European royals and diplomats gathered in Belgium on Thursday to mark the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo, a turning point for the continent which still touches a nerve and stirs national passions.
“Waterloo, the folly and the grandeur. The horror and the genius. The tragedy and then the hope,” Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel said in an opening address under leaden skies.
The stress was on modern-day reconciliation and the sacrifice of some 47,000 dead or wounded soldiers on the fields around the small drab town just south of Brussels, the target of Napoleon’s ill-fated drive north in June 1815.
France and Germany however sent only their ambassadors to the ceremony.
Mr. Michel called for reconciliation through the “European project” and its promise of peace despite modern-day challenges of conflict on its borders in Ukraine and economic worries.
“The enemies of yesterday are the allies of today,” said Mr. Michel. “This reality, it is the European project.”
Key battle
The battle was a pivotal moment in European history, when around 93,000 French troops led by Napoleon faced off against 125,000 British, German and Belgian-Dutch forces commanded by the Duke of Wellington and Field Marshal Bluecher.
Napoleon was exiled to the island of Saint Helena in the south Atlantic Ocean, where he died in 1821. The victors redrew the map of Europe and the continent enjoyed almost a century of relative peace until the carnage of World War I tore it apart again.
Just nearby stands the Waterloo monument, a massive mound topped by a defiant lion looking south which was completed in 1826 when Belgium was part of Holland and is said to be a warning to France never to come this way again. Such sensitivities linger, especially for France which now sees itself as a pillar of the European Union alongside Germany. French Prime Minister Manuel Valls was ambiguous at best about the ceremonies. “I heard it said this morning that President [Francois Hollande] and myself should have been there so that we could shed our tears over this fearsome moment for our country,” Valls said.
A total of 2,00,000 spectators are expected to make their way to Waterloo, starting with Thursday’s commemorative service and ending with two days of battle re-enactments on Friday and Saturday.
Belgium’s King Philippe led the attendance. The absence of French President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel was cause for regret. “It’s a shame,” Charles Bonaparte, a descendant of Napoleon’s brother Jerome, said. — AFP

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