OTTAWA Several hundred people gathered at Canadas national war memorial at sunset on Saturday to mark the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge, a fierce World War I fight in northern France that looms large in Canadas national identity.
For a country not generally given to national chest thumping, the battle at Vimy, where Canadian troops overtook German lines, has been cast by many Canadians as a pivotal moment in their nations formation. That sentiment was reflected at the ceremony in Ottawa and at others across Canada throughout the weekend, and at the Canadian memorial at Vimy Ridge near Arras, France, on Sunday, where about 25,000 people gathered, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and relatives of those who fought in the four-day battle.
Many of the Canadian ceremonies were low key. In Ottawa, the crowd stood largely silent for the opening of an overnight vigil, listening to choral music; watching musical performances, including by a young indigenous drummer; and quietly placing candles on the steps of the monument for each of the Canadians who died.
Although Canada entered World War I at its outset in 1914, Vimy was the first battle in which its divisions fought as a unified force and successfully broke down a German line that had defeated British and French forces. Over the past century, the fight, in which 7,000 Canadians were also wounded, has come to be viewed as the moment when Canada finally stood apart from Britain.
Its really something of a puzzle to me why Vimy has become this, said Margaret MacMillan, a Canadian professor of international history at the University of Oxford and the author of two diplomatic histories of World War I. I cant exactly explain why at certain times and moments in our history we focus on certain things from our past, but we certainly focus on Vimy.
Vimy has endured as a symbol of Canadas role in the war partly because of the Canadian National Vimy Memorial on the battlefield. Despite being an ocean away, the memorials two pylons have appeared on Canadian bank notes and are so well known that the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation used the monuments silhouette as the logo for its broadcast on the anniversary.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/09/world/canada/canada-battle-vimy-ridge-anniversary-war.html?_r=0
For a country not generally given to national chest thumping, the battle at Vimy, where Canadian troops overtook German lines, has been cast by many Canadians as a pivotal moment in their nations formation. That sentiment was reflected at the ceremony in Ottawa and at others across Canada throughout the weekend, and at the Canadian memorial at Vimy Ridge near Arras, France, on Sunday, where about 25,000 people gathered, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and relatives of those who fought in the four-day battle.
Many of the Canadian ceremonies were low key. In Ottawa, the crowd stood largely silent for the opening of an overnight vigil, listening to choral music; watching musical performances, including by a young indigenous drummer; and quietly placing candles on the steps of the monument for each of the Canadians who died.
Although Canada entered World War I at its outset in 1914, Vimy was the first battle in which its divisions fought as a unified force and successfully broke down a German line that had defeated British and French forces. Over the past century, the fight, in which 7,000 Canadians were also wounded, has come to be viewed as the moment when Canada finally stood apart from Britain.
Its really something of a puzzle to me why Vimy has become this, said Margaret MacMillan, a Canadian professor of international history at the University of Oxford and the author of two diplomatic histories of World War I. I cant exactly explain why at certain times and moments in our history we focus on certain things from our past, but we certainly focus on Vimy.
Vimy has endured as a symbol of Canadas role in the war partly because of the Canadian National Vimy Memorial on the battlefield. Despite being an ocean away, the memorials two pylons have appeared on Canadian bank notes and are so well known that the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation used the monuments silhouette as the logo for its broadcast on the anniversary.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/09/world/canada/canada-battle-vimy-ridge-anniversary-war.html?_r=0