Waterloo, Belgium--The sounds of war rang out on the fields of Belgium on Thursday as the Battle of Waterloo was restaged 200 years after the clash that ended Napoleon's imperial ambitions and changed the course of European history.
In what was billed as the biggest re-enactment of its kind, 6,000 history enthusiasts from 52 countries in full costume acted out the July 18, 1815 clash between the French army and the allied British, Prussian and Dutch forces.
A day after European royals and politicians sent out a message of peace and reconciliation to a modern-day continent facing economic strife and conflict on its borders, it was time for the mock battle to start.
Around 60,000 spectators from around the world were on hand to watch a spectacle which had sold out months ago, seated in huge stands capable of housing more people than Belgium's national football stadium.
Deafening cannon fire erupted from both sides as "troops" in full livery advanced across the same damp fields south of Belgium where 47,000 people were killed or wounded two centuries ago -- this time to applause from the crowds.
"We love Napoleon," said Kevin Michael, 25, from Cleveland, Ohio, who had flown over from the United States with his parents for five days especially to see the Waterloo bicentenary celebrations. "It's like watching history."
His father William Weston added: "We were reading about European unity and Napoleon wanted to unify the European people, but under the French."
AFP
