Does Europe Have a 4th of July?
July 4, 2008 by Jean Mercedes
Filed under Business
Johnny: Does Europe have a 4th of July?
Josh: No.
Johnny: Yes, it does. It comes right after the 3rd of July.
Ok, it’s an old joke, but it works to make a point.
Many countries have national days to mark a special occasion in that country’s history, but very few (France is an exception) celebrate as much as Americans celebrate the Fourth of July.
The old German national day was June 17th. It commemorated a day in 1953 when over 400,000 people protested against the socialist government of East Germany. At least 55 people were killed when Soviet troops squashed the uprising. (Refer to wiki.)This is not exactly the kind of event which makes you want to plan a party 40 years later to celebrate. So when the German national day got moved to October 3rd, the official day of reunification, I was hoping that more barbeque parties would be in my future. So far, no luck. I have never been invited to an “October 3rd Party” nor have I ever heard about one. It just doesn’t happen. No flags, no parties, just a few politicians formally recognizing the day somewhere. The closest you get to a national celebration is when the Germans win an important soccer game.
With this type of background, it’s no wonder that Germans (and other nationalities) do not comprehend the American Fourth of July, if they have even heard of it. The concept of celebrating a national day is completly foreign.
For a long list of National Days around the World, see Wiki.
How do you celebrate your country’s national day?
Image from mediacen.navy.mil
The Netherlands: Queensday April 30th. Celebrate the queens birthday (in this case, her mothers)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/22030678@N04/2455174088/
Crazy and amazing day :)
Because the question about a European 4th July is asked.
Its actually the 9th May. Of course you hardly can call it a national celebration day as the EU is no nation, but its the day of Europe. That day had been the day of the Schuman declaration, which proposed the creation of the coal and steal community, the very beginning of what should become the EU.
On the 9th May in many member states there are special activities, open days at embassies, institutions, EU representations and of course in Brussels at EU institutions….
Not that people care much about it (even though the open days seem to attract quite some people), but just to add this to this blog post.
@Bas – thanks for sharing the flickr photo of Queens Day in Amsterdam. I didn’t know how big of a celebration that is!
@Slartibartfas – I had never heard of May 9th being the Day of Europe. That’s great! How can we get everyone to put flags out?
Thanks! Jean