With less than two months to go before the First World War Centenary commemorations get under way in earnest, Centenary News has compiled a reminder of national and international events taking place in the summer of 2014 to mark the 100th anniversary of the outbreak of war, starting in the Bosnian capital, Sarajevo:
June 19-21
Bosnia: Scholars from 28 countries attend a major conference at the University of Sarajevo. The Position of the First World War in the History of Europe will reconsider the political aspects of the conflict, including relations between the Great Powers on the eve of war.
June 26
Belgium: EU leaders start their twice-yearly summit in Ypres, with a ceremony at the Menin Gate to mark the Centenary.
June 28
Bosnia: The Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra performs at Sarajevo City Hall on the 100th anniversary of the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The death of the heir to the Austro-Hungarian Empire triggered the events leading to the First World War. The programme features works by Haydn, Schubert, Brahms, Berg and Ravel.
July 14
France: All the countries involved in the First World War have been invited to take part in France’s annual Bastille Day parade on the Champs Elysées in Paris. President François Hollande says the traditional military display will be accompanied by a mass demonstration for peace. Seventy two countries have been asked to take part.
British cavalry at the victory celebrations on the Champs Elysées, Bastille Day 1919 ©IWM (Q 69459)
July 19
UK: The Imperial War Museum in London reopens after major renovations, including the construction of new First World War Galleries for the Centenary.
August 3
France: Germany’s President, Joachim Gauck, will join President Hollande in Alsace to mark the 100th anniversary of the declaration of war. The ceremony takes place at the Hartmannswillerkopf memorial in the Vosges Mountains. Almost 30,000 soldiers from both sides died in a series of battles for control of strategic ground overlooking the Rhine Valley.
August 4
Belgium: The city of Liège will host an international commemoration service at the Mémorial Interalliés. More than 50 leaders have been invited to join King Philippe and the Belgian federal government in marking the 100th anniversary of the German invasion of Belgium on 4th August 1914. Germany will be represented by President Joachim Gauck; Prince William and Catherine Duchess of Cambridge will represent the UK. 
Memorial to the defenders of Fort de Loncin, Liège
Prince William and Catherine will then travel to St. Symphorien Military Cemetery near Mons, where both British and German soldiers are buried, for a UK commemorative event at which Germany will also be represented. Prince Harry will join them there. Mons City Council will screen the event live to the public in the main square of Mons, the Grand Place.
UK: Queen Elizabeth will be present at a service of commemoration at Crathie Parish Church, near Balmoral Castle in Scotland.
Prince Charles will take part in a national service of commemoration for the Commonwealth in Glasgow, followed by a wreath laying in George Square. The city is hosting the Commonwealth Games, which close on the eve of the Centenary. The cathedral service will be screened live in George Square.
Prince Harry will attend the “Step Short” commemorative event in Folkestone. The Channel port was a major departure point for British troops leaving for the Western Front. The Prince will then join his brother, Prince William, in Belgium for the ceremony at St. Symphorien.
The Duke of Edinburgh is to attend a service of commemoration at Sandringham Church on the royal estate in Norfolk.
Camilla Duchess of Cornwall will attend a prayer vigil at Westminster Abbey in London. The last candle will be extinguished at 11pm, marking the moment when war was declared on Germany.
Anglican churches around the UK, together with other faith groups, will participate in remembrance with their own events.
The people of England, Wales, Scotland are being invited to join the “collective moment of reflection” by turning off their lights from 10pm.
New Zealand: Commemorations will be held in the capital, Wellington, and other main centres to mark the outbreak of war.
August 5
The moat of the Tower of London will be filled with 800,000 ceramic poppies for a commemorative art installation called ‘Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red’. The poppies are going to be displayed until Armistice Day 2014, and will be available to buy in aid of service charities.
August 10-13
UK/France: The Western Front Association commemorates the deployment of the British Expeditionary Force in August 1914.
A series of events, involving motorbikes, a horse-drawn wagon, vehicles and aircraft, will take place over three days to remember the first units transported to France.
The commemorative journeys start from the Poppy Factory in Richmond, Surrey, and Netheravon airfield in Wiltshire. They culminate on August 13 with a service of remembrance at the Faubourg d’Amiens Cemetery in Arras, France.
August 15
Belgium: A statue of the former French leader, Charles de Gaulle, will be unveiled in the fortress town of Dinant (below). As a young officer in the French army, de Gaulle was wounded while fighting the Germans in Dinant on 15th August 1914. There will also be an exhibition dedicated to him.
August 16-September 6
Belgian ‘Martyr Cities’: Commemorations will take place in Aarschot (August 16), Dinant (August 23), Leuven (August 24/25) and Dendermonde (September 5/6) to remember civilians massacred by the invading German Army in August 1914. The events in Leuven include a performance of Mozart’s Requiem in Monseigneur Ladeuze Square. A light show on the facade of the historic University library, rebuilt after the Germans burnt it down in 1914, will send a message of peace
August 23 & 24
Belgium: The city of Mons will mark the Centenary of the Battle of Mons, the first clash between the British and German armies in 1914. A re-enactment society will demonstrate how soldiers lived in the Great War, accompanied by the music of Scottish bagpipers.
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission will also be holding an open day at St. Symphorien Military Cemetery (August 23rd) and there will be a sound and light show in the Grand Place, Mons.
August 29
New Zealand: The 100th anniversary of New Zealand’s capture of German-controlled Samoa in the Pacific will be marked with ceremonies in Auckland and Samoa.
September 12
France: Commemorations take place in Reims to honour the dead of the Battle of the Marne 100 years ago. The attack by French and British forces in September 1914 halted the German advance towards Paris.
Britain and Germany will participate in the commemorations, together with Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia whose soldiers fought in the French colonial army.
Sources: Buckingham Palace, Belgian Tourist Office -Brussels & Wallonia, Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Elysée Palace, European Union, Imperial War Museum, New Zealand Government, Province de Liège, Travel France, UK Government, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, University of Sarajevo, Western Front Association
Images courtesy of Imperial War Museum (Archduke Franz Ferdinand, Bastille Day parade 1919); Belgian Tourist Office – Brussels & Wallonia J-P Remy (Nimy railway bridge); and Peter Alhadeff, Centenary News (Fort de Loncin, Dinant Fort)
Posted by: Peter Alhadeff, Centenary News