The Armistice of November 11, 1918, was an agreement between the Entente and Germany, their final adversary in the First World War, that put an end to warfare on land, sea, and in the air.

It was signed at Le Francport near Compiègne. Previous armistices had been reached with Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, and the Ottoman Empire.

The agreement was reached after the German government contacted American president Woodrow Wilson to negotiate terms based on his most recent speech and the previously stated "Fourteen Points," which later served as the foundation for Germany's capitulation at the Paris Peace Conference the following year.

The Austro-Hungarian Empire was in disarray, the Ottoman Empire was on the verge of collapse, and in the Macedonian front, the Bulgarian Army's resistance had crumbled, resulting in the Armistice of Salonica on September 29.

Although morale on the German front line was reasonable, a severe manpower shortage had been caused by battle casualties, starvation rations, and Spanish flu.

Those recruits that were still available were war-weary and disenchanted. In Germany, chronic food shortages brought on by the Allied blockade were increasingly causing unrest and disorder.

As a precondition for negotiations, Wilson demanded the retreat of Germany from all occupied territories, the cessation of submarine activities and the Kaiser's abdication, writing on October 23:

"If the Government of the United States must deal with the military masters and the monarchical autocrats of Germany now, or if it is likely to have to deal with them later in regard to the international obligations of the German Empire, it must demand not peace negotiations but surrender."

Late in October 1918, General Erich Ludendorff experienced a significant change of heart regarding the terms proposed by the Allies.

He now considered these terms to be intolerable, reversing his earlier position from just a month prior when he had declared the war effectively over and had pushed for an armistice.

Despite Ludendorff's sudden shift, the German Army was already grappling with low morale, increasing desertions, and severe resource shortages, making the resumption of hostilities a daunting prospect.

On the 6^th November 1918, President Wilson's latest letter outlining the conditions for the ceasefire was delivered to Berlin.

Recognizing the urgency and gravity of the situation, the German delegation, led by Matthias Erzberger, promptly departed for France on the same day to engage in the crucial negotiations.

Erzberger and his team faced the monumental task of securing an armistice under increasingly stringent conditions, navigating the complex political and military landscape to bring an end to the devastating conflict that had ravaged Europe for four long years.

The sailors' uprising, which occurred on the night of October 29 to 30, 1918, in the naval port of Wilhelmshaven, marked a significant turning point in Germany's internal stability during the final days of the First World War and sparked off the German Revolution.

The mutiny quickly spread across the entire nation, fueled by widespread war fatigue, severe food shortages, and general discontent with the Imperial leadership.

This uprising set off a chain reaction of revolutionary activities that culminated in the proclamation of a republic on November 9, 1918, and the abdication announcement of Kaiser Wilhelm II.

In several areas, the unrest led soldiers to question the authority of their commanders. Some of these soldiers formed Troops' Councils, which were grassroots democratic bodies aiming to take control of military and political matters.

A notable example was the Troops' Council established in Brussels on November 9 by soldiers participating in the revolution. These councils often aligned with the revolutionary movement, advocating for an end to the war and the establishment of a more democratic governance structure.

On the same day, November 9, Max von Baden, the then Chancellor of Germany, appointed Social Democrat Friedrich Ebert as his successor.

This political shift was significant given the historical tensions between Ebert's Social Democratic Party (SPD) and the Imperial government, dating back to Bismarck's reign in the 1870s and 1880s.

The SPD, alongside Erzberger's Catholic Centre Party, had long advocated for a negotiated peace within the Imperial Reichstag, although their influence over the administration had been minimal.

The revolutionary turmoil and the establishment of the Weimar Republic significantly impacted the armistice negotiations.

The new government's urgent need to stabilize the country and prevent further revolutionary escalation added pressure to quickly secure an armistice.

The German delegation, led by Matthias Erzberger, faced the dual challenge of negotiating with the Allies while managing the domestic revolutionary fervor.

The internal unrest weakened Germany's bargaining position, compelling the delegation to accept the stringent conditions set forth by the Allies, including territorial withdrawals, cessation of submarine warfare, and the abdication of the Kaiser.

Late at night, the Germans urgently radioed Marshal Ferdinand Foch, the Allied forces' commander-in-chief, seeking permission to dispatch a delegation for armistice negotiations and proposing a general cease-fire.

Foch, responding 45 minutes later, disregarded the cease-fire but granted approval for the German delegation.

At 8:00 p.m. on 7^th November, amid the treacherous landscape of artillery craters and barbed wire in northern France, three vehicles navigated through no-man’s land.

A German bugler declared a truce, and a soldier waved a white flag. After transferring to a French car and then boarding a train, the German envoys traveled through the night.

By the morning of the 8^th November, they arrived at a railroad siding in the Forest of Compiègne, adjacent to Foch’s railroad car – the chosen venue for the pivotal meeting

The "fourteen commandments" presented a challenge for the Allied statesmen because, up until that point, they had viewed them as a clever and successful piece of American propaganda intended primarily to undermine the fighting spirit of the Central Powers and to boost the morale of the weaker Allies.

All of a sudden, the entire peace structure was to be based on a set of "vague principles" that, to them, were mostly utterly impossible and, if truly applied, some of which were just intolerable.

The Armistice brought a definitive end to the First World War, but its terms were particularly harsh and led to significant consequences for Germany.

The German military was compelled to fully demilitarize, a condition that stripped Germany of its ability to wage war or defend itself effectively.

The Allies, meanwhile, offered few commitments in return for this total demilitarization, demonstrating their intent to ensure Germany could not rearm and pose a future threat.

The gravity of the situation was further compounded on the 10th November, 1918, when the German delegation was shown Parisian newspapers announcing the abdication of Kaiser Wilhelm II.

This news signaled the end of the German Empire and a significant shift in the country's governance.

On the same day, Friedrich Ebert, head of the new German government, instructed Erzberger to sign the Armistice.

Paul von Hindenburg, the chief of the German High Command, had already communicated to the cabinet that signing the Armistice was imperative, regardless of the unaltered Allied terms.

Following the signing, the Rhineland was occupied by Allied forces, including American, Belgian, British, and French troops.

This occupation aimed to ensure compliance with the Armistice terms and prevent any resurgence of German militarism.

The presence of these foreign troops on German soil symbolized the complete military and political subjugation of Germany, marking a significant moment in European history and setting the stage for the post-war peace negotiations.

Eastern and African Fronts

• Immediate withdrawal of all German troops in Romania and in what were the Ottoman Empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Russian Empire back to German territory as it was on 1 August 1914, although tacit support was given to the pro-German West Russian Volunteer Army under the guise of combating the Bolsheviks. The Allies to have access to these countries.
• Renunciation of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with Russia and of the Treaty of Bucharest with Romania.
• Evacuation of German forces in Africa.

The armistice was struck at five o'clock this morning, and hostilities are to halt on all fronts at eleven o'clock today, British Prime Minister David Lloyd George declared in a subjoined formal communiqué released from the Press Bureau at 10:20 a.m.

In line with the conditions of the Armistice, hostilities on the fronts of the American soldiers were ceased at eleven o'clock this morning, according to a statement made public by the United States at 2:30 pm.

Clemenceau, Foch, and the British admiral arrived at the Élysée Palace five minutes later. The Ministry of War and the Élysée Palace flew flags as bells rung around Paris in response to the first shot fired from the Eiffel Tower.

Clemenceau answered the appeal from the 500 students who had assembled in front of the Ministry by appearing on the balcony. "Vive la France!" said Clemenceau, and the crowd repeated him.

The armistice was officially declared at 11:00 a.m. by firing the first peace shot from Fort Mont-Valérien, but the general public already knew this due to official channels and publications.

Even though word of the impending ceasefire had filtered among the frontline troops in the preceding hours, fighting persisted in several areas of the front until the scheduled hour.

There was some impromptu friendly interaction between the two sides at 11 a.m. However, responses were often subdued. 

According to a British corporal: "...the Germans came from their trenches, bowed to us and then went away. That was it. There was nothing with which we could celebrate, except cookies."  Exultation and ecstasy were uncommon on the Allied side.

After 52 arduous months of battle, there was some applause and cheering, but quiet and emptiness predominated.

The 1919 Paris Peace Conference and Treaty of Versailles ultimately brought about the peace between the Allies and Germany.