Landships II

The problem is that some campaigns and wars are contentious - colonial, fascist, wars of aggression, and so on - so commemorating the fallen of some conflicts causes problems. There have been awkward moments when it came to commemorating WWII German dead, for example.  And Remembrance Day is meant to commemorate all the fallen since 1914, anyway. I don't know if everyone here shares my view, but it always seems as if the Great War is comparatively egalitarian in that respect - comparatively. It was a war of aggression to some extent by Austria and Germany, but war was still seen as an acceptable part of foreign policy by most governments of the time. Most of the senior figures who conducted the War were products of the 19th century, as were most of the cannon-fodder who did the fighting. All the major powers seem to have been guilty to some degree of nationalism and expansionism, and the rank and file fought for those values, but their naivety mitigates it. It's never seen as being as heinous as fighting for Nazi ideology or Japanese expansionism, to give the two of the best-known examples. Having known relatives who fought in the Great War, I'm happy for it to retain its special status and for it to be commemorated without the complications that beset other conflicts.

As usual, feel free to argue.