Parade controversy

http://und-athens.com/journal/silly-...z9U7KwHfcVws7M

tldr: a couple of young actresses pretended to be college pupils, in order to participate in the military-style parade for the celebration about the beginning of WWII. When they reached the VIP stand, they started to make weird noises and walk in a bizarre fashion, instead of the usual goose manner. In their manifesto, they explained that the point of their performance was to criticize the inherent militarism of school parades, which violates modern humanitarian values.

Nationalists had a heart attack and resorted to a remarkable variety of threats and swearing, but even moderate conservatives condemned them for ridiculing those honoured in the parade. In my opinion though, their intervention aimed at how the celebration occur and was not a jab at the victims of WWII. I believe it's a valid criticism against an obsolete tradition with fascist roots. That being said, the alleged connection of Monty Python's Ministry of Silly Walking with shell-shock seems completely bogus, unless I'm missing something. It was not a contemporary issue and probably the only inspiration of the sketch was the comedians' imaginative sense of humour.

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Originally Posted by Crandar

tldr: a couple of young actresses pretended to be college pupils, in order to participate in the military-style parade for the celebration about the beginning of WWII. When they reached the VIP stand, they started to make weird noises and walk in a bizarre fashion, instead of the usual goose manner. In their manifesto, they explained that the point of their performance was to criticize the inherent militarism of school parades, which violates modern humanitarian values.

Nationalists had a heart attack and resorted to a remarkable variety of threats and swearing, but even moderate conservatives condemned them for ridiculing those honoured in the parade. In my opinion though, their intervention aimed at how the celebration occur and was not a jab at the victims of WWII. I believe it's a valid criticism against an obsolete tradition with fascist roots. That being said, the alleged connection of Monty Python's Ministry of Silly Walking with shell-shock seems completely bogus, unless I'm missing something. It was not a contemporary issue and probably the only inspiration of the sketch was the comedians' imaginative sense of humour.

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Does Greece CELEBRATE such tragic events as the beginning of a war?

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Originally Posted by Gilrandir

Does Greece CELEBRATE such tragic events as the beginning of a war?

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It is more that they celebrate their defiance to an aggressor than the start of the conflict per se. Ohi Day. They subsequently did very well in opposing Italian aggression.

Texans still celebrate and revere the Alamo for the defiant bravery of those defenders, even though any rational reading of the episode suggests that holding the mission was sorta pointless and did not truly alter the campaign, except possibly to further increase the morale of Houston's force -- and even that is arguable. Alamo story revisited. The Greeks are not the only ones to hold such a sentiment.

So I would venture to say it is more about asserting patriotism and defiance in the face of an aggressor than to celebrate the opening of a bloody conflict. Between the Italians, the Germans, the Resistance to occupation, and the follow on civil war (first proxy war of the Cold War really), the next decade was pretty rough on Greeks.

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Originally Posted by Gilrandir

Does Greece CELEBRATE such tragic events as the beginning of a war?

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According to the article; no, its a memorial day.

WWII is an exception, because of the controversies surrounding the liberation in 1944. The latter was mostly achieved by Communist partisans entering the city, while in December, the British, together with the exiled government, right-wing guerillas and, most importantly, pro-German collaborators launched a brutal conflict that led to open civil war. Given these controversies and the fact that communists were imprisoned/expelled/executed for the next 30 years, the beginning of the war was chosen as a less inflammatory option.

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Originally Posted by Crandar

WWII is an exception, because of the controversies surrounding the liberation in 1944. The latter was mostly achieved by Communist partisans entering the city, while in December, the British, together with the exiled government, right-wing guerillas and, most importantly, pro-German collaborators launched a brutal conflict that led to open civil war. Given these controversies and the fact that communists were imprisoned/expelled/executed for the next 30 years, the beginning of the war was chosen as a less inflammatory option.

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So the choice of the word was wrong. It should be "to commemorate", not "to celebrate". Otherwise you will next be celebrating the start of holocaust.

It's the same word in Greek, so probably made a mistake. Seamus' article also uses the two words interchangeably, by the way. Perhaps the confusion comes from the fact that it serves as both a commemoration for the victims and tragedies of the occupation, as well as a celebration for the defeat of the Italians, the eventual end of the conflict and the annexation of the Dodecanese.