Armistice of 11 November 1918
At 11 a.m. on 11 November 1918 — the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month — fighting on the Western Front ceased under the terms of the Armistice signed in a railway carriage in the Forest of Compiegne. The German delegation, led by Matthias Erzberger, had requested the armistice on 7 November as Germany's military position became untenable: Allied offensives were advancing daily, the Spring Offensive had consumed the army's best assault troops, Bulgaria, Ottoman Turkey, and Austria-Hungary had already capitulated, and revolution was spreading across German cities. Kaiser Wilhelm II abdicated on 9 November and fled to the Netherlands, and a German republic was proclaimed from the window of the Berlin Palace. The armistice terms were severe: Germany was required to evacuate all occupied territory within fifteen days, withdraw all forces east of the Rhine, surrender 5,000 guns, 25,000 machine guns, 3,000 mortars, 5,000 locomotives, and 150,000 railway wagons, and accept Allied occupation of the Rhineland. The German fleet was to be interned at Scapa Flow. The naval blockade continued until a peace treaty was signed, ensuring continued German malnutrition into 1919. Four years of fighting had killed approximately 17 million people and wounded 20 million more. The armistice ended the killing but resolved none of the political contradictions that had produced the war, setting the stage for the punitive Versailles settlement seven months later.
- Year: 1918 CE
- Category: Diplomatic
