World War One Centenary: Britain Remembers

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A service in Liege marks 100 years since the German invasion of Belgium, and the solemn tributes continue at a cemetery in Mons.

2:35pm UK, Monday 04 August 2014

Video: Britain and Europe honours the dead of The Great War

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The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are met in Liege, Belgium, by King Filip and Queen Mathilde of Belgium, for a service marking the German invasion of Belgium in 1914 and Britain's entry into the conflict
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Queen Mathilde and King Philippe-Filip With Spain's King Filipe VI
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The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge talk to French president Francois Hollande
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Queen Mathilde and King Philippe-Filip with Grand-Duke Prince Guillaume, of Luxembourg
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Kate with Mr Hollande
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The ceremony gets under way in Liege
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Prince William gives a speech during the ceremony
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Across the Channel in Folkstone, Kent, Prince Harry officially opens a Memorial Arch in dedication to the veterans of the Great War
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The Prince of Wales lays a wreath at a ceremony in George Square, Glasgow
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British Prime Minister David Cameron attends a remembrance service at Glasgow Cathedral
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Ceramic poppies are displayed in the moat of the Tower of London as part of the capital's commemorations
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Prince and Princess Michael of Kent with a group of Chelsea Pensioners before the start of a drive through London by 100 Edwardian cars
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Two of the pensioners admire some of the cars due to take part in the drive through
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Prince Michael at the wheel of one of the cars as it leaves Kensington Palace
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Another of the cars leaving the forecourt in front of the palace
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One of the 100 cars driving past the Cenotaph on Whitehall
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The cars drive in a line as the make their way through the centre of London
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Ex servicemen parade through Glasgow as part of the commemoration
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Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond prepares to leave a wreath of remembrance
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Leader of the opposition Ed Miliband and deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg leave wreaths at Glasgow's war memorial
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Prince Charles and David Cameron chat after the service in Glasgow
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Ireland's President Michael Higgins and his wife Sabina Higgins meet the King and Queen of Belgium in preparation for the ceremony in Liege
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Servicemen and ex servicemen hold a candle during the service to remember those who lost their lives at Glasgow cathedral
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Ex service men from Belgium hold standards at their ceremony in Liege
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Prince Charles during the service at Glasgow Cathedral
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The King of Belgium Philippe-Filip lays a wreath in Liege
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Prince Charles walk down the aisle of Glasgow Cathedral with others in the congregation
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Folkestone held a minute's silence in memory of the 10 million armed service personnel who went through the town on the way to the front
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Prince Harry saluted and laid a wreath during and after the silence
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Ex servicemen lower their banners while the silence was taking place
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The silence began after the pipers played the last post
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Gallery: World Remembers Start Of WWI

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Prince Harry has attended a WW1 memorial service at Folkestone. Around ten million men passed through the town on their way to fight on the Western Front.
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Prime Minister David Cameron says it is right to commemorate the Great War because it "had a massive impact on every community, every family in our country".
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- Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophia leaving Sarajevo's city hall to get into their car on June 28, 1914. Moments later, they were assassinated by a 19-year-old Bosnian Serb nationalist. This was a critical moment in the chain of events that led to the start of the First World War
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- Kaiser Wilhelm II ruled the German Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia. He was the eldest grandson of Britain's Queen Victoria and first cousin of King George V. After setting Germany on a path to war, he eventually lost the support of the army, stepped down in 1918 and ran to exile in the Netherlands where he died in 1941
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- Britain's King George V took the throne in 1910. During the war, to calm a rise in anti-German sentiment, he changed the royal name from the house of Saxe-Coburg to the house of Windsor
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- Herbert Henry Asquith became British Prime Minister in 1908 and he led the nation to war. Renowned as a strong peacetime leader, he proved a weak head of state during the war and was replaced in 1916 by David Lloyd George
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- British statesman and soldier Horatio Herbert Kitchener (1850 - 1916) was Secretary Of State For War. He was a veteran military man who knew the war would be long and bloody and he understood Britain only stood a chance of success if the country boosted its small army
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- Kitchener set out on a massive poster campaign appealing for new recruits. But he was never to see the end of the war ... he died in June 1916, aged 65
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- In 1914, Winston Churchill was First Lord of the Admiralty. He resigned from government after taking much of the blame for the Gallipoli disaster and feeling frustrated at not being able to work more. From there, he served on the Western Front. He eventually returned to politics and became Secretary of State For War in 1919
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- Churchill, showing his prowess on the polo field in 1914
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- Paul von Hindenburg was a Prussian politician and military man who came out of retirement to lead German forces in WWI. He headed-up one of the Empire's most significant victories, the Battle of Tannenberg, early in the war. His brutal attack on Verdun was said to be designed to "bleed France white"
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- While the rest of the world went into battle, US President Woodrow Wilson was determined to stay out of it, firmly insisting it had all been caused by European corruption. But several major naval incidents, including the sinking of the Lusitania, eventually forced his hand. The turning point came in 1917 when he discovered Germany had offered to help Mexico win back three US states. Several more US ships were sunk and Teddy Roosevelt famously said: "If he does not go to war I shall skin him alive." America joined the war in March 1917
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- As Britain worried about the prospect of war, Labour leader and founder Keir Hardie gave speeches telling people they had no quarrel with Germany. He was outraged by the prospect of war and attempted to spark a pan-European general strike to stop the war. Hardie was a major supporter of conscientious objectors
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- War was declared by Britain at 11pm on August 4, 1914. All day, people had gathered in the capital waiting for news - sometimes in silent crowds, sometimes rising into patriotic song
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- This is the tombstone of Private John Parr, the first British soldier to be killed in World War One. A golf caddy from north london, he had joined the Army to better his prospects in life. When he was killed, on August 21, 1914, he had been out on a bicycle just outside the Belgian town of Mons on the lookout for the enemy. He was spotted by a German patrol and shot. Pte Parr is buried at the military cemetery of St Symphorien near Mons
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The Duke of Cambridge speaks of the importance of reconciliation across Europe during a WWI remembrance ceremony at the Cointe Inter-allied Memorial, Liege, Belgium.
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The Royal family and political leaders have taken part in ceremonies to honour the dead of the First World War.
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