Visiting battlefields is not only a pastime for the military history buff. The world's battlefields are also poignant reminders of the futility of war and sacrifices made. Pacifists will find them just as moving. Some countries were literally shaped by war and history has been defined by it. Tourists who wish to gain a real knowledge of the countries that they visit will find their understanding enriched by visiting these sites. For some tourists, they may even gain an appreciation why their country and fellowmen were fighting in that war and several have in fallen in battle on the very grounds they are visiting.
Standing on sites where conflicts took place - including some that changed the course of history - brings the past more vividly to life than any book or documentary and can be an unforgettable experience. In Britain, literature fans can visit the sites of historical and famous battles and stand on the very ground of historical battles that have been immortalized in words by renowned authors such as Shakespeare and other renowned authors or poets.
At some much older sites, they provide other unique activities such as joining part of ongoing archaeological work being done at the site or any current restoration efforts.
For many people, war has taken its toll on their own families within living memory. Visiting those sites can be an emotional pilgrimage to pay homage to fallen comrades or relatives. Without visitors and remembrance, those sites will not live on. Tourist revenues are crucial to their maintenance and continuing existence.
Battlefields Around the World
It says a lot about humanity and the accompanying violence that has characterized human history that in almost every country there can be found a battlefield and/or monument, particularly with accompanying cemeteries in honor of the dead and fallen. Many have been carefully conserved, with site museums providing detailed information.
The World Wars
World War I, the war that was supposed to have ended all wars, has the distinction of having its battle sites being the most visited sites in the world. The meticulously maintained sites in the regions of Ypres, the Somme and Arras are heavily visited. In Asia, another much-visited World War site is Gallipoli, near Troy. This peninsula was the site of half a million casualties, of whom 100,000 died, in the 1915-16 conflict there.
World War II sites are also popular tourist destinations, with a large of its visitors being surviving veterans of that conflict. Normandy and the D-Day beaches, Arnhem (the battle that was the subject of the award-winning film 'A Bridge Too Far') and sites in Italy also feature strongly. Some specialist tour companies will design custom tours for veterans and their descendants to revisit places of significance.
Vietnam
More recent wars are commemorated in other Asian countries where they occurred. The Vietnam War is sill fresh in the memories of many Americans and those people who lived through it, whether as participants or as spectators of a global event unfolding in their televisions screens on live newscasts.
Both sides having buried the hatchet, many Vietnam vets now return to remember the events of three decades ago as some form of pilgrimage or effort at closure or healing. They are also able to see the other side of the conflict, at sites such as the Cu Chi Tunnels, a subterranean complex built by Viet Cong fighters near Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City).
Anglo-Boer and Anglo Zulu Wars
Deeper in the past, the late nineteenth century was another war-torn era. In Africa, the province of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, attracts many tourists eager to see the battlefields of the Anglo-Boer and Anglo-Zulu wars. Perhaps most famous are the Anglo-Zulu war battlefields of Rorke's Drift where a handful of British soldiers resisted a massive onslaught by Zulu warriors and Isandhlwana where the British Army suffered one of its most devastating defeats in its proud history.
India
India too has its own share of battle sites. A day trip from Kolkata takes tourists to the site of the 1757 Battle of Plassey; a battle that helped established the British presence in India. Near Delhi, the Meerut Cemetery is one site commemorating the Indian Mutiny of 1857, while the terrible Massacre at Amritsar in 1919 is commemorated in the Punjabi City.
America
Visitors to America can choose amongst hundreds of battlefield sites dating to the Civil War. Most famous is Gettysburg, which has been restored and has pride of place amongst American monuments.
Battlefields belonging to another dimension of American history (and other places worldwide where colonialism operated) includes those where colonizers clashed with indigenous peoples. One famous site is at Wounded Knee Creek, South Dakota, where Lakota Sioux clashed with the U.S. Army in 1890, resulting in the deaths of three hundred men, women and children. The site of the Battle of Little Big Horn in Montana is another site commemorating a conflict that every American learns about.
Britain
Britain is also replete with battlefields that have been immortalized in literature. They include Bannockburn, a key battle in the Scottish fight for independence. In Leicestershire is the site of the Battle of Bosworth Field, where Richard III fell in 1485, according to Shakespeare, declaiming 'A horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse!' Culloden is another famous Scottish battlefield, where Bonny Prince Charlie fought in the Stuart Uprisings to challenge the Hanoverian kings on the English throne.
Battlefields, though reminders of a violent past, are not necessarily maudlin places. For alongside the violence, death, pain and horrors of battle, you will also find tales and instances of courage, honour, dedication, compassion, chivalry and inspiration.
2011 Moira G Gallaga©
Recently resigned civil servant from the Philippine Foreign Service. Specializes in Protocol and served 3 Philippine Presidents as Presidential Protocol Officer. Assigned along with her diplomat husband and son in Philippine Consulate General in Los Angeles and Philippine Embassy in Washington D.C. for 6 and a half years.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Moira_G_Gallaga
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6524808
