Editing Tomb of the Unknown Soldier (section)

== History ==

A shrine in [[Jinju]], [[South Korea|Korea]], which commemorated those who died in defense of Korea during the [[Japanese invasions of Korea (1592–1598)|Imjin War]] in 1592, has been described as the first Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. It is, however, more inclusive, in that it is a memorial to all who died in defense of the city against the forces of [[Toyotomi Hideyoshi]], civilian as well as soldier.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Craig |first=J. Marshall |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1151661653 |title=China, Korea, and Japan at war, 1592–1598 : eyewitness accounts |date=2020 |isbn=978-0-429-46910-7 |location=Abingdon, Oxon |pages=173 |oclc=1151661653}}</ref> Beginning in 1593, when the Ministry of Rites received permission to perform a sacrifice for all who died in the battle, not only the identifiable bodies, the state offered sacrifices for the dead twice a year in spring and autumn until 1908, when the practice was ended by royal edict.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Haboush |first=JaHyun Kim |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/944243650 |title=The great East Asian war and the birth of the Korean nation |date=2016 |others=William Joseph Haboush, Jisoo M. Kim |isbn=978-0-231-54098-8 |location=New York |pages=137–138 |oclc=944243650}}</ref>

The first known monument of an unknown soldier in Europe is the {{Lang|da|Landsoldaten}} ({{Gloss|Valiant Soldier Square}}) created in 1849 to commemorate the [[First Schleswig War]], in [[Fredericia]], [[Denmark]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Valiant Private Soldier {{!}} Fredericia Museum |url=https://www.fredericiahistorie.dk/side/the-valiant-private-soldier |access-date=2021-05-11 |website=www.fredericiahistorie.dk}}</ref>

=== France and the United Kingdom ===
During the First World War, the British and French armies who were allies during the war jointly decided to bury soldiers themselves. In the UK, under the Imperial War Graves Commission (now [[Commonwealth War Graves Commission]]), the Reverend [[David Railton]] had seen a grave marked by a rough cross while serving in the [[British Army]] as a [[Military chaplain|chaplain]] on the [[Western Front (World War I)|Western Front]], which bore the pencil-written legend "An Unknown British Soldier".<ref name="Memorial">Henry Allingham, Dennis Goodwin (2011). ''Kitchener's Last Volunteer: The Life of Henry Allingham, the Oldest Surviving Veteran of the Great War''. p. 132. Random House, 1976</ref>

He suggested (together with the French in their own country) the creation at a national level of a symbolic funeral and burial of an "Unknown Warrior", proposing that the grave should in the UK include a national monument in the form of what is usually, but not in this particular case, a headstone. The idea received the support of the [[Dean of Westminster]], Prime Minister [[David Lloyd George]], and later from King [[George V of the United Kingdom|George V]], responding to a wave of public support.<ref name="Memorial" /> At the same time, a similar concern grew in France. In November 1916, a local officer of [[Le Souvenir français]] proposed the idea of burying "an unknown soldier" in the [[Panthéon]]. A formal bill was presented in Parliament in November 1918. The decision was voted into law in September 1919.<ref>{{in lang|fr}} Jean-Yves Le Naour, ''Le soldat inconnu : la guerre, la mort, la mémoire'', Gallimard, 2008, p. 20</ref>

The United Kingdom and France conducted services connected with their 'monumental' graves (as presumably newly conceived, and in any case approved, by their respective armies) on [[Armistice Day]] 1920 (the burial itself taking place later in January of the following year in France). In the UK, the [[Tomb of the Unknown Warrior]] was created at [[Westminster Abbey]], while in France ''[[Tomb of the Unknown Soldier (France)|La tombe du soldat inconnu]]'' was placed in the [[Arc de Triomphe]].

=== Other countries ===
The idea of a symbolic Tomb of the Unknown Soldier then spread to other countries. In 1921, the [[United States]] unveiled its own [[Tomb of the Unknown Soldier (Arlington National Cemetery)|Tomb of the Unknown Soldier]], Portugal its [[Tomb of the Unknown Soldier (Portugal)|Túmulo do Soldado Desconhecido]], and Italy its ''[[Tomb of the Unknown Soldier (Italy)|Tomba del Milite Ignoto]]''. Other nations have followed the practice and created their own tombs.

In Chile and Ukraine, the second 'unknown tombs' were unveiled to commemorate ''The Unknown Sailor''.

In Serbia, soldiers of World War I are commemorated by the [[Monument to the Unknown Hero]] on the mountain of [[Avala]].

In the Philippines, the ''Tomb of the Unknown Soldier'' at the ''[[Libingan ng mga Bayani]]'' ("Cemetery of the Heroes") is the cemetery's most prominent structure.