Editing Remembrance Sunday (section)

==History==
The focus of remembrance for the dead of the [[First World War]] originally fell on Armistice Day itself, commencing in 1919. As well as the National Service in London, events were staged at town and village war memorials, often featuring processions of civic dignitaries and veterans.<ref>{{cite book |last=Cecil |first=Hugh |date=1998 |title=At the Eleventh Hour |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Y-CXAwAAQBAJ |publisher=Pen & Sword Books Ltd |page=354 |isbn=978-0850526448 }}</ref>

The first UK commemoration of the end of the First World War took place at [[Buckingham Palace]], with King [[George V]] hosting a "Banquet in Honour of The President of the French Republic" in the evening of 10 November 1919. The first official Armistice Day events were subsequently held in the grounds of the Palace on the morning of 11 November 1919,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/armistice-day-remembrance-day-and-veterans-day-whats-the-difference-a6730081.html|title=Armistice Day, Remembrance Day and Veterans Day – what's the difference?|first=Samuel|last=Osborne|date=11 November 2015|access-date=20 November 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181118032603/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/armistice-day-remembrance-day-and-veterans-day-whats-the-difference-a6730081.html|archive-date=18 November 2018 |url-status=live |newspaper=The Independent}}</ref> which included a [[two-minute silence]] at 11am as a mark of respect for those who died in the war and those left behind.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2014/7-november/features/features/the-great-silence-begins|title=The great silence begins|first=Peter|last=Street|date=7 November 2014|access-date=20 November 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181117033727/https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2014/7-november/features/features/the-great-silence-begins|archive-date=17 November 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref> While the initial, spontaneous public reaction when the Armistice was signed on 11 November 1918 was jubilation and celebration, the 1919 banquet was criticised for being too celebratory.

The following year, Armistice Day in 1920, the funeral of the Unknown Soldier took place at the [[The Cenotaph|London Cenotaph]] and a two-minute silence was observed throughout the nation.<ref name="Whaley2011">{{cite book |last1=Cannadine |first1=David |editor1-last=Whaley |editor1-first=Joachim |title=Mirrors of Mortality: Social Studies in the History of Death |date=2011 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |location=Abingdon, UK |isbn=978-0-415-61860-1 |page=223 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MIdg50vcxZEC&dq=Armistice+Day+in+1920+funeral+of+the+Unknown+Soldier++London+Cenotaph+and+a+two-minute+silence&pg=PA223 |chapter=VIII. War and Death, Grief and Mourning in Modern Britain}}</ref> Buses halted, electricity was cut to tram lines, and even trading on the [[London Stock Exchange]] halted.

Starting in 1921, the [[Royal British Legion]] began selling [[Remembrance poppy|Remembrance poppies]] to raise funds for ex-servicemen. Throughout the 1920s and 1930s, the character of the remembrance events became politicised. While for some, Armistice Day was a day for recognising the horrors of war, never to be repeated; for others the day symbolised the honour of military service.

A Christian Pacifist MP was elected to parliament in 1923. In the mid-1930s the [[Peace Pledge Union]] gained wide support. Pacifism gained great publicity from a 1933 student debate in the [[Oxford Union|Oxford University Union]] that voted for a resolution that "[[The King and Country debate|this House will in no circumstances fight for King and Country]]". The first [[white poppies]] were sold by the [[Co-operative Women's Guild]] in 1933.

During the [[Second World War]], the commemorations were moved to the Sunday preceding 11 November as an emergency measure to avoid disruption of the production of vital war materials.

In May 1945, just before [[VE Day]], the new government began consultation with the churches and the British Legion on the future of remembrance. Armistice Day in 1945 fell on a Sunday, preventing the need to change wartime practices. Some thought that continuing with 11 November would focus more on the First World War and downplay the importance of the Second. Other dates suggested were 8 May (VE Day), 6 June ([[D-Day]]), 15 August ([[VJ Day]]), 3 September (the declaration of war), and even 15 June (the signing of [[Magna Carta]] in 1215). The [[Archbishop of Westminster]] proposed that the second Sunday in November should be named Remembrance Sunday in commemoration of both World Wars, a suggestion which was endorsed by the [[Home Office]] in January 1946.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Newall |first1=Venetia |title=Armistice Day: Folk Tradition in an English Festival of Remembrance |journal=Folklore |date=1976 |volume=87 |issue=2 |page=229|doi=10.1080/0015587X.1976.9716041 }}</ref> In June of that year, the prime minister, [[Clement Attlee]], announced in the [[House of Commons (United Kingdom)|House of Commons]] that "the Government felt that this view would commend itself to all quarters of the country. I am glad to say that it has now found general acceptance here and has been approved by [[George VI|The King]]."<ref>Cecil 1998, pp. 357-358</ref>