Shunning Mnemosyne by West Europe including the Baltic

In 1915, if not a world war had broken out, the centenary of the Battle of Waterloo (1815) would certainly have been organised. Imagine the following situation when it had been. None of the other combatant nations sides with Great Britain's centenary party crossing the Channel toward Belgium's monumental venue close to capital. As a matter of fact, in the recent case of the final World War One anniversary, on 28 June 2019, this trail of thought came to pass. None of the European nations showed any engagement. The centennial party in Versailles turned out to be an all-American one.

However, the question remained, why the Europeans, including the host country, failed to embark on an obviously shorter trip. Did anyone argue against siding with the diverse and flamboyant representatives of the 1917 associated power?

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In a presentation from Doughboy Foundation in January 2025, Theo Mayer highlighted an interesting Europe-States comparison. As a WWICC member in 2014, his internet query on WWI related keywords exposed his country for having an about twenty time less search rate than Europe as a whole. However, the relatively premature timing at the start of a five-year perspective should be taken into account. Furthermore, the US did not go to war before 1917. The Aufa100 team put Mayer's early web research in the perspective of Europe's historical amnesia on 1918−1919 (apart from Armistice Day). How can therefore Europe's unflattering dichotomy between these favorable statistics at the anniversaries' outset and a particularly negative report on the designated follow-up to the 1918 commemoration be explained?

Footnotes

1.  Attila Szalay-Berzeviczy, In the Centennial Footsteps of the Great War. From Sarajevo to Versailles, Volume I–II, Budapest 2023, exhibition, Sarajevo 2019; German actors listed in Aufa100 mission statement.

2.  Two interview formats may be outlined. Depending on the scale of financial support, a questionnaire for the anniversary attendants may be complemented by interviews with some of the teachers and commission members. Different parties may be brought together by Theo Mayer, the bilingual manager of the Education Outreach Program.