There’s a thread in GD about Confederate Memorial Day. It got me thinking: What other places had lost a war, yet have a “Memorial Day” to commemorate their losses?
Anyone who celebrates the Confederacy is certainly a loser.
Moderator Note
Please note that this thread is in General Questions. The OP asked a factual question, so let’s stick to factual answers, please. Opinions like the above are better suited for different forums.
No warning issued.
Isn’t St. Vitus Day a loser, commemorating a loss at the Battle of Kosovo by the Serbs to the Turks?
Historically, some bad stuff happened on the 525th anniversary of St. Vitus Day.
Does Guy Fawkes Day count?
Well technically no one won the battle of Kosovo, it would have been a Pyrrhic victory at best.
Germany has a number of memorial days revolving around World Wars I and II, even though the status of these days in public awareness may be less prominent than Memorial Day in the U.S. Volkstrauertag commemorates World War I, the 8th of May is commemorated as the anniversary of the end of World War II, and the 27th of January is the Holocaust memorial day, commemorating the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz concentration camp.
Cinco de Mayo celebrates the victory of a battle in a war that ultimately was lost.
It’s not unusual for “winner” and “loser” to be rather subjective terms, flexibly changing to meet the needs of the location and occasion.
I’ve lived in NJ most of my life, and occasionally get into friendly disputes with the Atlanta side of my family when we discuss what they refer to as “The War of Northern Aggression”.
Isn’t The Star Spangled Banner about a battle we lost?
It was originally a Protestants celebration of stopping the Catholic Gunpowder Plot. (Turned into a general fireworks and party day.) I doubt any British Catholics celebrated it back when it still had meaning. That would be like mistaking that the Brits celebrate the 4th of July.
But the Japanese do have a memorial day for the end of WWII.
American dead in Vietnam are commemorated on Memorial Day, along with those of wars the United States won.
Australia and New Zealand have ANZAC Day, commemorating a campaign which the Ottoman Turks won. However, ultimately the ANZACs were on the winning side in the war.
Thank you. We only have one Memorial Day & it covers all US wars. Those who really into “winning” probably doubt we should care about those who died in** any **war. If they were smart, they would have lived…
No, the USA won the battle - the flag was still flying, the British stopped bombarding Ft. McHenry, and eventually withdrew. Who won the war is somewhat debatable.
No, unless you’re British. The Star Spangled Banner was written about the Battle of Fort McHenry, which was an American victory. Battle of Baltimore - Wikipedia
The attack on Fort McHenry was part of the Baltimore Campaign, which was also an American victory.
In May, in Canada, there’s Victoria Day. In French-speaking Québec, that day used to be designated* Fête de Dollard*, in honour of Dollard des Ormeaux.
In 2003, the holiday was reassigned as Fête des Patriotes, said patriots being the authors of a failed rebellion against the British in the 1830s.
This kind of reminds me of the Oklahoma City Bombing Memorial. A memorial? To what? They were murdered. Should we celebrate their murder? Had that not happened, we certainly wouldn’t be honoring them.
Memorials are strange things, for those who fought and lost, for those who lived and died, etc…
Today in Peru we celebrate the Battle of Angamos.
We lost the battle, our best admiral, our only good ship, and any chance of stalling the war, which we lost.