Showing posts with label V-E Day. Show all posts
Showing posts with label V-E Day. Show all posts

May 8 - V-E Day

Posted on May 8, 2020

The "V" stands for - as it so often does - "Victory"!

The "E" stands for "Europe."

The little hyphen in between (only used in the U.S.) doesn't really stand for anything, but "V-E Day" translates to "Victory in Europe." (Certainly not victory OVER Europe!)


World War II was a war that was fought over much of the world, so May 8, 1945, wasn't (unfortunately) the end of the war, but it was the date of the unconditional surrender of the Nazis. 

Adolf Hitler had committed suicide about a week before, and it was his successor who signed off on the military surrender. Benito Mussolini, the fascist ruler of Italy who had joined forces with Hitler, had been overthrown in 1943 and was executed two days before Hitler's suicide. 


Because of time zones, the actual stop to all hostilities occurred when it was already May 9 is the USSR, so Russia and a few other nations celebrate V-E Day on May 9. 

Some European nations celebrate Victory in Europe Day as Victory Over Fascism Day or Liberation Day or simply Victory Day. 

Sometimes there are fairly grand celebrations. In 2015 there were three days of celebrations in the U.K.! This year is the 75th anniversary - a great time for a really big shindig...

...under normal circumstances. But of course we are experiencing far-from-normal circumstances. There will be no street parties or parades. But in the United Kingdom:

The Queen will give a televised address, and the Prince of Wales will read an excerpt from George VI's diary on May 8, 1945. 


There will be 2 minutes of silence at 11 a.m. (including on TV and radio).

At 3 p.m., people are invited to stand up wherever they are, lift a glass, and say, "To those who gave so much, we thank you."

Many people are putting images of WWII soldiers in their windows. This "Tommy in the Window" campaign celebrates national heroes of the past and present.


Many people plan to drape flags and bunting over their balconies or walls. People plan to picnic in yards and on balconies - many within sight of one another. 

To help with bunting-making and patriotic picnics, the official VE Day 75 website (which doesn't seem to work for me here in the U.S. - hmm) offers special recipes and downloads / printables.

There will be a flyover in London.






There will be a "clap for victory" over COVID-19 at 7:45 p.m.

There will be remote Lindy-Hop classes and distance sing-along of wartime classics.

Pipers will play "Battle's O'er."


Town criers will call out the announcements of peace for all who can hear from their windows, at a safe distance.

People all over the world have filmed themselves lowering their flags, and the edited-together footage is being released as a sort of virtual VE Day commemoration.

In some towns other sorts of commemorations are planned, including thousands of Cornish people singing "Cornwall, My Home," from their doorsteps, a socially-distanced street picnic, and children decorating their own gardens with a VE theme.

In 2020, our celebrations won't look like the crowded scenes of yesteryear...


...But they're sure to have a strange beauty of their own.


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August 14 - V-J Day

Posted on August 14, 2018

Is Victory over Japan Day today, August 14?

Or tomorrow, August 15?

Or September 2?

Yes.





And is it V-J Day or V-P Day?

Yes!

The day that Japan surrendered, World War II was FINALLY over. We're talking about a war that lasted six years, that involved almost every nation in the world, and that was the deadliest conflict in human history.

So V-J Day was a really, really, really big deal.





Then...how can it have four different names and three different dates?

It's easy. The peace was just like the war: global. And things that are important worldwide just HAVE to vary, especially given different languages and different timezones.

Only the few countries colored gray were NOT involved
in WWII.


On the afternoon of August 15, 1945, Japan announced its surrender. Because of that fact, some nations such as the United Kingdom celebrate V-J Day on August 15, and many nations celebrate August 15 under some other name. For example, Gwangbokjeol is celebrated on August 15 in South Korea; the name means "the day the light returned." In Japan August 15 is commemorated as (unofficially) Shūsen-kinenbi, or "memorial day for the end of the war," and (officially) Senbotsusha o tsuitōshi heiwa o kinensuru hi, or "the day for mourning of war dead and praying for peace."

The afternoon of August 15 in Japan is the night of August 14 in the United States and all over the Americas. Time zone-wise, Japan is 16 hours ahead of the U.S. Because of this some nations and Americans celebrate V-J Day on August 14. The only U.S. state that still officially commemorates the end of World War II, Rhode Island, celebrates "Victory Day" on the second Monday of August.



The name V-J Day is also used to commemorate the date that the formal surrender ceremony occurred. This ceremony occurred in Tokyo Bay, Japan, on September 2, 1945. Right then and there, President Truman declared September 2 to be the official V-J Day for the United States. 

In Australia, which of course lies in the Pacific Ocean, the commemoration of the end of the war is called Victory in the Pacific, and it is shortened to V-P Day. This name is actually much more like the commemoration of the formal surrender of the Nazis, which is celebrated everywhere on May 8 as V-E Day. The "E" in V-E Day is "Europe," so that day is Victory in Europe - not Victory over Germany! 



There have been some efforts in the U.S. and elsewhere to adopt the Victory in the Pacific, or V-P, name, because Japan is now one of the United States' closest allies. Also, war is horrific, and many people are super conflicted about several U.S. actions: the Japanese-American internment and the use of two nuclear bombs.

Yikes!

This headline is terribly racist.
Notice that most newspapers managed
to give the news without being so racist!
However, other people argue that changing the name V-J to V-P is insulting to those soldiers who died at the hands of the Japanese and to soldiers who were prisoners of the Japanese and were badly mistreated.

It's all very complicated. But one thing I know for sure:

Peace is better than war. Global peace is a lot better than global war. This is a good day to remember that, and to work toward more peace and less war!



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May 8 - Liberation of the Republic in Slovakia

Posted on May 8, 2017


Today will be celebrated in many different nations of Europe as the end of World War II in that continent (the war ground on in the Pacific, with the Allies fighting against Japan, for several more months). Whether it is called V-E Day, Victory in Europe Day, Armistice Day, Féte de la Victorie, Victory Day, or Liberation Day, this anniversary is an important one that marks the end of Nazi Germany's control on many countries.

In Slovakia, another name for the day is Victory Over Fascism Day.

In Russia and many Eastern European nations, Victory Day is celebrated on May 9, because the effect of the cease-fire treaty took place early on May 9 in Russia, rather than late on May 8. Slovakia is considered an Eastern European nation, and it used to celebrate the anniversary on May 9 but has since changed it to May 8.

I recently (and unexpectedly!) drove through a chunk of Slovakia without stopping except for gas and a restroom break.

I didn't have time to enjoy the wonders and beauties of Slovakia in the least; I decided to make up for this lack by posting a few here.

As I said in past write-ups, some consider Slovakia to have more castles per person than any other European nation. (It's not a hard-and-fast fact, because it depends on your definition of a castle!)




Like other nearby nations, Slovakia has some karst landscape (landforms made by the dissolving of portions of rocks like limestone, creating sinkholes, caves, waterfalls, and underground drainage). The Slovak Karst
National Park is a protected area with about 700 caves (!); it is a biosphere reserve (a place to protect wildlife), and 12 of its caves are recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. 





There's even an ice cave!


Speaking of heritage, Slovakia has the first reservation of folk architecture in the world!



Even though I didn't see much of Slovakia, I did get to drive through its capital city, Bratislava. This city is the only capital in the world that borders on, not one, but TWO other countries! Bratislava, Slovakia, borders both Austria and Hungary. Not only that, the Danube River runs alongside Bratislava and also runs through both of these neighboring nations' capitals. Austria's capital, Vienna, lies on the Danube only about 60 km away, and Hungary's capital, Budapest, also ranges along he shores of the Danube.



 

Also on this date:

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