2015 The Waterloo Bicentenary

So today is Waterloo Day.  Or rather it is is the 198th anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo, a key event and turning point in European history.  I went there in 1982 and it looked a little plain, but I'm sure it looks much different now.  Until last weekend I was unaware that there are no official plans by the British government to commemorate the bicentenary in two years time.  There are certainly no plans by the government to spend any money on any commemoration.

Clearly this is in stark contrast to the much-publicized (and rightly so!) £50m plus that is being spent on the centenary of the Great War 1914-1918.  So why is Britain's participation in one European war being commemorated, but not another?

Certainly more men died in the First World War as fewer than 350,000 men died fighting France compared to roughly 750,000 men killed fighting the Kaiser.  However about 5.6 of Britain's casualties in the Napoleonic Wars died from disease, so the conditions for most of the men must have been comparable to life in the trenches.  In addition if after 1914 the BEF was fighting to stop one country's domination of Europe, then what on earth was the cause a hundred years previously?

I can't believe the British government, let alone the people, don't mind upsetting today's Germans by commemorating WW1, but are wary of upsetting the French about a European war a hundred years before that.  What would the Pub Landlord say?

Whether this is popular or not, the British people are - by definition - European.  This was one of the major reasons why war was fought against Napoleon because he threatened the balance of power in the European continent, not least when he escaped from exile in March 1815.  So because in 1815, as in 1915 and - dare I say it? -  in 2015, Great Britain was and is a European power, with a keen eye and a firm interest in the political, economic and military development of Europe, the events at Waterloo on 18th June 1815 are a significant part of the story of Britain, the story of our nearest continental neighbour France as well as a major part of the European story.  Ahead of 2014 European elections news of a government-sponsored commemoration of the history of the Napoleonic Wars and Britain's role in its iconic land battle may just jog a few Eurosceptic memories and maybe help burst the UKIP bubble!

We are European and we should embrace this, not pretend otherwise.

So we can do our bit to help people become more aware of the importance today of June 18th 1815 by following @Waterloo200org on Twitter or going to waterloo200.org.

Oh and sshhhh, whisper it softly to some people (!), but if it wasn't for Blucher and the German-speaking Prussians arriving in the nick of time on that fateful day, it might well be the French celebrating their greatest victory's bicentenary in 2015!!!