PARIS — Traveling from around the world to monuments honoring soldiers who fell 100 years ago, victors and vanquished alike marked those sacrifices Saturday ahead of Armistice Day and assessed alliances that have been redrawn dramatically since World War I. The leaders of former enemies France and Germany, in an intimate gesture that underscored their countries’ current roles as guarantors of peace in Europe, held their heads together at the site north of Paris where the defeated Germans and the Allies signed the agreement that ended the 1914-18 war. French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel inspect a joint military brigade of troops from both sides during an Armistice Day ceremony, 100 years after the end of World War I on Saturday. At left, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau places a flower at a gravestone as he tours the Canadian Ceremony No. 2 near Vimy Ridge, France. Associated Press Search photos available for purchase: Photo Store → After Chancellor Angela Merkel briefly snuggled her head into the neck of French President Emmanuel Macron, the two went inside a replica of the train car where the armistice was signed and put their names in a guestbook. Macron then took Merkel’s hand in his, again highlighting the changes on the continent where two world wars were fought in the 20th century. EUROPE AT PEACE “Our Europe has been at peace for 73 years. There is no precedent for it, and it is at peace because we willed it and first… [Read full story]
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