# Commemorating the First World War



## Edward Campbell (18 Aug 2013)

We are just around the corner from August 2014, the centenary of the start of the _Great War_, the _war to end all wars_, and so on.

There are, according to this article which is reproduced under the Fair Dealing provisions of the Copyright Act from _The Telegraph_, controversies about how to manage the events over the next few years:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/history/world-war-one/10249760/Germany-intervenes-in-WW1-commemoration-debate.html


> Germany intervenes in WW1 commemoration debate
> *Germany has intervened in the debate over how to mark the centenary of the First World War, with a call for Britain not to make its commemorations too celebratory.*
> 
> By Jasper Copping
> ...




I'm not sure how the Government of Canada plans to "celebrate" the next few years. I am one of those ~ a minority to be sure ~ who believes that the "Great War" was a blunder, that it was preventable and, all in all, a mistake. I have said, many times, that i regard the (1904) _Entente Cordiale_ as the biggest blunder in British foreign policy since the English accepted Harold Godwinson's claim on the crown rather than William of Normandy's. Thus, I believe we should "remember" the sacrifices and honour those who made them but not depict it as a contest between good and evil.


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