The First World War Armistice 100th Anniversary

            The world commemorated the 100^th anniversary of the end of the First World War today.  As the armistice that ended the “Great War,” the “War to End All Wars,” was signed on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month in France, the anniversary of the end of what was until then the deadliest war in history was observed there with a large gathering of world leaders.

           The events were a reminder of the dangers of excessive nationalism.  Franco-German peace, the linchpin of Western European peace that was finally obtained only after the even bloodier Second World War that was caused by the First World War, was particularly poignant today, with the German Chancellor and French President leading the commemorations.  European peace is nowadays ensured by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and by various European organizations.  

The United States observes Veterans’ Day on this date, or on a Monday following, as this year.  All veterans of the First World War are now deceased, but although the holiday is to honor living veterans for their sacrifice for the security and liberty Americans now enjoy, it is appropriate especially today to remember with gratitude the sacrifices of those U.S. servicemen who helped to end the war and avert whatever ills may have ensued from victory by the empires of the Central Powers over the more representative Allied states.