Armistice of 11 November 1918 ends the fighting
- Date
- 11 November 1918
- Category
- Military & conflict
- Region
- Western Europe (France) / Global
- Era
- Modern
- Significance
The Armistice between the Allies and Germany was signed at around 5:45 a.m.
on 11 November 1918 in a railway carriage in the Compiègne Forest in France and took effect at 11:00 a.m., 'the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month', ending the fighting of World War I on the Western Front. The terms, drafted largely under Marshal Ferdinand Foch, required Germany to cease hostilities, withdraw west of the Rhine, surrender large quantities of arms, warships, and aircraft, release Allied prisoners, and accept continued Allied occupation and naval blockade. The armistice followed the collapse of the Central Powers, the Ottoman Empire, Bulgaria, and Austria-Hungary had already sought terms, and revolution in Germany that forced Kaiser Wilhelm II's abdication. The war had killed an estimated 9 to 10 million combatants and millions of civilians. The date is still commemorated as Armistice Day, Remembrance Day, and Veterans Day.
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Empires active in 11 November 1918
- Empire of Japan1868 CE to 1947 CE
- French Colonial Empire (Second)1830 CE to 1962 CE
- German Empire1871 CE to 1918 CE
- British Empire1583 CE to 1997 CE
- Spanish Empire1492 CE to 1976 CE
- Portuguese Empire1415 CE to 1999 CE
Related military & conflict events
- Assassination of Franz Ferdinand and the outbreak of World War I28 June to 4 August 1914
- Russo-Japanese War and Japan's Rise as a Great Power1904 to 1905
- Italy Invades Ethiopia1935 to 1936
- Second Sino-Japanese War and the Nanjing Massacre7 July 1937 to 2 September 1945
- German invasion of Poland and outbreak of World War II1 September 1939
- Attack on Pearl Harbor7 December 1941
Essential reading
- Haber-Bosch Process Industrialises Synthetic Nitrogen FertiliserSeptember 1913
- 1931 Central China FloodsJune to August 1931
- The Dust Bowl1930 to 1940 (peak 1934 to 1936)
- Cárdenas Nationalises Mexico's Oil1938
Further reading
The wider story
The Penguin History of the World
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