From Athens to Berlin, a Day of Protest and Anger

For many of the thousands of peace demonstrators gathered on Berlin's Alexanderplatz on Thursday evening, it was a return from earlier demonstrations for a second round.

As the mild afternoon turned into cold evening, loudspeakers carried the anti-war speeches of numerous speakers, as an estimated 40,000 workers, peace activists and families gathered on East Berlin's former central square.

Many of the demonstrators lighting candles as evening came were leftovers from student demonstrations held on the square earlier in the day.

"We want to animate even more people," said Denise Hildebrand, 19, who together with a group of more than 15 fellow students attended both the school demonstrations and evening demonstrations. "We want to somehow stir something, to set something in motion."

The start of the U.S.-led military invasion of Iraq brought hundreds of thousands onto the streets in European cities from Athens to London. In Athens, a record 150,000 marched against the attacks, which began at around 3:35 a.m. European Central Time. Italy and Switzerland saw tens of thousands take to the streets in big cities.

Law enforcement authorities around Europe beefed up their presence around Israeli, British and U.S. institutions, and riot police clashed with protestors in several cities.

The so-called Day X of protests in Germany, timed to coincide with the start of the war, was peaceful, with no reported arrests. In a rehash of slogans from the 1991 Gulf War, demonstrators carried placards and banners reading "No blood for oil" and "Give peace a chance."

"I'm against … that they voted for this man"

Though some protestors in Munich shouted "Killer, Killer!" as they walked past the American Consulate, anti-Americanism took a back seat to criticism of the Bush government.

"I have nothing against the American people. The only thing I'm against is that they voted for this man," said Henny Frobian, 70, who was taking part in the Alexanderplatz demonstrations.

"I belong to the generation that lived through war," she said. "We promised each other back then: 'Never again war.' Peace was our most important value."

Many of Germany's politically active postwar generation came with their children, tying anti-war bandanas onto their heads and outfitting them with mini peace flags.

"I'm, of course, worried about their future as well," said Christiane Budde, 41, watching her 6 and 3-year-old sons as her husband shot photographs. "I felt really shitty when I went to bed this morning. I had the feeling I needed to do something. I'm human. I need to be active."

German government has the people's support

Though most of the Berlin demonstrators doubted that their presence would stop the U.S.-led attack on Iraq, they said showing the rest of the world that there was opposition to the war was important nevertheless. Many wanted the German government to know their anti-war stance had the people's backing.

"The reason I'm here is to show the government that the majority of the Germans support them," said Peter Schneider, 38, a computer scientist attending his third anti-war demo. "It might not stop this war, but the next war will be more difficult."