From the Telegraph – British government won’t celebrate the bicentennial of the Battle of Waterloo:
The Government has decided not to celebrate the anniversary, on June 18th, 2015, for fear of upsetting the French. The Department of Culture has ruled out any official celebration, or a service of thanksgiving in Westminster Abbey.
It’s a pretty lily-livered decision. Would the French really care that much? Do we mind that the Americans celebrate Independence Day today – a commemoration, in part, of our ultimate defeat by American revolutionaries?…
The real notice of the Death of Europe is that Britain has a Department of Culture. When you’ve got that, it means you have no culture left. Culture isn’t made by government decree, it is made by people living. Part of “living” for Europe means a vitally important battle was fought in 1815 which ended forever Napoleon’s dreams of continental domination. It happened; it was important; it is an integral part of British and European culture…but the Department of Culture essentially says it didn’t happen. So, no official marking of the date.
As the linked article notes, would the French really care? Descendants of Confederates and Yankees gather to mark the anniversary of Civil War battles – it is no longer about the hatreds of war, but about honoring brave men, on both sides, who fought well for what they thought was right. It is part of history – part of what makes us a people. So, too, Waterloo…it is part of France, it is part of Britain; it is part of Europe. To not mark the date is to say that the men who fought did so in vain – and, I guess they did. Europe is dying – I don’t see how they can recover. They haven’t even the will to learn of themselves.

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