First World War centenary

The First World War Centenary is the of the First World War, which started in 2014 with commemorations of the outbreak of the war and will continue until 2018.

In Australia, the occasion is known as the Anzac Centenary. Committees planning the event include the National Commission on the Commemoration of the Anzac Centenary and the Anzac Centenary Advisory Board. The government has budgeted $83.5M for a seven-year programme which will include commemorative events in Australia and overseas; educational activities and resources; and refurbishments of galleries and war graves. The Brisbane City Council has spent $13.4 million to refurbish the Shrine of Remembrance, Brisbane located in ANZAC Square and $1 million revitalising 31 suburban war memorials. Many commemorative events were organised by governments and other organisations.

The centenary of World War I is to be marked by a program of exhibition, lectures and academic research focusing on the theme of Belgian involvement in the conflict and the occupation. The Royal Museum of the Armed Forces and Military History in Brussels will host an exhibition titled "Expo 14–18: It's Our History" from 2014 to 2015.

The city of Sarajevo, which was during the First World War a capital of the Austrian province Bosnia and Herzegovina made plans to organize commemoration in the period 21–28 June 2014. The event is named "Sarajevo heart of Europe".

Filmmaker Emir Kusturica announced an initiative to hold a ceremony on 28 June 2014, in which a re-trial of Gavrilo Princip will be started. The motivation behind the initiative was that Austria-Hungary never ratified the annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and that a verdict of high treason therefore should be considered illegal. "It was a political murder, but definitely not high treason. If Princip was convicted of murder, it wouldn't have been possible to sentence him to lifetime imprisonment", Kusturica commented. Further, he will exhibit letters written by Oskar Potiorek, and argues that they prove that a war was planned long before the Sarajevo Assassination.

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Wikipedia