Lest We Forget: Remembrance Day at Waldorf Academy
Written by: Grade 8 student S. Rossiter
On the eleventh hour, of the eleventh day, of the eleventh month, peace was signed into officiality. The Great War was over, ending with around 22 million deaths, including 66 000 Canadians, in the 4 years of human suffering. On the 1-year anniversary of the armistice, King George V made a proclamation stating that November 11th would be a day of remembrance and mourning for those who lost their lives in the atrocities of war. Last Wednesday, we commemorated the 108th Remembrance Day in Canadian history.
Remembrance Day is important not only for remembering those who died but also for remembering the severe consequences of war, and working towards a more peaceful future. 22 million died in the First World War, and a short while later, war broke out again.
I sat down with Mr Mackinnon on Tuesday to discuss the history of these wars and to learn what they were like. The 1800s was a period of dramatic transformation driven by industrialization, political revolutions, nationalism, and imperial expansion. The rapid industrial revolution gave rise to a wealthy industrial middle class alongside a large, often unprotected urban working class, leading to early labor movements, and new modern socialist theories. Surprisingly then, the start of the First World War came with celebration and an excitement for adventure. As troops mobilized across Europe in the summer of 1914, politicians, journalists, and public sentiment widely assumed the conflict would be swift, romantic, and finished before the end of the year. Children as young as 14 tried to pass as 18 to enlist. Long drawn out trench warfare tore through any hope for an adventure, however, with a mix of rapidly advancing technology and old-school tactics. By the end, tanks had replaced horses.
Because of this horrible war, the feeling coming into the Second World War was far more somber, especially with the great power Germany and the Axis powers held. The death toll rose to an astronomical 85 million and the whole world was pulled into the conflict.
Mr Westenberg’s parents were in Holland when Canadian soldiers liberated the country in early 1945; their kindness stayed with Mr Westenberg’s parents, who, looking for adventure themselves, moved to Canada.
Wars bring out all our hopes, fears, triumphs, sadness and nostalgia. Conflict reminds us that there are sacrifices to be made for the values we strive to keep. We gathered as a school today to not forget those who died to uphold those values but also to think hard about the true cost of war to prevent us from repeating the same mistakes.
