November 11 - The Armistice Ends World War I

This Day in History: 11 November 2020

 

11 November 1918

 

102 years ago, today, World War I ended when Germany signed an armistice agreement with the Allies in France. The war had left nine million soldiers dead and 21 million wounded, with Germany, Russia, Austria-Hungary, France, and Great Britain each losing nearly a million or more lives. In addition to this, at least five million civilians died from disease, starvation or exposure. The war became known as the 'war to end all wars' because of the great slaughter and destruction it caused. However, the peace treaty that officially ended the conflict, the Treaty of Versailles of 1919, forced punitive terms on Germany that destabilised Europe and laid the groundwork for World War II.

 

The war had been sparked in 1914 when Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the heir to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, was shot to death. He had been inspecting his uncle's imperial armed forces in Bosnia and Herzegovina, despite the threat of Serbian nationalists. Had Gavrilo Princip, the murderer, not been buying a sandwich on the same street as where the Archduke's car was being turned around, it could be said that the war would not have happened. The Serbian government was blamed for the attack.

 

Want to find out more about the armistice that ended the First World War? Click here for more information, or here for more about the death of Franz Ferdinand.