Remembrance Day
England Remembers.
He remembers everything; things no historian could even bother to remember. So many wars so many battles have been fought in his lifetime.
He remembers clashing with France, Germany, Prussia; there is probably not a nation he hasn't been at war with, either directly or indirectly. Such is the bloody history of building an empire.
He remembers how his generals would hold him back, how they claimed the empire could not afford the loss of England.
He remembers seeing his boys and brothers go over and remembers the desire to go out and save those who fought for him.
He guiltily remembers being secretly glad that he wasn't going with them.
He remembers the London Blitz and a yearning to fight for his people once again.
He remembers climbing into his RAF Spitfire; operating the aircraft without hesitation, like he had been doing it for years.
~Lest We Forget~
Canada Remembers.
He remembers Vimy Ridge and his Hundred Days.
However, he also remembers Ypres, Passchendaele and Dieppe.
He remembers gazing at the blood washed beaches and the port littered with bodies.
He remembers every single one of them; their faces, names and laughter forever gone from this world.
He remembers Germany walking up to him; asking why he was sitting there and not boarding a vessel towards his brothers. "My people died here" He answers "A nation is nothing without its soldiers"
He remembers that day on the Somme; seeing Newfoundland going over the top and never coming back down.
He remembers his brother not reappearing after the war even after everyone expected him to.
He remembers seeing his own economy soar while his brother's crumbled.
He remembers the day he came back; as a province and not a dominion.
~Lest We Forget~
Australia Remembers.
He remembers Gallipoli; an event his people have ironically adopted as their national holiday.
He remembers putting on a smile and coaxing his brothers into cricket. Somebody needs to lift everyone's spirits and remind them of a world outside war.
He remembers never saluting to England and in the end England's scolds were only half hearted.
He remembers England's words near the end of the war "We are equals on the battle field, perhaps one day we will be outside too."
He remembers England's sorrow after America had departed and now comprehends he was planning to let them go one day perhaps ever since them.
He remembers the Treaty of Versailles; when he was granted his own seat for the first time at a world conference.
~Lest We Forget~
France Remembers.
He remembers Napoleon, Aimes, Orleans.
He remembers Joan burning at the stake and he pain he felt afterwards because he did not stop it.
He remembers how Germany marched though Paris as if it were his own.
He remembers thinking how it was partially his own fault; in more ways than one.
He remembers every one of his colonies: Canada, Seychelles, Cameroon.
He remembers the pain as they were lead away by England after one treaty and another.
He remembers feeling joy during World War I, even during a time when smoke and gunfire filled the air.
For he remembers sees them for the first time in a century.
~Lest We Forget~
Germany Remembers.
He remembers Dunkirk, Dresden and D-Day.
He remembers how blinded he was by the enticing words of a careful speaker.
He remembers how he foolishly forgot; all things good come at a price and how he foolishly never questioning orders or what would be done after them.
He remembers after the war; after seeing what he had done.
He remembers how he dropped to his knee and cried. Cried because he was sorry and because he knew that nothing can ever repair what he has done.
He remembers how everyone looked at him with pity; even Italy.
He remembers everyone forgetting over time; although he will never forget losing himself.
~Lest We Forget~
Sorry! I'm Canadian so if I got anything wrong on any of the nations please forgive me. Tell me so I can take it out or correct it.
I know France and Germany don't celebrate Remembrance Day but they celebrate similar days at around the same time.
Explanations
England: When I mean directly and indirectly I mean colonies. If he was fighting with France he would be fighting, by extension, with the rest of the French empire. In my head canon: when a nation dies, its people would lose the will to fight, to work to improve the wellbeing of the nation. Therefore it is better if a nation is not killed.
Canada: His story about Newfoundland was that at the Somme, the Newfoundland Regiment (as Newfoundland was its own dominion at the time) was almost completely annihilated. (aka Newfie died, again headcanon) Usually a nation will reappear after it is killed; time depending on the wellbeing of the economy, military ect. But Newfoundland didn't reappear after the war. Newfoundland's economy was pretty bad compared to Canada in the 1920s and eventually they joined Confederation to help recover. Canada's story about Dieppe (near the beginning of WWII); a complete and total disaster that put a black mark onto our decent military record (well it is the only time I remember actually studying a failure that was not Britain's fault so... Canadian bias aside) 5/6 soldiers were Canadian and we suffered 60% casualties after only a few hours.
Australia: Australians are known for their ability to make the best of any situation no matter how dire and of not saluting to British officers. There were reports of soldiers playing cricket. I think England was planning to let go of its dominions all along after the America incident. In fact England kinda forced his empire to break up since he could not support them with such a large debt. Gallipoli was a campaign during WWI which the Australians are pretty proud of (celebrate it as their national holiday) even though it ended in a defeat. (Can anyone can explain this to me? I've been pondering this for some time)
France: This one is pretty much self explanatory. France felt like it was his own fault because he couldn't see the warning signs and that he had placed such hard reparations on Germany in the first place. The First French Empire was basically decimated by England one war after another (Seychelles and Canada were handed over after the 7 years war. Cameroon was in the 2nd empire and divided between France and England). WWI was the first time the British Empire called on its colonies to provide troops (other than Boer and that one was kinda overshadowed by what came next).
Germany: Also pretty much self explanatory. German people didn't know what was being done to the people rounded up and most were horrified at the actions of a government they had revered for building up a broken nation. The german people have never really recovered their patriotism after world war two (well a little in the world and euro cups)