Together we must lead the only fight that is worthwhile.. the fight for peace SUPPORT
French President delivers words of hope at Arc de Triomphe
FRENCH President Emmanuel Macron urged all countries to reject nationalism and join the “fight for peace” as he gave an impassioned Armistice speech yesterday.
He was among 70 world leaders who united at the Arc de Triomphe in Paris to mark 100 years since the end of the Great War.
They included US President Donald Trump, Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who all put their problems and differences to one side to honour the millions lost in the conflict.
Mr Putin gave Mr Trump a thumbs up before they shook hands and sat down to listen to Mr Macron’s 20-minute speech in the ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
And he appeared to be aiming his remarks at the US President, who frequently talks of “America First” policies.
Mr Macron said: “Patriotism is the exact opposite of nationalism. Nationalism is a betrayal of patriotism.
“By saying our interests first, who cares about the others, we erase what a nation holds dearest, what gives it life, what makes it great and what is essential: its moral values.
“I know there are old demons which are coming back to the surface.
“They are ready to wreak chaos and death. History sometimes threatens to take its sinister course once again.
“Let us build our hopes rather than playing our fears against each other.
“Ruining this hope with a fascination for withdrawal, violence or domination would be a mistake for which future generations would rightly find us responsible.
“May this gathering not be just one day. This fraternity, my friends, invites us, indeed, to lead together the only combat that is worthwhile: the fight for peace, the fight of a better world.
“During these four years, Europe failed to commit suicide. Mankind had sunk into the hideous labyrinth of merciless clashes, into a hell that engulfs all fighters of whatever side, of whatever nationality they were.”
Thousands of ordinary French people had also turned out, despite persistent heavy rain. Several
wore bright red poppies as a mark of respect to the British and Commonwealth troops who paid the ultimate price in the conflict – which claimed around 9.7 million soldiers and 10 million civilians.
Just before the leaders assembled, a topless female protester with the words “fake peacemaker” scrawled across her chest came within a few metres of Mr Trump’s motorcade before security swooped and grabbed her.
Mr Macron and fellow dignitaries had marched to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier by the Arc de Triomphe beneath black umbrellas while church bells tolled throughout the French capital. The service ended with the same bugle call that was played at 11am on November 11, 1918 to signal the cessation of hostilities on the Western Front.
Mr Trump, who was accompanied by First Lady Melania, later went to the cemetery of Suresnes, in the suburbs of the city, where hundreds of American soldiers are buried.
The President had earlier sparked widespread criticism for pulling out a similar visit, blaming it on the rain.
Meanwhile, there were ceremonies taking place all over the world, emphasising the number of countries that had been affected by the Great War.
In Australia, thousands gathered at the official national service at the Australian War Memorial in capital Canberra, where Prime Minister Scott Morrison led a minute’s silence.
In Sydney, crowds gathered at the Anzac Memorial, which the Duke of Sussex unveiled an extension to during his recent royal tour. And there was also a service at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne.
Some 331,000 Australians served overseas during the First World War, the vast majority of them on the Western Front alongside British soldiers and their allies.
More than 60,000 died – over two-thirds of them on the battlefields of Europe.
Large crowds also attended the Pukeahu National War Memorial Park in Wellington for New Zealand’s main remembrance ceremony.
Nearly 100,000 New Zealanders served in units overseas, with around a fifth of them never returning home.
And commemorations were held all over Russia, which had a population of around 150 million when the conflict broke out and had suffered 1.7 million losses by the time it was over.