The extract below is from the Church Times of Friday, 10 November 2023. Each week they put in a piece from a past issue, sometimes of just general interest, sometimes relevant to the season or date. This one is obviously relevant to both season and date. The extract is dated November 9th, 1923 which was a Friday, so the “attractions offered by hotel managers to their guests on Saturday and Sunday next” must be the immediately following, Saturday 10th and Sunday 11th. I think the context is that the writer is reflecting on the consequences of the 1919 Treaty of Versailles which has been regarded by many as a major contributory cause of World War Two because of the attitude of the “victorious powers” to Germany and the terms and conditions laid upon that country together with the expectation of very considerable financial reparations.
“The main result was the Treaty of Versailles, with Germany, which in section 231 laid the guilt for the war on “the aggression of Germany and her allies”. This provision proved humiliating for Germany and set the stage for very high reparations Germany was supposed to pay (it paid only a small portion before reparations ended in 1931).” (Wikipedia).
So, the writer sees the settlement as being unjust and that hopes for a better outcome “were in vain” and he (or she ?) is glad that those who died in the fighting are not alive to see what their sacrifice has brought about.
It seems therefore that Armistice Day has not been without its problems from its earliest days, and it helps to put the ructions of this year into some sort of perspective.
