Commemoration of 8th May 1945

[delta]

In Europe, many countries still commemorate with a bank holiday the end of World War I every 11th of November.
But as far as I know only France commemorates the end of World War II (in Europe) with a bank holiday on the 8th of May.
Does anyone have any explanation for that? I guess the historical and political reasons are different from countries to countries but I am particularly wondering this regarding the UK and Belgium…
Thanks in advance guys!

[mallocks]

Possibly because that was the war in Europe, not the World War, which ended later, obviously.

Perhaps also the first world war is seen as more of a tragedy because there were no real moral reasons behind the fighting, it was all about land.

[psychonaut]

*Originally posted by delta *
In Europe, many countries still commemorate with a bank holiday the end of World War I every 11th of November.

Canada also observes the 11 November holiday. However, I have always been taught that this was to commemorate WWI, WWII, and the Korean War.

[Hern]

The date for Remembrance Sunday was “fixed” following World War I as the first Sunday following November 11th to commemorate the end of the war.

The Cenotaph ceremony was first held in 1921 as a unique expression of national homage devoted to the remembrance of those who gave their lives during the First World War. It was originally conceived as a commemoration of the war dead of the United Kingdom, the Empire (and subsequently the Commonwealth) and the British territories overseas.

After the Second World War the scope of the ceremony was extended to focus on the nation’s dead of both World Wars, and in 1980 it was widened once again to extend the remembrance to all who have suffered and died in conflict in the service of their country and all those who mourn them.

(Taken from the Lord Chancellor’s Department website )

Obviously, as it falls on a Sunday, Remembrance Sunday is not a bank holiday. The UK has no bank holiday which commemorates either of the world wars.

Stu

[Goodbeem]

In the Netherlands, the 4[sup]th [/sup] and 5[sup]th[/sup] of May were used to commemorate the death of WW II and the liberation respectively (The Germans signed a treaty of defeat May 5, 1945 with the Dutch).

Nowadays, both days are used to commemorate all those who have fallen (May 4) and to celebrate freedom in general (May 5). Oddly, May 5 is a bank holiday every 5 years.

The Netherlands were neutral in WW I, so it isn’t commemorated that well.

[bump]

In the US, November 11th is Veterans’ Day, a day to commemorate and remember the living veterans. The date was chosen because of the end of World War I though and because the US already had a day for remembering war dead- May 30th. This tradition was started in 1868 after the US Civil War. When later wars occurred, their dead were remembered on May 30th as well.

[RickJay]

*Originally posted by psychonaut *
**Canada also observes the 11 November holiday. However, I have always been taught that this was to commemorate WWI, WWII, and the Korean War. **

However, it is not a civic holiday.

And yes, Remembrance Day is to commemorate all Canadians who have served in war.

[yojimbo]

May 5, 1945 - we shall remember One of the great threads of the SDMB.

[psychonaut]

*Originally posted by RickJay *
However, it is not a civic holiday.

It’s not a national holiday, but it can be a statutory holiday according to provincial law. Growing up in Regina, I was disappointed to find that I didn’t get the day off when I lived in Toronto.

[bonzer]

This history of the two-minute silence goes into how and why the traditional British commemoration takes the form it does in some detail. While a ceremony at the Cenotaph in Whitehall coinciding with a national silence may have come to seem the natural choice, it wasn’t necessarily obvious in 1918 what, if any, form a permanent commemoration would take.
To slightly correct Hern’s chronology, the Armistace was initially marked as Remembrance Day on the 11th every year, it only being moved to become Remembrance Sunday after WWII. Together with the fact that it wasn’t a Bank Holiday, this was what made the occasion so powerful as a national event, since in most years the entire country would have to actively stop in the middle of a working day and communally observe the silence at eleven o’clock.

Since it’s too good not to mention, that page is part of this site, maintained by someone who has produced a CD compliation of all the surviving archive recordings of the silences in Whitehall. Not the ceremonies - just the silences. And some of them are downloadable from the site. There’s also the silence from Princess Diana’s funeral, as a sort of bonus track.

By the way, welcome to the SDMB delta (and Hern too).

[bber]

In France, the introduction (or maybe the re-introduction ?) of a blank day on the 8th of May is dating from 1982.
I may be wrong to suppose that François Mitterrand introduced this blank day mainly because May 8th is quite close to May 10th and would be a good opportunity to also commemorate his first access to the charge of “Président de la République” on MAy.
Of course, I may be wrong
I have been told that before that, Giscard had changed the May 8th to May 11th to please our German friends but I have no proof of that. Who can tell us more about the history of May 8th in France ?