Former enemies united Monday to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the start of World War I, with Belgium, France, Britain and Germany standing together in a spirit of reconciliation, reports FRANCE 24.
Belgian King Philippe and Queen Mathilde welcomed German President Joachim Gauck under cloudy skies for the late-morning ceremony marking the centenary at the Cointe Inter-allied Memorial amid pomp and military honour.
During the ceremonies, the former enemies sat united, listening and applauding each other’s speeches.
Germany invaded neutral Belgium on August 4th, 1914, as part of a planned attack on France. By nightfall, Britain had joined the war.
“It opened Pandora’s Box,” said Gauck who acknowledged that it “is anything but self-evident to stand and talk to you on this day.”
The war wasn’t expected to last long. But instead of weeks, the continent was plunged into hardship and misery for more than four years.
The ceremony was also attended by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. Prince William paid tribute to the soldiers who "died to give us our freedom".
Gauck will join British Princes William and Harry at the Saint Symphorien cemetery late Monday for a similar remembrance.
In Britain, there was a ceremony in Glasgow, Scotland, attended by the Prince of Wales and David Cameron and a late-evening candlelit vigil at London’s Westminster Abbey.
The Great War, as it came to be known, is now often depicted as senseless slaughter without a big moral cause that claimed an estimated 14 million lives, including 5 million civilians as well as 9 million soldiers, sailors and airmen from 28 countries. At least 7 million troops were left permanently disabled.
British Prime Minister David Cameron sought to debunk that notion. “Although there was an enormous amount of waste and loss of life, there was a cause that young men rallied to at the beginning of the war, which was the idea that Europe shouldn’t be dominated by one power. That a country, a small country like Belgium, shouldn’t be simply snuffed out,” Cameron told the BBC.
On Sunday, an intense hug between Gauck and French President François Hollande during a remembrance ceremony in eastern France close to the German border sealed again the friendship between the two neighbours, who have become the cornerstones of the European Union.
Prince William reaffirmed this sentiment at Monday’s ceremony in Liège, saying that the European countries which had fought bloody wars were now "friends and allies"
Monday’s ceremony in Liège was significant since the battle for the forts around the city meant the first delay for Germany’s enveloping move through Belgium, the so-called Schlieffen Plan strategy to defeat France in a matter of weeks.
Liège, a gritty industrial hub in the east of the country built on coal mining and steel, was the Germans' first obstacle.
Liège held out much longer than expected. Its short but ferocious resistance remains a source of Belgian pride to this day, causing just enough of a delay to derail Germany's quick-victory war plans. It also allowed the allied forces to gather strength and keep Germany at bay within dozens of kilometres of Paris.
Reduced to rubble, Liège paid heavily for its sacrifice, but its bravery was such that France awarded the city the prestigious Légion d'Honneur.
Gauck called the German plan “hapless” and deplored German actions against civilians and cities its forces passed through during the early weeks of the war.
Read more of this report from FRANCE 24.