Do you have an equivalent to ANZAC Day? What are some holidays in your country?

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1. We have September 5th, the flagday for the Deployed of Denmark… uh… in Danish we call it _flagdag for Danmarks udsendte_. It is _not_ a holiday.

   It became a thing in 2009, and is usually marked with a military parade at Christiansborg and a wreath-laying by the memorial at the Citadel of Copenhagen. The day is meant to honour those who have been deployed abroad in military service.

   The date bears no significance, it was chosen deliberately to be a date with no major historical connotations. Though it is the anniversary of the beginning of a major pogrom and antisemitic riot in Copenhagen in 1819, lasting into January 1820.

   It isn’t really a thing that many Danes care about; I think the only people who do, might be those who recently lost someone deployed, or people who are of certain political persuasions, particularly liberals and conservatives, who were the ones most ardently pushing for the day to be established. But it isn’t a popular day, _at all_.

   On a personal note, a funny coincidence is how, in my family, we’re all very opposed to militarism. None of us are particularly happy with the armed forces, and so on and so on. And the person who is the most vocal about their opposition, and who spend large parts of their time as a conscript being in conflict with his officers, is my step-dad; his birthday is on September 5th.

2. In Finland we have “Kaatuneitten muistopäivä” literally “Commemoration Day of Fallen Soldiers. It’s the third sunday of May.

3. There’s dodenherdenking ( dead remembrance) (may 4th) where we remember every civilian and soldier that has died in war situations since the outbreak of ww2.

   And there’s veteranendag ( veteransday , last saturday of july )

4. Not as far as I know. Hardly surprising. The closest might be the *Gustavus Adolphus Day*, but it’s not a holiday, and it’s just for one person, not all who served. In fact, it’s for the person that made them serve. It’s a “theme day”. One of many (today is national park day for example), so there might be something like ANZAC day too, but I wouldn’t know. Either way, it’s hardly observed at all, except pastry shops suddenly have special, non-standardized, Gustavus Adolphus cakes. Besides Good Friday, it’s the only day dedicated to someone’s death that I can think of.

5. Tomorrow, 25 April is Liberation Day, commemorating the liberation of Italy from Nazi-fascism, the end of the Nazi occupation, and the final fall of the fascist regime.

   It is a fundamental day in the history of Italy. A symbol of the Resistance, i.e. the struggle waged by the partisans, since 8 September 1943 (the day on which the Italians learned of the Cassibile Armistice, just signed with the Allies), it has taken on a properly political and military significance.

6. We have 27th april, its a national holiday celebrating the resistance against nazi occupation during second world war. Workfree day.

   Then there is 15th may which is the official day of slovenian army, but I don’t think many people know about it or celebrate it. Our soldiers tend to be a bit neglected, since we are a small country surrounded by friends.

   Don’t know if there is anything else.. Military is not a big deal here.

7. Britain has Remembrance Sunday, the Sunday following November 11th. Not a public holiday or anything, but generally a fairly big deal. A typical event is a special church service followed by a parade and ceremony at the local war memorial.

   Traditionally people wear paper poppies which are a fundraiser for the Royal British Legion, the main veteran charity. Usually on Reddit there’s a lot of handwringing around perceived social pressure to wear one, but the idea that one would face consequences for not doing so is fairly laughable. We generally accept that the right to *not* wear one or think it’s a waste of time is part of the freedoms that the World Wars were kind of all about. That being said most major politicians or TV presenters will wear it anyway, probably as a slightly cynical move to head off any criticism of them.

   I think it’s lost its lustre a little. When I was a child (20 years ago, not in the distant past) it was a dour and faintly horrifying day made tangible by the fact there were a substantial amount of WW2 veterans around. School assemblies in that week were full of either ‘horrors of war’ stuff or an explanation of why the wars happened and what they fought for etc. On the 11th itself there was a minute’s silence at 11am which used to be observed by basically everyone – bus drivers used to pull over for it etc. I think schools and major workplaces still do it, but it’s less prominent in wider society now.

   One change is that you get Remembrance commemorations at football matches now. Traditionally a very apolitical space, but perhaps an interesting example of the role football grounds play as basically the only mass participation events left in an increasingly irreligious British society.

8. *Volkstrauertag* (national mourning day) two weeks before First Sunday of Advent. It commemorates all victims of war from all nations.

   The other important day in that regard is *Tag der deutschen Einheit* (day of German unity) celebrating the reunification of East and West Germany. It can be interpreted as a national day even though it is very intentionally not phrased as such because of Nazi history.

   The day of the liberation of Auschwitz, January 27th, is not an official holiday but it is observed by most high-ranking politicians and thus gets a lot of media attention every year.

9. the main is on 15th Aug during the Army Day, but there’s also smaller ones like start of ww2