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As the United Kingdom remembers the 100th anniversary of the end of the First World War, commemorations will focus on those who fought and died. But the day of the armistice was not always so dark.
On Tuesday, November 11, 1919, at 11:00, former members of the armed forces, relatives and friends of the dead and millions of others gave thanks for the sacrifices of the Great War.
One year after the end of the conflict, villages, cities and towns organized parades, religious services and observed two minutes of silence.
It was during the day. The evening of November 11 was different. Thousands of people, mostly young, wanted to have fun.
"Victory balls" – charity events combining disguises, dances, songs and hearty spirits – were organized to meet this need.
The Pathé sequence of this year's biggest ball, held at the Royal Albert Hall in London, shows party-goers disguised as costumes, turbans, doublets, sleeves and a star dress. A woman with imperious air introduces herself as Britannia.
"These events often had a festive air, as soldiers wanted to emphasize the fact that they had gone through the war," said Chris Kempshall, lecturer in modern European history at the University of Sussex. .
"They celebrated with their comrades and marked the sacrifices of their fellow men by living and entertaining them."
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The armistice of 1918 was celebrated en masse in the United Kingdom
The balls continued, raising funds for veterans and charities.
Victory Dance, a poem by writer and academic Alfred Noyes published in 1920, showed a disgust for the frivolity exhibited:
Shadows of dead men
Stand near the wall,
Watch the fun
From the ball of victory.
But all criticism remained silent until October 19, 1925, when the Times newspaper published a letter from Richard "Dick" Sheppard, parish priest of St Martin-in-the-Fields, in central London.
He called for the cancellation of the annual Albert Hall Ball.
"Dance is often the obvious and appropriate form to commemorate with gratitude a happy event," he wrote, "but a large-scale costume ball, in tribute to the Great Deliverance that succeeded the unspeakable agony of 1914-1918, seems to me not so irreligious as indecent. "
Sheppard, who served as chaplain to a military hospital in France during the war, argued that "thoughtless and ill-conceived balls and celebrations" in hotels and restaurants "should not be encouraged, at least not during the war. that this generation keeps the heartache of a tender and grateful remembrance ".
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Alfred Noyes was one of the first critics of the armistice balls
The Times was inundated with letters accepting or denouncing Sheppard as a slaughter.
A contributor, described as "commander of the company," claimed that "as the only survivor of four brothers," the last thing they would like is that they are safe. 39, oppose us to have fun ".
But another contributor, Roger Lawrence, agreed with Sheppard, saying a costume ball was "grotesque" and "a piece of vulgarity".
The popular press, sensing the value of the controversy, pushed it further. The Daily Mail has been campaigning for the balls to end for fear of offending people in mourning. He claimed that social figures of the upper class, some of whom had not served, entertained themselves at the expense of fallen soldiers.
However, the Daily Express, engaged in a trade war with its rival, defended the right of veterans to have a good time and revive their fellowship after risking their lives during the war.
The archbishops of Canterbury and York have adopted the same position as the Mail.
Lord Northampton, the organizer of the Albert Hall Victory Ball, finally gave in to the calls, postponing it to 12 November. For November 11, existing ticket holders could attend a souvenir service – led by Sheppard.
Who was Richard "Dick" Sheppard?
- Born in Windsor in 1880, Sheppard volunteered to serve in the Second Boer War, but was injured while traveling to the station, rendering him unable to serve and disabled for life.
- He took part in the BBC's first religious broadcast in 1924, but had to stop working on the radio in 1926 because of asthma-related problems.
- In 1927, he announced his conversion to pacifism
- After Sheppard's death in 1937, 100,000 people passed by his coffin
Source: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
The number of balls declined in the late 1920s, when the Armistice Day began to take on more or less completely sober character than it has today.
A former officer stopped taking part in the commemorations, describing them as "too similar to his own funeral".
"The dark reality of these moments is the fact that in fact, 88% of British soldiers survived the First World War," says Dr. Kempshall, "and they wanted to be able to conduct their own commemorations and activities in the light events." thereby. "
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Victory Day is celebrated for its festive atmosphere
The debate of the 1920s must be placed in the context of society at the time, says Elisabeth Shipton, author of Female Tommies: Women of the First World War of the First World War.
"With the rise of pacifism and increasing austerity, evenings with alcohol, dances and excesses were increasingly deemed inappropriate," she said.
"In addition, was it a" victory "in the face of so many casualties?"
About 750,000 British soldiers died during the First World War. However, while nearly 400,000 members of the British Armed Forces died during the Second World War, the Victory Day celebrations in Europe (VE) have a much more disconcerting tone, with dancers and actors re-enacting scenes famous street celebrations of May 8, 1945.
It is sometimes forgotten that British cities also attended spontaneous celebrations during the Annunciation of the Armistice on November 11, 1918. Thousands of people gathered in front of Buckingham Palace, as in 1945.
Yet the differences of commemoration continue.
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"The two world wars have set the tone for our understanding and rationalization of wars in this country," said Dr. Kempshall.
The Nazi Reich's crimes make it easier to see the opponent as "clearly" the evil, "while much of the popular memory of the First World War is composed of "mud, blood, trenches and incompetent generals," he adds.
The First World War "seemed to be resolved in a less definitive way," which means that it "has a huge impact on the way we talk about modern wars like Iraq and Afghanistan, which have mixed results and sometimes limited popular support. "
Charity support balls, held on or around November 11, are making a comeback in the United Kingdom, the United States and the Commonwealth, notes Ms. Shipton.
But Sheppard's view of Armistice Day, fashioned by his era of tending toward wounded and dying soldiers on the Western Front, continues to dominate.
