Remembrance out of living memory: does ‘Armistice Day’ still matter to young people over 100 years on?

By Emily Brewster, Third Year, History

For over a century, the seasonal selling of red poppies at the end of October has reminded the British public of the ‘Day of Remembrance’. Renamed from ‘Armistice Day’ following the Second World War to commemorate fallen troops of all wars involving Britain, the 11th of November is the anniversary of the Armistice agreement in 1918 to end the First World War. 

The annual anniversary continues to evoke patriotic narratives of the ‘Glorious Dead’ and ‘the Great War’ in collective memory. For many young people, however, commemorating an event which killed so many has begun to feel inappropriate while modern conflicts continue to destroy lives and communities. In an age where the fervent nationalism of war is often equated with xenophobia and political extremism, the event’s relevance for younger generations in 2023 is diminishing. Surrounded by the atrocities of war in the Middle East and in Ukraine, is commemorating lives sadly lost, in a war which no one alive today fought in, still important?

Armistice Day was first held on the anniversary of the end of the First World War. On the 11th of November 1919, King George V announced a two-minute silence to be observed across the country and Commonwealth in ‘Reverent remembrance of the glorious dead’. 

It is questionable whether this century-old war, horrific though it was, should continue to be honoured with such grandeur each year,  as we witness citizens in other parts of the world inundated with poverty and suffering caused by conflict in the present.

Despite its immense significance to people then, as now, as a mark of respect to those who were killed fighting, there was protestation from many veterans of ‘militaristic celebration’ for the colossal loss of young lives in the commemorations.

Arguably, for younger generations of the British public, there is a feeling of distance from the fallen troops of World War One, most of which would’ve been born in the 19th century, during the reign of Queen Victoria. 

Speaking to Epigram, one student recalled the two-minute silence observed at primary school every year on the 11th of November. He, as a child, had no real appreciation of who or what this was commemorating, as such a distant, unfathomable event. Though Remembrance in the years after the devastating loss of the First World War was highly valuable for communities, commemorating the end of ‘The war to end war’, it is debatable whether this comfort is felt generations later. 

Of course, the emblematic phrase used in Remembrance services, ‘Lest We Forget’, which promised to prevent catastrophic conflict occurring between nations again, can certainly be viewed with some irony considering the repeated occurrence of atrocity and war throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. 

A third-year Geography student told Epigram that she finds the scale of Remembrance in Britain problematic for its emphasis on recalling historic events rather than recognising that the ‘The horrors of war are not, for many, something of the past’.

In 2011, David Cameron appointed a minister for ‘Remembering the first world war’ and gave him £50 million to spend on the event. It is questionable whether this century-old war, horrific though it was, should continue to be honoured with such grandeur each year,  as we witness citizens in other parts of the world inundated with poverty and suffering caused by conflict in the present.

He emphasised that the privilege of peace which Britons enjoy today should not detach us from the tragic losses internationally during those four years of conflict, as they can help our understanding of the violence we are witnessing in 2023.

Having said this, for many like Ollie Cavanagh, a final year Engineering student, paying tribute to the fallen from the First World War should still be important to young people today, particularly in the context of the terrible conflicts that we are currently witnessing. 

A former air cadet, Ollie partook in several remembrance ceremonies and has seen the value of continuing to commemorate the people of the First World War, regardless of views on the war itself. In this recentring, appropriate recognition can be paid not just to British troops but to the millions from the former British Empire who were sent to serve, a large section of the British military effort who have historically been overlooked in British Remembrance.

Ollie argued that these ordinary, often young, human beings who were involved in a war of unprecedented scale ‘Should not be buried in history’ —  just as victims of current conflict should not be — and the occasion should be used more to call for active peace-making. 

He emphasised that the privilege of peace which Britons enjoy today should not detach us from the tragic losses internationally during those four years of conflict, as they can help our understanding of the violence we are witnessing in 2023.

‘The connotations are not the fault of the thing itself’, he said, in response to the suggestion that such commemorations can be seen to glorify war and militarism. He articulated that Remembrance Day shouldn’t be disregarded by young people for its politicisation by older generations , stressing the distinction between recognising and remembering the loss of life and commending it.

‘In 2023, the poppy has the sour taste of a ‘‘badge of honour’’ for those killed in war, which risks glorifying their pain and suffering, something particularly problematic considering the ongoing conflicts in Israel, Palestine and Ukraine’, a Philosophy student answered when asked about her thoughts on wearing the red poppy for Remembrance Day.

Some young people clearly feel there is a danger that commemoration of the First World War shifts attention away from the terrible conflicts which we are currently witnessing and even romanticises the sacrifice of life during wars.

Featured Image: Unsplash / David Clode

Do you think Remembrance Day is relevant to young people?