The line-up of leaders alo...ew anti-American alliance that has formed bit by bit since the invasion of Iraq demonstrated the frightening ease with which Washington could destroy hostile leaders far away.
Alongside Mr Xi were Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe, Raúl Castro of Cuba, Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela: standouts against what Mr Putin called a unipolar world, his code phrase for the spread of western-style democracy.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, centre, and Cuban President Raul Castro, centre right,jordans for cheap, after the parade (EPA)
In itself, there isn't much new to this. China has been railing against a "unipolar world" for a decade. Mr Putin and his allies all have their reasons for disliking the West's tendency to set a high store on open elections, a free press and "cooperative" foreign policies.
What is stark is that Russia and China are now openly stating their intention to stand together to lead such an alliance.
The history is a patchy one. In 1949, Mao felt snubbed by Stalin, who regarded him as just another leader of a Soviet-backed Communist satellite rather than an equal.
Mao's subsequent falling-out with Stalin's successors led to the US-China rapprochement following President Richard Nixon's visit to Beijing in 1972. The new détente helped defeat the Soviet Union in the Cold War,Kicksokok.com.
Chairman Mao Tse-tung, left, welcomes US President Richard Nixon at his house in Beijing (AFP)
Twenty years ago, when both Presidents Bill Clinton and Jiang Zemin of China stood alongside Boris Yeltsin at the 1995 Moscow Victory Day parade, the power relations were self-evident.
A self-confident America knew that Russia was no longer a threat, while China was dependent for its economic growth on American spending power and investment.
Yesterday in Moscow there was no America – something Washington may come to regret – and there was no doubt whose smile was most confident.
Mr Xi finds himself in a diplomatic sweet spot. It is Mr Putin who gets the flak for standing up to Nato in Ukraine, for supporting the Assad regime in Syria, for threatening to sell air defence systems to Iran.
The Victory Day parade at Red Square in Moscow, Russia (Reuters)
But it is China who is the ultimate winner, as America's attention is diverted from Beijing's expansion across the South China Sea.
China is openly developing a naval strategy aimed at challenging American dominance of the western Pacific, including in the waters around Japan and Taiwan.
Unlike Chairman Mao, Mr Xi is happy to be seen to play second fiddle on the podium in Moscow. With China now the rising power, he has no doubt as to where the balance of power will lie between China and Russia in years to come. Shows of Russian strength like yesterday's serve his interests, as much as Mr Putin's.
ends
On November 11 1918,cheap wholesale jordans, the First World War came to an end with a ceasefire coming into effect at 11am. Earlier that morning, an armistice with Germany had been signed in a railroad carriage at Compiègne, with the conflict having lasted for four years,cheap authentic jordans, three months and 14 days. By the time the armistice had been agreed, the total number of military and civilian casualties had reached more than 40 million, making it among the deadliest conflicts in world history.
Reading books and watching programmes provides background, but nothing sheds more light on these bloodiest of battles than visiting the sites. A number of guides and battlefield tour specialists are already offering special itineraries to commemorate the lives lost during the outbreak of the conflict in Britain.
We have hand-picked a selection of the best battlefield tours in 2017-18, covering many of the major battlefields of the First World War, such as the Somme, Ypres, Messines, Amiens and Verdun. For those who would like to visit the battlefields of both the First and Second World Wars, there is an option that takes in the key sites of both. We have also listed a special tour to Passchendaele led by Royal British Legion guides, who are able to assist families in finding a loved one’s grave or memorial.
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More than 40 million died in the First World War, making it among the deadliest conflicts in world history
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GETTY
1. 1918 Centenary tour
This centenary tour takes in some of the major actions of 1918, a year that saw the balance of the war swing from a German success to an overall allied victory. Led by military historian Dr Bruce Cherry, this itinerary investigates the major events of the year, visiting iconic battlefields such as Villers-Bretonneux, the St Quentin Canal, Le Quesnoy, Mons and,http://siyou.dxschools.cn/guestbook.aspcheapjordanshoesfreeshipping.com/bolg, fittingly, the site of the November armistice signing at Compiègne. This tour will be of particular interest to those with Australian, New Zealand and Canadian interests, and, of course, those from the British Isles.
The tour is based in Amiens,http://www.midwestartfairs.com/node/add/articlecheapjordanshoesfreeshipping.com/bolg, which played a fundamental role throughout the war, but especially in 1918.?
A four-day 1918 Centenary Tour from Cultural Experience (0345 475 1815; theculturalexperience.com) starts from ?1,245, including accommodation, some meals and rail travel. Departs July 29 2018.?
2. Stories of Passchendaele??
1917 was dominated by two great offensives: the Battle of Messines, during which 19 mines were detonated under the Messines Ridge, and the Battle of Passchendael...es of the First World War.?This commemorative cruise, which is exclusive to readers of The Telegraph, will take you to some of the most important and poignant sites of this phase of the war and the wider conflict. As well as visiting Mons,cheap air jordans, where Britain’s first and last soldier died, and the Menin Gate, you will be joined en route by the historian Nick Lloyd, whose recent book Passchendaele: A New History brilliantly chronicles this episode of the war. Also on board will be The Telegraph’s Simon Heffer, who is currently researching a book on the era and its impact on Britain.
The seven-day Exclusive Tour from Th...ck Lloyd and Simon Heffer?costs from ?995 per person, departing 27 April 2018. Click here for more information and to book.
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Tyne Cot
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3,cheap real jordans. Historian’s insight,http://www.siemprelucenacf.es/index.php/component/user/?option=com_content&view=article&id=115cheapjordanshoesfreeshipping.com/bolg?
On this tour, political historian and commentator Sir Anthony Seldon joins guests in Arras to visit major sights of the First World War, including the subterranean tunnels of Vimy Ridge, before a private lecture. An expert guide is on hand to give context to the sights, both major and lesser-known, from the white marble graves of 12,000 servicemen killed in battle at Tyne Cot to the historic tank offensive of the Battle of Cambrai. Historians Professor Gary Sheffield or Nigel Jones provide further insight.?
A four-day Battlefields of the First World War tour from Telegraph Tours (0333 122 8482; telegraph.co.uk/tt-seldon) costs from ?1,445, including accommodation, meals, entrance fees and Eurostar travel. Departs September 29 2017.?
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Vimy Ridge
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? Manuel Willequet / Alamy Stock Photo/Manuel Willequet / Alamy Stock Photo
4. Poetry in motion?
Melding history and poetry, this tour reveals the many facets of war: from the key moments of the fighting to the wartime lives of individual poets. Led by military historian Andrew Spooner, the tour uses July 1 1916 as the starting point of the Battle of the Somme to study the events on the day and subsequent weeks, with a sprinkling of poetry from 1914 and 1915 as well as 1917 and 1918. Poems are placed in the context of the battlefields and the lives and deaths of the many and varied individuals who wrote them.?
A four-day Poets and the Somme tour from Martin Randall (0330 037 6484; martinrandall.com) costs from ?1,430, including accommodation, all meals with wine and coach travel. September 1 2017 and September 7 2018.?
Haunting photographs o...fields as they look today
5. Train through the Somme
Great Rail Journeys offers a five-day itinerary called Lille,cheap jordans for sale, Flanders and the Somme tour. Based at the four-star Novotel Lille Centre Grand Place in Lille, the tour will visit the battlefields of Ypres and the Somme. The tour makes it way to Poperinge,cheap jordans, the most important town behind the lines; Talbot House, which soldiers used as a retreat; Tyne Cot Cemetery, the largest Commonwealth cemetery; and Langemark, the last resting place of 44,000 German soldiers. It continues on to Ypres for visits to the Cloth Hall to explore the In Flanders Fields Museum and the Menin Gate to witness the moving Last Post ceremony.
This five-day tour from Great Rail Journeys (01904 527180; greatrail.com) costs from ?585 including accommodation, some meals and standard class rail travel. Departs October 6 2017.?
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Menin Gate
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6. Verdun overview
Leger is offering a Battle of Verdun tour which explores forts, trenches, bunkers, shell-holes, underground tunnels and museums. Highlights include Douaumont Ossuary, a cemetery that houses the jumbled bones of 130,000 unidentified soldiers; Mort Homme memorial, the scene of ferocious fighting on the Left Bank of the Meuse; Bois des Caures, where the battle began in February 1916; and St Mihiel Salient to see the remains of trench systems in Apremont as well as the hill at Les Eparges, which still bears the scars of mine warfare.
This four-day tour from Leger (08443249266; leger.co.uk) costs from ?399 including b&b accommodation and coach travel. Departures between June and October 2018.?
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Battle of Verdun tours explore forts, trenches, bunkers, shell-holes, underground tunnels and museums
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7. The two wars
A First and Second World War Battlefields tour travels through Britain, France, Belgium and the Netherlands, with two nights in Lille for a tour of the Ypres Salient, and stops at sites including Tyne Cot, Langemark, Vancouver Corner and Passchendaele. There is also a visit to the Essex Farm Cemetery, where Lt Col John McCrae wrote the poem “In Flanders Fields”. There tour includes a full day in Paris and an excursion to Amsterdam (though these are not related to the battlefields).
A 12-day tour from Trafalgar (0333 414 3653; Trafalgar) costs from ?2,350, including coach travel from the Cumberland Hotel in London, one-way ferry from Portsmouth to Caen, accommodation and some meals. Departs August 13 2017.?
8. The Grand tour
Shearings has a five-day First World War itinerary which visits the Somme battlefields in and around the Arras and Péronne areas, stopping at notable memorials and cemeteries. This is followed by a trip to the Flanders battlefields, In Flanders Fields Museum, Exeter Farm and Langemark Cemetery, plus the Last Post at Menin Gate. The final day includes visits to the Thiepval Memorial, Beaumont-Hamel and Pozieres.
A five-day tour from Shearings (0844 824 6351; shearings.com) costs from ?484, including half-board stay, coach travel from a choice of joining points and some meals. Departures between September 2017 and May 2018.?
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Arras
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9. Walking the Somme?
Battlefield Tours is running a four-day Walking the Somme tour, which will focus on the terrible Black Day of the British Army at the Somme on July 1 1916. The itinerary meanders past the battlefield at Gommecourt, the northernmost area of attack and the scene of a costly diversionary operation into no man’s land, and the battlefield around the Sheffield Memorial Park, before wandering to Redan Ridge, where more than 10 per cent of the casualties occurred. Other highlights include the Sunken Lane at Beaumont-Hamel; Hawthorn Ridge Cemetery and the battlefield at Thiepval.
Battlefield Tours (01709 385624; visitbattlefields.co.uk) has a number of departures between September 2017 and August 2018, from ?469 b&b, including coach travel.?
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A memorial at Passchendaele
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10. Royal British Legion tour
Remembrance Travel, the travel arm of the Royal British Legion, has a centenary tour to Passchendaele, Cambrai and Arras, which takes in momentous sites. Knowledgeable Royal British Legion guides are able to assist families on the tour and, if possible, find a loved one’s grave or memorial. They research war records and information on the battle. Information gathered is then presented in a commemoration folder. The twin-centre journey takes guests along the French Western Front and into Belgium, staying in both Arras and Ypres. It visits key cemeteries, battlefields and memorials, including Vimy Ridge, Messines and Cambrai.
A six-day tour from Remembrance Travel (01473 660800; remembrancetravel.org.uk) costs from ?899, including accommodation, entrance fees, executive coach travel and a farewell dinner. Departs September 24 2017.