Is It Worth Celebrating VE Day Anymore?
With war in Europe even here in Week 19 of 2025, are we able to celebrate past victories? And what has Ancient Rome got to do with it?
To see how Sam Pepys spent this week 364 years ago, follow this link.
The question in this title arose at the end of an encouraging meeting about establishing a youth council for our village. Just before leaving, I asked, “Will you be at the VE Day celebrations this Sunday?”
“I’m not sure there’s any point anymore,” my contact replied. “With the state of the world right now, can we really say we won peace in Europe? All these years of ‘lest we forget’ hasn’t seemed to change anything!”
This response jolted me a bit. Here was someone who’d just been speaking with me about the potential of the next generation, and they were being surprisingly pessimistic. It was like a surgeon moonlighting as an undertaker.
I was instantly thrown back to the Kingdom 1000 project I’d been part of in 2020, which was born out of my discovery that King Canute established Article 7 of the United Nations’ Declaration of Human Rights over nine centuries early (and almost two centuries before Magna Carta, which usually gets the credit).
That Article states, “All are equal before the law, and entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law.” Canute’s version read, “impartial justice may be enjoyed by all, noble and common”.
Yet, though the Declaration is described as “Universal”, many would say we’re not there yet. Even now in the UK, recent cuts to legal aid make it tough for impoverished groups to access the protection of representation.
In the Kingdom 1000 web series, I argued that it’s important to recognise we still have a long way to go, but it’s equally important to celebrate how far we’ve come. This reminds us that success is possible, giving us the drive to push for a better future.
I made a similar point to the pessimist now before me. She muttered in agreement, but didn’t look convinced.
“…they were being surprisingly pessimistic. It was like a surgeon moonlighting as an undertaker.”
I get why. When you’re walking through darkness, it’s easy to forget how things look in the light. I’d felt this with Mummy Rose just a week earlier, with the crushing outcome to her leg op saga.
What’s the point of celebrating a victory if, not long later, all your hard work gets undone?
We felt it in the Brampton Flood Group too. We tried to capitalise on my recent media attention by releasing an opening letter, calling out our local Councils for falsely claiming they provided welfare checks, insisting National Highways take responsibility for the work they’ve done which increased our village’s flood risk, and nudging others like the Environment Agency to pitch in with solutions.
It was supposed to be printed in the local rag. But instead, the newspaper published only their report on the letter – and online only rather than in print.
Following the ‘victory’ of capturing media interest, this felt like we’d shot in the dirt.
I tried to focus on work – at least that was fun this week. I recorded some training footage for BookTrust, explored possible road developments during a Parish Council planning meet (well, I found that fun…), and took some Roman myths to a school in Birmingham.
The school had booked me for VE Day itself, on Thursday, so all the children were dressed in red, white, or blue. I began by letting them know some 7% of Brits are said to have Roman DNA, and asked who liked the idea of having some Roman heritage. Almost everyone raised their hand, citing reasons like “They’re cool!” and “They were powerful!”
“…history’s most extensive example of flagrant plagiarism.”
I proceeded to tell the Romans’ own origin myths, where they flee the defeated Troy, push out indigenous peoples to found Rome and (allegedly) Britain, then clearly forget about each other because it’s not long before Julius Caesar feels the need to attack Britain.
I ended with a summary of how Julius was killed for his corruption, and highlighted that, according to their own myths, Romans were losers and bullies who forgot their friends.
“Now who likes the idea of being descended from Romans?”
The children suddenly weren’t so sure.
I changed tack then, reminding them of some important advances the Romans made to roads, sewerage systems, farming, etc. And of course, I mentioned their love of good stories.
I finished with the tale of Hercules arriving at the court of King Admetus, where Herc behaves like a typical Roman – he ignores the misery of his royal friend, preferring to boast about his incredible deeds.
When he’s eventually told that Admetus is mourning the loss of his wife Alcestis, Herc nips out to find the king a new wife. Upon returning with a veiled bride, he proceeds to bully Admetus into accepting this gift.
The twist? Hercules has realised the error of his ways, and so risked his own life by retrieving Alcestis herself from the Underworld. His gift to Admetus is both an apology and the original queen.
The further twist? This is not a Roman story – it’s Greek. The Romans absorbed the Greek gods and legends into their culture and only really changed the names, in history’s most extensive example of flagrant plagiarism.
Why? Most likely because the Romans could identify with characters like Hercules – his failings and yearnings as well as his might. And maybe, just maybe, he inspired them to be better people.
“VE Day isn’t just about trying to use past successes to generate optimism in the face of present international tensions.”
For the school, I was highlighting how the Romans recognised their flaws, and celebrated whenever they overcame them. Yes, they were occasionally led by civilisation-slaughtering tyrants (most of whom were murdered for being that way) – but they also left many civilisations in a far better position than they found them. Some individual Romans behaved detestably, but Rome as a whole was an empire of eclectic individuals all trying to do their best.
Driving away, I considered: that’s why we should keep celebrating VE Day, too. It’s not just a reminder that we’ve overcome darkness before. It connects us with figures from history who can inspire us to be better people – better civilisations – today.
And it’s working. Since VE Day, we’ve had zero outright wars between developed states, and the percentage of the world population killed in wars has dropped from 0.3% to less than 0.001%.
But perhaps more importantly, the stories of those 0.001% are seen by everyone in the world – and hundreds of thousands of individuals worldwide volunteer or donate to ease the suffering wherever possible.
At our own VE Day celebrations in Brampton this weekend, a trio of young women entertained children and seniors alike with classic songs from the ‘40s.
And as Ermma and I returned home, we impulsively popped into St Mary’s Church to find a group of schoolchildren entertaining elderly parishioners with music and songs from Bach to the present day.
VE Day isn’t just about trying to use past successes to generate optimism in the face of present international tensions. It’s about celebrating the connections we have with each other now, which ultimately improves our ability to repress or overcome those tensions.
And come the end of the week, our open letter and media attention did result in long-sought replies from both our local county council and National Highways. Yet more proof of the power of connection… $;-)
In return for me sharing these words with you, please pay just one word of yours. How would you sum up your response to this post in just one word?
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Let’s share tales again soon. In the meantime, ciao for niao…
$;-)
In return for me sharing these words with you, please pay just one word of yours. How would you sum up your response to this post in just one word?
Mine is "thankful".