First world war memorials may get heritage status

FRANCE and Belgium are urging Unesco to designate scores of their World War One memorials and cemeteries as World Heritage sites.

The move comes as the centennial remembrance of the 1914-1918 war nears its end.

The Franco-Belgian border, where much of the fiercest fighting of World War One took place, is dotted with monuments to the dead who fought on battlefields ranging from Verdun in France to Passchendaele in Belgium.

The war saw three million people die. The front line stretched from the Belgian coast to the Swiss border.

More than two million men are buried in the region.

“These sites force us to draw lessons from the past in order to construct a more peaceful future,” said Minister-President Geert Bourgeois from Belgium’s Flemish region, particularly hard hit during the war.

France and Belgium are seeking recognition for 139 sites. Unesco’s World Heritage committee will assess their request during meetings in Bahrain that started yesterday and run until July 4.

Even though the scenes of dank trenches and pockmarked battlefields where nerve gas could kill thousands a day are iconic, France and Belgium are focusing on the cemeteries and memorials instead.

“Immediately after the war, these were mainly places for mourning. But quite quickly they became much more than that,” said Luc Vandael, project manager for the Flemish region.

“They became an appeal for peace and reconciliation.”

The appeal of the sites has spiked during the four years of centennial remembrances.