Ahead of the Armistice Centenary, Britain’s Guardian newspaper carried a reminder that the year 1918 has a different meaning for the peoples of eastern Europe.
The ceasefire agreed in Compiègne on November 11 ended the First World War between Germany and the Allies, halting the fighting on the Western Front.
But Guardian columnist Natalie Nougayrède notes: ‘In the east of Europe, the crumbling of empires, the Russian revolution, civil war and the struggle to establish the borders of newly-established states all meant that armed violence continued, leaving deep scars.’
With the collapse of the imperial order, Poland regained its sovereignty, and independence was also achieved by Czechoslavakia and the Baltic states.
Read the full article – from 6 November 2018 – in The Guardian.