The contemporary people - especially those living in Asia - associate the term Singles' Day with bargain sales. It has in fact become the largest offline and online shopping day in the world, with Asians and Westerners alike spending billions of dollars on purchases from Alibaba and other online retail companies. Singles' Day already surpasses the purchases made on the more widely known Black Friday.
But today especially we mean with Singles' Day rather the fact that it is 100 years today since the end of the First World War. At 11.00 am Central European time to be precise. The Armistice ended the fighting at that hour, and even though it still needed to be prolonged three times until the Treaty of Versailles (signed on June 28th, 1919), that is the date and hour we now commemorate. It is also the Independence Day of Poland which today celebrates 100 years of independence, so congrats Poland!
The war-weary soldiers on both sides knew of course about the war coming to an end, and in most instances responded accordingly. By laying down their arms during the last hour. Nobody wanted to take the risk of being shut or having to shoot anyone when cease-fire was imminent, and after that all hostilities would simply end right there and then. Everyone was ready for peace.
Except one man. Henry Gunther became the last soldier to be killed during that war, more precisely at 10.59 am. For years celebrated as the American hero he was thought to be, he has later become known as just another victim of the absurdity of war. And that due to his reasons for setting himself in harm’s way quite in vain. You can read his story here.
World leaders gather today in Paris to commemorate the end of the First World War, but also for the Paris Peace Forum. November 11th has been a national holiday in France for years. Still, peace forum or not, the French President Emmanuel Macron is talking about creating a joint European Army, and as we all know, the U.S. President Donald Trump is speaking for separatism and America First. We really haven’t come very far intellectually, but then again, it is only a hundred years.
Powerless in the dealings of the men and the few women in power, most people would perhaps rather spend the day looking for some good online deals. Yet there is one thing that matters even more today and that anyone can relate to around the world. Let’s not forget the one man that hopefully figures and matters in everyone’s life - our dads!