Britain, Germany and Belgium commemorate the Battle of Passchendaele
Britain and Belgium's royals, along with German top diplomat Sigmar Gabriel, have commemorated the centenary of the Battle of Passchendaele. Over half a million soldiers were killed in one of World War I's worst battles.
Royals, envoys and descendants commemorate the centenary of the Battle of Passchendaele
Top envoys for Britain, Germany and Belgium gathered in the Belgian town of Ypres to mark the centenary of the Battle of Passchendaele. Also known as the Third Battle of Ypres, it was one of the bloodiest battles of World War I, claiming the lives of at least 460,000 German and British-allied soldiers between July and December 1917.
King Philippe of Belgium and Britain's Prince William lead commemorations
The British and Belgian royal families led the memorial at the Tyne Cot Cemetery in western Belgium, the largest graveyard for British Commonwealth forces in the world. Prince Charles, William's father and next in line to the British throne, said the gathering was to honor the sacrifice of the hundreds of thousands who died and "to promise that we will never forget."
Gabriel remembers the slain and celebrates Europe's 'project of peace'
German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel warned: "Diplomacy must never again fail as it did in 1914, there must never again be war in the middle of Europe, and never again must the youth of our continent be slaughtered." Berlin's top diplomat celebrated Europe today as a 'project of peace' and remarked that never before had the continent gone through more than 70 years without war.
Months of fighting in the Belgian swamp
British commander Sir Douglas Haig launched a campaign to take the village of Passchendaele in 1917 as part of his strategy to attack German submarine operations on the Belgium coast. Four months and nearly half a million deaths later, British forces managed to take the village, but never did make it to the coast. The battle has come to be synonymous with the futility of war.
Half-a-million lives lost - for what?
Despite the horrific loss of life, it is widely believed that the Battle of Passchendaele had little impact on the outcome of the First World War. British Prime Minister Lloyd George wrote: "None of them attained the object for which they were fought. In each case it was obvious early in the struggle to every one who watched its course... that the goal would not be reached."