Exhibition examines role of African and Asian troops in WWI

After the guns of World War I (WWI) fell silent, a young Vietnamese kitchen worker petitioned the leaders of the victorious Allied powers at the 1919 Versailles peace conference to support independence for his country.

The appeal went unheeded, and Ho Chi Minh ended up leading the movement that decades later liberated Vietnam from French colonial rule.

There's a connection, and it's evident at a Belgian exhibition that coincides with today's 90th anniversary of the end of WWI.