A Tomb of the Unknown Soldier or Tomb of the Unknown Warrior is a monument dedicated to the services of an unknown soldier and the common memories of all soldiers killed in war. Such tombs are located in many nations and are usually high-profile national monuments. Throughout history, many soldiers have died in war with their remains being unidentified. Following World War I, a movement arose to commemorate these soldiers with a single tomb, containing the body of one such unidentified soldier.
History
A shrine in Jinju, Korea, which commemorated those who died in defense of Korea during the Imjin War in 1592, has been described as the first Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. It is, however, more inclusive, in that it is a memorial to all who died in defense of the city against the forces of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, civilian as well as soldier. Beginning in 1593, when the Ministry of Rites received permission to perform a sacrifice for all who died in the battle, not only the identifiable bodies, the state offered sacrifices for the dead twice a year in spring and autumn until 1908, when the practice, under pressure by the Japanese governor-general, was ended by royal edict.
The first known monument of an unknown soldier in Europe is the () created in 1849 to commemorate the First Schleswig War, in Fredericia, Denmark.
France and the United Kingdom During the First World War, the British and French armies who were allies during the war jointly decided to bury soldiers themselves. In the UK, under the Imperial War Graves Commission (now Commonwealth War Graves Commission), the Reverend David Railton had seen a grave marked by a rough cross while serving in the British Army as a chaplain on the Western Front, which bore the pencil-written legend "An Unknown British Soldier".Henry Allingham, Dennis Goodwin (2011). Kitchener's Last Volunteer: The Life of Henry Allingham, the Oldest Surviving Veteran of the Great War. p. 132. Random House, 1976
He suggested (together with the French in their own country) the creation at a national level of a symbolic funeral and burial of an "Unknown Warrior", proposing that the grave should in the UK include a national monument in the form of what is usually, but not in this particular case, a headstone. The idea received the support of the Dean of Westminster Herbert Edward Ryle, the Prime Minister David Lloyd George, and later King George V, responding to a wave of public support. At the same time, a similar concern grew in France. In November 1916, a local officer of Le Souvenir français proposed the idea of burying "an unknown soldier" in the Panthéon. A formal bill was presented in Parliament in November 1918. The decision was voted into law in September 1919. Jean-Yves Le Naour, Le soldat inconnu : la guerre, la mort, la mémoire, Gallimard, 2008, p. 20
The United Kingdom and France conducted services connected with their 'monumental' graves (as presumably newly conceived, and in any case approved, by their respective armies) on Armistice Day 1920 (the burial itself taking place later in January of the following year in France). In the UK, the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior was created at Westminster Abbey, while in France the Tombe du Soldat inconnu was placed beneath the Arc de Triomphe.
Other countries
The idea of a symbolic Tomb of the Unknown Soldier then spread to other countries. In 1921, the United States unveiled its own Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Portugal its Túmulo do Soldado Desconhecido, and Italy its Tomba del Milite Ignoto. Australia has entombed an Unknown Soldier as a key focus point of a broader Australian National War Memorial, a museum dedicated to sacrifice in war and avoiding it by peace.
Other nations have followed the practice and created their own tombs. In Chile and Ukraine, the second 'unknown tombs' were unveiled to commemorate The Unknown Sailor. In Serbia, soldiers of World War I are commemorated by the Monument to the Unknown Hero on the mountain of Avala. In the Philippines, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the Libingan ng mga Bayani ("Cemetery of the Heroes") is the cemetery's most prominent structure.
Symbolism The Tombs of the Unknown Soldiers typically contain the remains of a soldier who is unidentified (or "known but to God" as the stone is sometimes inscribed). These remains are considered impossible to identify, and so serve as a symbol for all of a country's unknown dead wherever they fell in the war being remembered. The anonymity of the entombed soldier is the key symbolism of the monument; it could be the tomb of anyone who fell in service of the nation, and therefore serves as a monument symbolizing all of the sacrifices.
Identification Many soldiers have been identified by DNA analysis. The first one to be analyzed was an airman from the Vietnam War.
Examples Tombs of the Unknown Soldiers from around the world and various wars include the following:
Country Monument Location Image Description Statue of the Unknown Soldier Tirana Built to commemorate soldiers who fell during the Second World War Metropolitan Cathedral Buenos Aires Tomb of the Unknown Soldier of the Argentine War of Independence National Flag Memorial Rosario Tomb of the Unknown Soldier Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Luanda Luanda Monument of the Unknown Soldier in Luanda, Angola Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Victory Park Yerevan Tomb of the Unknown Soldier; commemorates the victory of the Soviet Union in World War II Australian War Memorial Canberra The tomb of the Unknown Australian Soldier at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra. Outer Palace Gate at the Heldenplatz Vienna Within the 1818 neo-classical gateway to the Hofburg, the former Imperial Palace. Jatiyo Smriti Soudho Savar Upazila Jatiyo Sriti Shoudhor National Martyrs' Memorial is the national monument of Bangladesh for those who gave their lives in the Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971, many of whom were buried in mass graves in that park. The monument is located in Savar, about 35 km north-west of the capital, Dhaka. It was designed by Syed Mainul Hossain. Shikha Onirban or 'Eternal Flame' Dhaka Shikha Onirban was built to commemorate the valour and the sacrifices of Bangladesh Armed Forces Soldiers died in the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971. Congress Column Brussels The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the base of the location. Monumento al Soldado Desconocido La Paz The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, center piece of the location. Monument to the dead of World War II, Flamengo Park Rio de Janeiro The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier on the monument's platform. Brazilian Monument and Tomb of the Unknown Soldier of World War II Pistoia, Italy Votive Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, with monument pavilion. Monument to the Unknown Soldier Sofia monument built in memory to soldiers who died in the Russo-Turkish War, also contains soil from Stara Zagora and the Battle of Shipka Pass Monument to the Unknown Soldier Haskovo Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the National War Memorial Ottawa The tomb is located next to the National War Memorial in Confederation Square in Ottawa. It contains the remains of a Canadian soldier from World War I, who was buried near Vimy Ridge. Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the National War Memorial St. John's The tomb is located at the National War Memorial in St. John's. It contains the remains of a Royal Newfoundland Regiment soldier from World War I, who was repatriated from Beaumont-Hamel. General Manuel Baquedano Square Santiago Contains the remains of a soldier who died in 1881 during the War of the Pacific. Plaza de la Ciudadanía (Citizenship Square), Santiago Contains the remains of a soldier found in Peru. Died in 1881 during the War of the Pacific. Cripta del Morro de Arica (Morro de Arica Crypt), Arica Contains the remains of a soldier found in 1998. Died during the War of the Pacific. Unknown Sailor Monument A monument built in honor to the sailors that fought and died in the Battle of Iquique, a naval battle off the coast of Chile. Monument to the People's HeroesBeijing A monument (not a tomb or a cenotaph) built in honor to the Chinese heroes died between 1840s (the First Opium War) and 1949 (founding of the People's Republic of China), who have given their lives in the many struggles to resist the enemy, domestic and foreign, to strive for the independence of the nation and the freedom of the people. Plaza y Monumento de los Caídos on Centro Administrativo Nacional Bogotá Monument to Croatian unknown soldier Osijek National Monument on Vítkov Hill Prague Contains remains of an unknown Czechoslovak soldier fallen at the Battle of Zborov as well as an unknown Czechoslovak soldier fallen at the Battle of Dukla, a part of a larger memorial to all Czechoslovak soldiers. Flag Square of Santo Domingo The Arc of the Square contains the tomb of an unknown fallen soldier who participated in the Dominican War of Independence. Unknown Soldier Memorial Cairo Also includes the tomb of President Anwar Sadat. Alexandria Naval Unknown Soldier Memorial Defence Forces Cemetery Tallinn Hietaniemi cemetery Helsinki In the centre of the military cemetery are the tombs of the unknown soldier and Marshal Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim. Tomb of the Unknown Soldier beneath the Arc de Triomphe Paris First Tomb of the Unknown Soldier (with Westminster Abbey in London) Tomb of the Unknown Soldier behind Arch 22 Banjul Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Tbilisi Located in Vake Park Unter den Linden Berlin Within a 19th-century guardhouse, the Neue Wache. Tomb of the Unknown Soldier on Syntagma Square Athens Cenotaph located in front of the Greek Parliament on Syntagma Square in Athens. Two quotations by Thucydides, from Pericles' Funeral Oration, Available online at the Perseus Project. Available online at the Perseus Project. are inscribed on the retaining wall: Μία κλίνη κενὴ φέρεται ἐστρωμένη τῶν ἀφανῶν ("... and one bed is carried empty, made for the unknown ones"), and Ἀνδρῶν ἐπιφανῶν πᾶσα γῆ τάφος ("The whole earth is the burial ground of famous men"). The inscriptions flank a central sculpture in low relief, depicting a dying hoplite. The names of battlefields where Greeks have fought since independence are inscribed on the monument.