Historical Context
At the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, 1918, the First World War came to an end. The armistice - the fourth of three armistices which had already taken Germany's three main allies out of the war - meant total victory for the Allies and the collapse of Germany.
The armistice was not a formal surrender - this would come later with the Treaty of Versailles - but it ended all the active fighting. Celebrations occurred across the world after its announcement as the "war to end all wars" had finally come to an end.
Of course this peace would only last twenty-some years. The rise of the Nazi Party gave rise to the stab in the back myth that the German Army was betrayed by the "November Criminals" who signed the armistice.
Painting Info
Artist: Unknown
Location painted: Compiegne, France
Source: Wikimedia Commons
Related Events
- 1918-10-20 In order to secure a WWI armistice, Germany agrees to further concessions
- 1918-10-26 Germany's supreme commander General Eric Ludendorff resigns, protesting the terms to which the German Government has agreed in negotiating an armistice
- 1918-11-07 United Press erroneously reports WWI armistice had been signed
- 1918-11-11 WWI Armistice signed by the Allies and Germany comes into effect and World War I hostilities end at 11am, "the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month"
- 1919-05-08 Edward George Honey first proposes the idea of a moment of silence to commemorate The Armistice of World War I, leads to the creation of Remembrance Day
- 2018-11-11 On centenary of WWI Armistice Day French President Macron urges world to reject Nationalism in speech to under Arc de Triomphe in Paris
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