What is it celebrated on May 8? Why is this day a holiday? Small point on the origins and history of this unemployed day, but also on the course of commemorations.
May 8 has been a public holiday since 1953. This symbolic date has several meanings. It has become the symbol of the end of the Second World War in Europe, which killed 60 million. However, the choice to celebrate May 8 is controversial since the same day took place the massacre of Sétif in Algeria. While the Allies’ victory over Nazism is celebrated in Algeria, the French forces have suppressed an independence demonstration, killing thousands of people in several days.
Traditionally, during the official ceremony of May 8, the President of the Republic goes up the Champs-Élysées de Paris in the morning then deposits a wreath under the Arc de Triomphe before rekindling the flame of the tomb of the unknown soldier. All about the history and meaning of this holiday.
On May 8, 1945, at 3 p.m., the bells ringed to mark the end of the Second World War in Europe. General de Gaulle himself announces German capitulation in a radio address. Throughout France, scenes from joys accompany May 8 and 9, which are exceptionally holidays to celebrate the defeat of Nazi Germany. There are then German soldiers in France (around the ports of Dunkirk, Lorient or Saint-Nazaire, in particular). The question of commemorations arises very quickly. Government and veterans hesitate between the establishment of a single date – intended to celebrate the victories of 1918 and 1945 – and the establishment of a specific ceremony for the Second World War.
Law No. 46-934 of May 7, 1946 fixes on May 8 (if it is a Sunday) or on Sunday following this date the commemorations of the victory of 1945. May 8 was previously associated with the feast of Jeanne d’Arc (see below). It was in 1953 that May 8 really became an instituted public holiday, just like November 11, whatever the day of the week he fell. In 1959, a decree seeking to limit the number of unemployed days returned the French to work. And in 1975, the President of the Republic, Valéry Giscard d’Estaing, withdrew any official character on the date. His gesture seeks to mark Franco-German reconciliation, but irritates many veterans. It is finally François Mitterrand who gives his public holiday character to May 8. Law No. 81-893 of October 2, 1981 adds this day to the list of unemployed days in the Labor Code. This day is not celebrated in Great Britain, the United States or Germany.
The event which gave birth to the “holiday of May 8” occurred on May 8 of 1945: An act of capitulation of the armies (land, sea, air) of the 3rd Reich, formalized in the HQ of the Allied forces, in Reims. There was, in the middle of the Second World War, the large staff of the expeditionary force allied in Europe. Since then, the establishment has given birth to the Roosevelt high school, and to its surrender museum. But why did Germany recognize its defeat against Europe and not in the world? The German high command preferred to deal with Western allies with the Soviets because of the fate that could be that of German prisoners.
May 8 was adopted as the day of commemoration of the capitulation of Germany during the Second World War. However, reality is much more complex. First of all because this event marked the end of the Second World War in Europe, the conflict still continuing for four months in the Pacific, between Japan and the United States. Then because Different capitulation acts were signed at different times between the 7 and the 9 Mayaccording to the time referent chosen.
In any case, the beginning of May 1945 marked the collapse of the third Reich. On April 30, Adolf Hitler committed suicide in his chancellery bunker, while Soviet soldiers were in Berlin. Joseph Goebbels tries to contact to sign an armistice. Unable to establish the link with the Allies and refuse an unconditional capitulation, he killed himself with his wife and children on May 1. The next day, the Battle of Berlin ends with the capitulation of the German general Helmuth Weidling and men responsible for the defense of the capital. From 4 to 6 May, all of the remaining Nazi forces (in the Netherlands, Northern Germany, Denmark, Bavaria, Breslau) go to the Allies. Herman Göring, the highest living Nazi dignitary, gives himself up to the American authorities on the German-Austrian border.
There are two capitulation documents: the first capitulation of May 7 in Reims and the second capitulation of May 8 in Berlin. The Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz was appointed president of the Reich by Hitler in his will. At the head of a provisional government of the Reich, he try to negotiate a series of partial redditions in the face of Western alliesin order to be able to continue the fight in the east against the Soviet troops. The Americans refuse the compromise. German general Alfred Jodl, sent by Dönitz, signs the capitulation on May 7 at 2:41 a.m. This historic moment took place in a room of the technical and modern college in Reimswhich was then the HQ of the Allied forces.
Only, this signature is not to the taste of Stalin, which regrets the absence of Soviet high-representatives during this signature. A second capitulation is organized on May 8 in the evening in Karlshorst, near Berlin. This time, it is the supreme commander of the Red Army, Gueorgui Joukov, who presides over the signature. It is Wilhelm Keitel, supreme commander of the German armed forces, who signs the capitulation. She returned at 11:01 p.m. on May 8. At Moscow time, this hour corresponds to May 9 at 01:01 in the morning. Today, May 9 is celebrated as the day of German capitulation in Russia.
The date of the day of the victory of May 8, 1945 corresponds to the end of the Second World War in Europe, with the pure and simple surrender of the German armies against the allies. The victory of May 8, 1945 gives rise to an annual commemoration, which the President of the Republic will assist, at 10 am in Paris. On the program: wreath laying at the foot of the Parisian statue of General de Gaulle, then raised from the Champs-Elysées, before a tribute to the tomb of the unknown soldier under the Arc de Triomphe.
Officially, the name of the public holiday corresponding to May 8 is “Victory of 1945”. The use of the word armistice, as in the expression “armistice of 1945”, which is found on certain calendars, is not correct. Indeed, an armistice is an agreement signed by governments. It ends an armed conflict in wartime, but does not end the state of war. It is this type of document that was signed on November 11, 1918 in the Rethondes wagon, starting a cease-fire and the negotiations that will lead to the Treaty of Versailles, signed by Germany and the Allies. In 1945, it was indeed a capitulation of the third Reich. Indeed, it is a pure and simple surrender of a belligerent, the end of the fighting and the state of war. Hence the appellation “Victory of 1945” and not “Armistice of 1945”.
The day of May 8 is also a day of essential memory in Franco-Algerian relations. It is indeed May 8, 1945 that the Sétif, Guelma and Kherrata massacres began, in an Algeria then colonized by France. The drama begins on May 8. A demonstration of Algerian nationalists, demanding the independence of their country, is organized on the sidelines of a procession celebrating the victory of the allies. In particular, they claim the release of their chief – Messali Hadj – chief of the PPA (Algerian People’s Party), imprisoned by the French authorities. These require that the demonstrators carry neither weapons nor Algerian flag.
During the demonstration, in the city of Sétif, a young Muslim scout brandished an Algerian flag in the heart of a district very mainly populated by a population of European origin. Police are trying to remove the flag and shots burst between demonstrators and police. A 26 -year -old young man, Algerian flag in hand, is shot down by a police officer. Panic and confusion are increasing as indigenous Muslims and populations of European origin exchange shots. The balance sheet exceeds 20 dead on each side. To Guelma, the police shoot, killing a demonstrator. In the countryside, riots against populations of European origin burst: 102 people are killed. The government, led by General de Gaulle, sends the army there. The repression – which lasts until May 22 – is terrible : summary executions, bombing of villages, “submission” ceremonies to the French flag. The official assessment established by the French authorities reports 1,000 dead. In reality, the balance sheet would be five to ten times higher according to historians.
May 8 is also the date of the feast of Joan of Arc. It was indeed on May 8, 1429 that an army, led by Joan of Arc, managed to deliver the city of Orleans, besieged by the English. Each year, The Johann Festivals of Orleans celebrate this event, culminating with a large parade in the streets of the city center on May 8. The Center-Val de Loire region and the town hall of the city asked in 2015 to integrate these festivities into the intangible heritage of France, before considering a classification request at UNESCO.
In a different genre, May 8 is also a key day for the French nationalist right. At the beginning of the 20th century, the far right, led by the French Action, organized its rally on May 8 before the statue of Joan of Arc in Paris. In the 1970s, the National Front participated in these processions, before taking their leadership. It is also Jean-Marie Le Pen who decides to move this annual event from May 8 to May 1 in 1988: it was a question of holding a meeting to weigh on the in-between the towers of the presidential election. Since then, the rally organized by the National Front continues to be held on May 1. Other far-right groups continue to parade on May 8.
