Parks Canada - Teachers' Corner - Memories of War

Memories of War Lesson Plan

Handouts

1. Tuthmosis III Victory Monument at Karnak
c. 1470 BCE

Tuthmosis III Victory Monument at Karnak © Cynthia W. Shelmerdine, cwshelm@mail.utexas.edu

The ancient Egyptian pharaoh Tuthmosis III is often called ‘the Napoleon of Ancient Egypt'. He waged several wars against Egypt 's neighbours, expanding his state's boundaries far up the Nile Valley to the south, and all the way to Syria in the northeast. Tuthmosis celebrated his conquests in his monument al building program, one example of which is the Sixth Pylon (entrance wall) at the massive temple complex at Karnak . Here, low relief sculpture depicts the pharaoh striking a group of enemy captives (a common theme in ancient Egyptian art) with his sword . The monument also lists the cities captured by Tuthmosis' forces during his campaigns.

Additional Facts :

• Tuthmosis' monument at Karnak boasts that he conquered 350 cities.
  
  
• Tuthmosis tomb was robbed in antiquity, and his body was dismembered by the robbers. When archaeologists rediscovered his mummy in the 19 th century, they found that Egyptian priests had reburied Tuthmosis, and had tried to reassemble his body by tying it to several wooden oars.
  
  
• The temple complex at Karnak is the world's largest temple complex and is one of the world's great architectural treasures. The ceiling in its main hall was 21m high, supported by 12 stone columns each measuring 10m in circumference.
  
  

2. Mourning Athena, Acropolis Museum, Athens
460-470 B.C.E.

Mourning Athena, Acropolis Museum, Athens © Jonathan Fowler (2005)

Marble relief, 48cm in height, discovered in 1888 south of the Parthenon on the Athenian Acropolis. The relief shows the goddess Athena in a pensive or mourning stance. Some scholars suggest that the tablet she regards bears a list of Athenian war dead. Athens, a democratic city-state, had just survived a devastating war against the Persian Empire when this sculpture was made. At one point, the Persians had actually captured and burned much of Athens.

Additional Facts :

• Athena was the Greek goddess of wisdom and of war . She was the chief deity of ancient Athens . In fact, Athens is named after her.
  
  
• According to Greek mythology, Zeus gave birth to Athena through his forehead.
  
  
• A full-scale replica of the Parthenon, complete with a 13m tall statue of Athena, stands in Nashville, Tennessee.
  
  

3. Arch of Titus, Rome
81 CE

Arch of Constantine, Rome Jasen Swafford, jasenswafford@mac.com

Measuring just over 15m in height, this monument is composed of marble and stands on the Via Sacra (Sacred Way) at one end of the Forum Romanum Roman Forum , the civic center centre of ancient Rome . It was built after the death of the emperor Titus to commemorate his conquest of Judea and Jerusalem in 70 CE. The inscription on the top of the monument reads: “ Senatus Populusque Romanus Divo Tito Divi Vespasiani Filio Vespasiano Augusto ” [The Roman Senate and People (dedicate this) to Deified divine Titus, Vespasian Augustus, son of divine Deified Vespasian].

Arch of Constantine, Rome Jonathan Fowler (2004)

Sculptures within the archway depict the Roman army entering Rome after the war, carrying with them Jewish prisoners as well as treasures looted from the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem . Another sculpture depicts Titus in a chariot, taking part in a triumphal procession . In the sculpture, the winged figure of Victory is placing a wreath on his head.

Additional Facts :

• According to tradition, King Solomon founded the First Jewish Temple at Jerusalem around 1000BCE.
  
  
• Titus' soldiers destroyed the Jewish Temple after capturing Jerusalem in 70 CE. Only the western wall remains, now known as the ‘Wailing Wall.'
  
  
• Titus was the Roman Emperor who officially opened the Colosseum in Rome .
  
  

4. Arc de Triomphe, Paris
1836

Arc de Triomphe, Paris Bernard Bill (2005)

Begun by Napoleon I, Emperor of the French, in 1806, the Arc de Triomphe was intended to commemorate his defeat of the combined Austrian and Russian armies at the Battle of Austerlitz on December 2 nd , 1805. However, the monument was unfinished when Napoleon lost power in 1815 , and was not completed until 1836 . The monument stands over 50m high. The names of 96 major French victories in the Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars are inscribed along the top of the monument. The names of 660 French military leaders are also inscribed here, while the remains of an U unknown S soldier (placed there after WWI) and an Eternal eternal Flame flame are found beneath the arch. This monument is the site of Armistice Day (Remembrance Day) ceremonies every November 11 th , and it is the starting point for annual military parades on Bastille Day, July 14 th . The Tour de France also ends here every year.

Additional Facts :

• Although he became Emperor of the French, Napoleon was born in Corsica , and spoke Italian as his first language.
  
  
• Scholars estimate that the Napoleonic Wars claimed between 500,000-700,000 lives.
  
  
• At 1.7m (5'6.5”) Napoleon wasn't really short by the standards of his time.
  
  

5. Nelson's Column, Trafalgar Square, London
1843

Nelson's Column, Trafalgar Square, London Tagishsimon

This monument stands in central London and consists of a 56m granite column that is 56m tall . Standing on top is a 5.5m statue of Admiral Lord Horatio Nelson, the commander of the British Royal Navy during the 1805 battle of Trafalgar. This battle, considered one of the great est battles in British history, destroyed Napoleonic France's naval power and saved Britain from the threat of a French naval invasion. Nelson was killed during the course of the battle. The base of the column is decorated with four bronze sculptures cast from French cannons captured during the battle.

Additional Facts :

• Prior to being killed in Battle at Trafalgar, Nelson had been twice seriously wounded in battle. He was shot in the face (1794) and in the right arm (1797), leaving him blind in one eye and an amputee.
  
  
• Following his death at Trafalgar, Nelson's remains were shipped home to Britain in a barrel of brandy.
  
  
• A gold pocket watch given to Admiral Lord Nelson shortly before his death recently sold at auction in London for £400,000 ($830,000 CDN).
  
  

6. Tomb of the Unknown Warrior, Westminster Abbey, London
1920

The nave looking east Dean and Chapter of Westminster

The inspiration for this monument came from a British Army chaplain serving in France during the First World War. One day he noticed a grave marked with a rough wooden cross bearing the inscription: “An Unknown British Soldier”. In 1920 he wrote to the Dean of Westminster Abbey, who agreed to support a new memorial for the dead of WWI. An unidentified British soldier's remains were exhumed from the site of a WWI battlefield in France and transported to England for burial on Nov. 11, 1920. Thousands of mourners attended the ceremony. The grave contains soil from France and is covered with a black marble stone quarried in Belgium . The inscription reads:

BENEATH THIS STONE RESTS THE BODY OF A BRITISH WARRIOR, UNKNOWN BY NAME OR RANK, BROUGHT FROM FRANCE TO LIE AMONG THE MOST ILLUSTRIOUS OF THE LAND AND BURIED HERE ON ARMISTICE DAY, 11 NO: 1920, IN THE PRESENCE OF HIS MAJESTY KING GEORGE V, HIS MINISTERS OF STATE, THE CHIEFS OF HIS FORCES, AND A VAST CONCOURSE OF THE NATION.

THUS ARE COMMEMORATED THE MANY MULTITUDES WHO DURING THE GREAT WAR OF 1914-1918 GAVE THE MOST THAT A MAN CAN GIVE, LIFE ITSELF, FOR GOD, FOR KING AND COUNTRY, FOR LOVED ONES HOME AND EMPIRE, FOR THE SACRED CAUSE OF JUSTICE AND THE FREEDOM OF THE WORLD.

THEY BURIED HIM AMONG THE KINGS BECAUSE HE HAD DONE GOOD TOWARD GOD AND TOWARD HIS HOUSE.

Additional Facts :

• Over 1.2 million people visited the ‘Tomb of the Unknown Warrior' in the first week after the burial in 1920.
  
  
• The public voted The Unknown Warrior #76 in a list of ‘The 100 Greatest Britons' of all time in a 2002 BBC poll.
  
  
• Since 1066, the coronations of all English monarchs have taken place in Westminster Abbey.
  
  

7. National War Memorial, Ottawa
1939

National War Memorial, Ottawa Veteran Affairs Canada

Canada 's National War Memorial stands only a few hundred metres from the Parliament Buildings in Ottawa 's Confederation Square . The granite arch is topped with a bronze statue group of two figures representing Freedom and Peace. Beneath this, striding through the arch is a second statue group representing 22 Canadian service men and women. This monument, which is also called “The Great Response”, stands just over 21m tall . It was originally designed to commemorate Canadians' sacrifices in the First World War, but has since been rededicated to include those who fought in World War Two and the Korean War. In 2000, the remains of an unidentified Canadian soldier killed near Vimy Ridge during the First World War were removed from a cemetery in France and buried at the base of the National War Monument.

Additional Facts :

• The Books of Remembrance, housed in the Peace Tower in the Parliament, Ottawa , contain the names of over 112,000 Canadians killed in wars since the 19 th century.
  
  
• The numbers of Canadians killed in major 20 th century wars: WWI, 69,000; WWII, 47,000; Korea 516.
  
  
• 2005 marked the first year that a WWI veteran was not present at the national Remembrance Day ceremonies at Ottawa.
  
  

8. Hiroshima Peace Memorial/A-Bomb Dome, Hiroshima, Japan
1945

Hiroshima Peace Memorial/A-Bomb Dome, Hiroshima, Japan Public Domain

The ruin of the Hiroshima Prefecture Industrial Promotion Hall is perhaps Japan 's most well known and most powerful war memorial. On August 6, 1945, the United States detonated an atomic bomb approximately 580m above this building. The resulting heat and blast destroyed most of the city. Owing to its steel and concrete design, portions of this structure survived the bombing. In 1996, UNESCO added this memorial to its list of World Heritage Sites. Across the river, adjacent to the a-bomb dome, stands a concrete arch, built in 1952. The arch represents an ancient style of house, and it shelters a stone box containing the names of all of those of all nationalities who died in the atomic bombing of Hiroshima . Inscribed on the arch are the words: "Let all the souls here rest in peace, for we shall not repeat the evil."

  Additional Facts :

• The US-led secret project to build the first atomic bomb was called ‘The Manhattan Project'.
  
  
• The atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima was 3m long, weighed 4 tons, and was codenamed ‘Little Boy'.
  
  
• Japanese sources estimate that the atomic bombing of Hiroshima claimed 140,000 lives by December 1945.
  
  

9. United States Marine Corps War Memorial, Washington , D.C.
1954

United States Marine Corps War Memorial, Washington , D.C. Karen Leaf

Sculpted in bronze, this monument – probably the most famous war memorial in the United States – is based on an actual war photograph of US Marines raising a flag during the battle for the island of Iwo Jima , Feb. 23, 1945. Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal took the photograph. The battle of Iwo Jima was one of the bloodiest military engagements in the Pacific theatre during World War II, as the island's Japanese defenders refused to give up ground to the US Marines. The monument base bears the inscription: “Uncommon valour was a common virtue,” which was what Admiral Chester Nimitz, a senior American commander, later said about the battle.

Additional Facts :

• Of the 70,000 US Marines who invaded the island, 7000 were killed and 28,000 were wounded.
  
  
• Of the nearly 22,000 Japanese soldiers defending the island, only 200 survived to be taken prisoner.
  
  
• The Japanese resistance to American forces on Iwo Jima is said to have been one of the factors influencing the American decision to drop the atomic bombs on Japan rather than invade.
  
  

10. Hill of Glory, Khatyn, Belorus
1969

Hill of Glory, Khatyn, Belorus Jonathan Fowler (1990)

This 35m artificial mound is built upon the ruins of the village of Khatyn , burned – with its 149 inhabitants – by the Nazis in March of 1944. This is one of nearly 200 such villages in Belorus destroyed by the Nazis in World War II. Built in 1969, this monument contains soil from the former Soviet Union's ‘Hero Cities' (an honourary title given by the Soviet government to cities whose populations fought bravely and suffered greatly during WWII), as well as from several major Soviet WWII battlefields, and commemorates not only the destroyed communities but also the Soviet Army that liberated Belorus in 1944.

Additional Facts :

• In Russia , WWII is known as ‘The Great Patriotic War'.
  
  
• Historians estimate that approximately 25 million people were killed on the Eastern Front between 1941-45 (includes combatants and civilians).
  
  
• Nazi Germany's plan for the invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941 was called Operation Barbarossa, after Frederick Barbarossa, a 12 th century German Emperor and military leader.
  
  

11. ‘Hands of Victory', Baghdad
late 1980s

Hands of Victory, Baghdad Philip Bentz

This monument consists of two pairs of 47m long crossed swords, marking the entrances to a large parade ground, the “Grand Festivities Square ”. A flagpole rises from the point where the swords intersect. Saddam Hussein had this built beginning in 1986 to celebrate Iraq 's ‘victory' over Iran in the Iran-Iraq War (1980-88). The 24-ton crossed swords are made from the guns of Iraqi soldiers killed during the war. 5,000 Iranian helmets taken from battlefields surround the base of the swords. The hands that hold the swords were modeled on photographs of Saddam Hussein's hands and forearms, and one thumb actually bears a scaled thumbprint taken from Saddam.

Additional Facts :

• The death toll of the Iran-Iraq War is estimated to be in excess of 1 million.
  
  
• Saddam Hussein ordered the use of chemical weapons against Iranian forces and Iraqi Kurds during the Iran-Iraq War.
  
  
• The Iran-Iraq War ended with a United Nations ceasefire agreement in August 1988.
  
  

12. Nanjing Memorial Hall of Compatriots Murdered in the Nanjing Massacre
1985

Nanjing Memorial Hall of Compatriots Murdered in the Nanjing Massacre David A. Mericle

This monument stands in Nanjing , China , and is dedicated to the victims of the Nanking Massacre, carried out by Japanese soldiers during six weeks in 1937-38. The number of people killed remains a source of controversy between China and Japan to this day, but historians generally agree that the Imperial Japanese Army killed approximately 300,000 people – mostly civilians – in Nanking . In addition to indiscriminate killings, Japanese soldiers also engaged in systematic arson, looting, and rape. Historians estimate that Japanese soldiers raped 20,000 women during this six-week period, which is why these events are also sometimes referred to as ‘The Rape of Nanking.' The Nanjing municipal government built the memorial in 1985, partly in response to Japanese denials of the massacre. One of the key features is the Memorial Hall, which is built on top of a mass grave. Visitors entering the coffin-shaped hall can see the partly excavated skeletal remains of some of the massacre's victims.

Additional Facts :

• ‘ WWII ' started early in China , when Japan invaded in 1937.
  
  
• The Imperial Japanese Army conducted chemical and biological warfare experiments on people in China during WWII.
  
  
• Japan 's treatment of its WWII history in school textbooks remains a point of tension with China today.
  
  

RETURN TO INDEX PAGE

Note: To read the PDF version you need Adobe Acrobat Reader on your system.

If the Adobe download site is not accessible to you, you can download Acrobat Reader from an accessible page.

If you choose not to use Acrobat Reader you can have the PDF file converted to HTML or ASCII text by using one of the conversion services offered by Adobe.