November 11 will be celebrated the centenary of the end of the First World War. Luca Jahier, President of the European Economic and Social Committee, wants young Europeans to appropriate these commemorations, which should not be limited to mere speeches.
Who could argue that memory and commemorations are part of the journey that brings out stronger national identities? No historian, no anthropologist, no ethnographer will disagree. At a time when we are about to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the end of the Great War, there is a risk that our tributes are limited to evoking this past through endless speeches, exhibitions in history museums or short visits to historic sites.
No civilization can survive and look to its future with confidence if it does not have the sense of memory. Yet younger generations lose sight of the true meaning of memory. Their members may perceive commemorations in a different way than their parents, who live by the prism of their family history and the stories in which they were told.
Also find our special file on the centenary of the end of the First World War: click here .
Today, it is in the history books that young people will most likely learn the lessons of the past, which will only become more distant. So, how do we make this memory a more personal experience?
The First World War destroyed the established order in Europe and challenged, as never before, the legitimacy of the nation-state. At the time, military strategists and politicians expected the 1914 war to be a confrontation, as limited as it was decisive, aimed at restoring balance in the Balkans.
Instead, the conflict turned into a long, interminable war, the first of an intercontinental type, in which America, Asia, the Middle East, and Africa were also trained. It demanded the total mobilization of the whole of society in more than 30 belligerent nations. Modern technology brought to the climax the alienation and dehumanization of soldiers serving in the trenches.
It was a war that highlighted the inability of the European ruling classes to reconcile national aspirations and interests in a peaceful and united way; on the contrary, they yielded to the sirens of bellicose nationalists and their expansionist rhetoric.
Nobody could have imagined that the war would be so appalling, especially for the troops sent to the front. Nobody could have imagined that it would sacrifice more than 10 million soldiers and cause countless civilian casualties.
What is more, the war did not bring to Europe the new order, founded on peace, concord and freedom, to which so many men had sincerely aspired.
It did not regulate the old quarrels between the states. On the contrary, it gave birth to new antagonisms, even deeper, and, throughout Europe, plunged old civilized nations into the barbarism of totalitarianism, paving the way for another world-wide, inhuman and still more destructive conflict.
The war produced neither wealth nor well-being, even for the victors, but rather brought about pain, misery and suffering, while the hegemony of Europe in the world drowned forever in this world. bloodbath.
It is wrong to reduce the conflict to the victory of one country and the defeat of another, as some do.
We need to think about this fundamental aspect, because we see new forms of rampant nationalism appearing that flourish on the soil of rancor, division and dissatisfaction with the blockage of politics. It is indeed a threat to many contemporary societies, but also and especially to Europe, which, in the aftermath of the Second World War, had the courage to unite and put aside the vain ones pride and divisions inherited from the past.
In this way, millions of young Europeans will be allowed to take ownership of these commemorations. While in 1918, young people fought against each other, those of 2018 travel to study together, under the umbrella of the Erasmus program.
Reconciliation and peace are among the greatest achievements of the European Union. By interweaving our economies and interests, by perfecting the art of compromise, we have founded the most effective system in the world to ensure lasting peace.
However, let us not forget that something as inconceivable as war is not impossible. Recent geopolitical upheavals highlight the threat of global conflicts.
For the first time since its creation, the European Union is being challenged, by a divorce, with Brexit, as well as by growing tensions in its neighborhood, in the Balkans, on the southern shores of the Mediterranean and its Eastern borders.
Within it, some people fail to preserve the fundamental rights and values of freedom and solidarity, democracy and the rule of law. We are horrified at the rise of anti-Semitism, racism, terrorism and protectionism.
It is worrying that the world and Europe are not prepared for it. Allow me to speak bluntly: without peace, there is no growth, no decent jobs, no cohesion.
Without peace, there is no sustainable Europe. That is why, as we remember those who died in the senseless butchery of the First World War, we must act to build a European identity to counter the voices that claim that salvation is about going back to the schemas. nationals. It is not so.
It is obvious that we have often made mistakes in our thinking about how certain results were obtained, because we considered certain conditions were achieved. On the contrary, we must show, including to the younger generations, that nothing is ever given definitively or ever overcome.
Our only certainty is that, despite its shortcomings, the European Union remains the best gift we can offer to our children and to our children's children: this is the way we can make our commemoration.