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Armistice Day
Front page of The New York Times on Armistice Day, 11 November 1918
Observed by	Belgium, France, United Kingdom, Germany, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria and many other countries
Significance	Commemoration of the signing of the Armistice between the Allied Powers and the Central Powers effectively ending all military operations and hostilities in all theatres and fronts of World War I at Compiègne, France
Date	11 November
Next time	11 November 2019 (2019-11-11)
Frequency	Annual
First time	World's first official observance at Buckingham Palace, London, on 11 November 1919
Related to	Coincides with Remembrance Day and Veterans Day; and related to Remembrance Sunday

Armistice Day celebrations in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on 11 November 1918

Armistice Day is commemorated every year on 11 November to mark the armistice signed between the Allies of World War I and Germany at Compiègne, France at 5:45 am,^[1] for the cessation of hostilities on the Western Front of World War I, which took effect at eleven o'clock in the morning—the "eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month" of 1918. But, according to Thomas R. Gowenlock, an intelligence officer with the US First Division, shelling from both sides continued for the rest of the day, only ending at nightfall.^[2][3] The armistice initially expired after a period of 36 days and had to be extended several times. A formal peace agreement was only reached when the Treaty of Versailles was signed the following year.^[4]

The date is a national holiday in France, and was declared a national holiday in many Allied nations.

During World War II, many countries changed the name of the holiday. Member states of the Commonwealth of Nations adopted Remembrance Day, while the US chose Veterans Day.^[5] In some countries Armistice Day coincides with other public holidays.

On 11 November 2018, the centenary of the World War One Armistice, commemorations were held globally. In France, more than 60 heads of government and heads of state gathered at the Arc de Triomphe in Paris.^[6]

History in Allied countries

The first Armistice Day was held at Buckingham Palace, commencing with King George V, hosting a "Banquet in Honour of the President of the French Republic"^[7] during the evening hours of 10 November 1919. The first official Armistice Day events were subsequently held in the grounds of Buckingham Palace on the morning of 11 November 1919,^[8] which included a two-minute silence as a mark of respect for those who died in the war and those left behind.^[9] This would set the trend for a day of remembrance for decades to come.

Similar ceremonies developed in other countries during the inter-war period.
In South Africa, for example, the Memorable Order of Tin Hats had by the late 1920s developed a ceremony whereby the toast of "Fallen Comrades" was observed not only in silence but darkness, all except for the "Light of Remembrance", with the ceremony ending with the Order's anthem "Old Soldiers Never Die".^{[10][Note 1]}

In Britain, beginning in 1939, the two-minute silence was moved to the Sunday nearest to 11 November in order not to interfere with wartime production should 11 November fall on a weekday.^[12] This became Remembrance Sunday.

After the end of World War II, most member states of the Commonwealth of Nations, like the United Kingdom and (as Canada had in 1931), adopted the name Remembrance Day.^[13]

Other countries also changed the name of the holiday just prior to or after World War II, to honor veterans of that and subsequent conflicts. The United States chose All Veterans Day, later shortened to 'Veterans Day', to explicitly honor military veterans, including those participating in other conflicts.^[14]

21st century

In the United Kingdom and Commonwealth countries, both Remembrance Day and Remembrance Sunday are commemorated formally, but are not public holidays. The National Service of Remembrance is held in London on Remembrance Sunday.

In the United States, Veterans Day honours American veterans, both living and dead. The official national remembrance of those killed in action is Memorial Day, which predates World War I. Some, including American novelist Kurt Vonnegut and American Veteran For Peace Rory Fanning, have urged Americans to resume observation of 11 November as Armistice Day, a day to reflect on how we can achieve peace as it was originally observed.^[15]

In Poland, National Independence Day is a public holiday, celebrated on 11 November to commemorate the anniversary of the restoration of Poland's sovereignty as the Second Polish Republic in 1918, after 123 years of partition by the Russian Empire, the Kingdom of Prussia and the Habsburg Empire.

Presidential couples of France and Spain in the centenary commemoration of the Armistice, 2018

"Armistice Day" remains the name of the holiday in France ("Armistice de la Première Guerre mondiale")^[16] and Belgium.^[17]

It has been a statutory holiday in Serbia since 2012. Serbia is an Allied force that suffered the biggest casualty rate in World War I. To commemorate their victims, people in Serbia wear Natalie's ramonda as a symbol of remembrance.^[18]

Ceremonies are held in Kenya over the weekend two weeks after Armistice Day. This is because of the armistice only reached African forces, the King's African Rifles, still fighting with great success in today's Zambia about a fortnight later, where the German and British commanders then had to agree on the protocols for their own armistice ceremony.^[19]

See also

• Remembrance Day


• Timeline of World War I

Footnotes

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Armistice Day.

• Dalisson, Rémi: Remembrance day: 11 November 1922-Today (France) in: 1914-1918-online. International Encyclopedia of the First World War.