The term “armistice” means a cessation of hostilities as a prelude to peace negotiations. In the context of the First World War ‘the armistice’ is generally referred to in context of the agreement between the Germans and the Allies to end the war on November 11, 1918.
However it was by no means the only armistice of the war. The battle on the Eastern Front was brought to a close in December 1917 (and followed by the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk), as was Romania’s war (resulting in the Treaty of Bucharest).
Germany may have agreed an armistice on November 11, but Bulgaria called it quits on 30 September of the same year, 1918. Turkey and Austria-Hungary – the latter having essentially sparked the war in the first place – concluded an armistice within days of each other, on 30 October and 3 November 1918; both were exhausted and could no longer continue to prosecute the war.
However the most significant armistice was signed at 5 a.m. on the morning of 11 November 1918, and came into effect six hours later at 11 a.m. (hence the oft-quoted ‘eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month’). Read more
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