not clear whether the day will be marked back in Britain, either. The BBC and Daily Telegraph websites have reported how it has learned that the European Flag will not be flown outside Number 10, (10, Downing Street, that is: the official residence of the Prime Minister), the treasury, (the British equivalent of the Ministry of Finance) and the Foreign Office, (the equivalent of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs). Apparently, it has been flown in the past, and will be raised at many other government offices in keeping with the government’s own published guidelines.
Now, I know that a lot of my fellow Brits are “little islanders”, who feel sorry for the rest of Europe, which is handicapped as it was cut off from the “mainland” – i.e. Britain – when the sea rushed over the land bridge between the two and formed the English Channel, (or La Manche as the French insist on calling it), but I can’t help feeling that they are suffering from myopia.
The European Union may have its problems – I remember the satirical episode of Yes Minister when the Honourble Jim Hacker defended the Great British Sausage, (but that particular episode did have the advantage that it brought about his elevation to the Premiership and the role of the best Prime Minister Britain never had) – but these seem much less important than the idea of brining peoples and nations together rather than the awful alternative of conflict and war.
Indeed, it seem particularly appropriate to me as we commemorate the end of one war with one holiday, that we should celebrate the brining of people together with another.
.
Bishkek