10 Interesting Facts About The End Of The First World War

by Colin Fraser

 

Here are ten interesting facts about the Armistice, that ended WW II.

 

1- The Kiel Mutiny and German Revolution was the final blow to the German Empire

Text supplied by the German Federal Archive: “With the rebellion of the sailors and workers on 3 November 1918 in Kiel the November revolution starts. On 6 November the revolutionary movement reaches Wilhelmshaven. Our picture shows the soldiers’ council of the Prinzregent Luitpold.”

The German Empire was in a desperate position and many knew that The Great War was not winnable. Some Imperial Army commanders still had schemes for victory and the Imperial Navy wanted to engage the British Royal Navy in a decisive battle, but on November 3^rd, 1918, the sailors of Germany’s High Seas Fleet revolted in the Kiel Mutiny.
The revolt spread through all of Germany and in a few days Kaiser Wilhelm II abdicated and the transition to the Weimar Republic began. On November 10^th, Chief of the General Staff Paul von Hindenburg instructed the German delegation currently negotiating the terms of the Armistice to sign whatever terms and conditions and quickly due, to growing riots and unrest at home.

 

2 – While many leaders were happy to end the fighting with an armistice, some wanted more

Though the Armistice ending World War I was essentially a German surrender, it still can’t quite be called true peace. And even if one calls it a peace, it wasn’t truly a full defeat, a complete victory.
General John J. Pershing, commander of the American Expeditionary Force, for one example, even after it was obvious the military might of the Allies was heavily beating Germany’s forces, he wanted to crush the Germans, believing that only their total defeat would keep the nations of Europe from fighting again before long.

3 – At 5:12 AM on November 11^th, 1918, the Armistice was signed in Marshal Foch’s train car

In the Forest of Compiègne sat French Marshal and Allied Supreme Command Ferdinand Jean Marie Foch’s private train and the railcar where Western Allied and German commanders and politicians signed the agreement to cease hostilities.

 

The French turned the car into a monument. When Hitler returned to France with Nazi Germany’s invasion a little of two decades later, he forced the French to sign the surrender of their country in the exact same car. He later ordered it blown up to avoid a similar symbolic gesture returned in kind to Germany.

Allied representatives at the signing of the Armistice on November 11th, 1918 outside Marshal Foch’s (second from right) rail car.

4 – Though the Armistice was signed just after 5:00 AM, fighting went on for several more hours

Reproduction of recording tape (from November 11, 1918 @ 11:00 AM) recovered from an American sound ranging apparatus showing 1 minute before and 1 minute after the cease fire ending World War I.

The eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month was agreed as the time hostilities between Germany and the Western Allies would end. Fighting continued up until the last minute. Future American president Harry S. Truman, now an artillery captain, kept his battery firing until the final moments.

5 – Much of the Armistice was built on American President Woodrow Wilson’s “14 Points”

In a speech on January 8^th, 1918, Wilson outlined his principles for peace and the end to the war between the major nations of the Western world in 14 points. These points included Germany evacuating troops from occupied areas, the dismantling of the Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman Empires into separate nations, to be free and autonomous, and the understanding of self-determination for many countries.
Where self-determination was a condition that worked out well for many countries, places like south-eastern Europe would struggle with this for decades to come as various peoples sought to govern themselves. Likewise, the Middle East has also struggled to work with and maintain the borders set up by European leaders in secret agreements after the war.

6 – The Armistice, understandably, was very unfavorable to Germany

Among the Armistice’s 35 terms were the cessation of all hostilities by 11:00 AM the same day, the immediate removal of all German troops from territories outside of Germany’s August 1^st, 1914 borders, and the return of all POWs held by Germany.
Upon signing, Germany was also required to disarm their High Seas Fleet and surrender all their submarines to Allied powers. The Allied naval blockade of Germany was to stay in place while armistice was in effect, however.

 

Furthermore, the terms stated that Allied armies were to occupy 30 km bridgeheads in several places along the Rhine river for which Germany was to pay for. The general outline for war reparations from Germany to be paid to Allied nations for damage and the cost of the war was also included.

The Hindenberg Line at Bullecourt. Damage to the countryside from artillery and other ravages of war clearly visible

7 – Paris Celebrated victory

Armistice Day Celebrations, Paris, 11 November 1918 An American sailor, an American Red Cross Nurse and two British soldiers celebrating the signing of the Armistice, near the Paris Gate at Vincennes, Paris.

That morning, flags were unfurled and bells rang out across Paris. Hundreds of students gathered at the Ministry of War and Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau came out to proclaim “Vive la France!” and the whole crowd cried the same.

8 – When the ceasefire took effect at 11:00 AM, celebration on the front looked quite different

Men of the U.S. Army 64th Infantry Regiment of 7th Division I Corps celebrate the end of World War I

There was some cheers and happiness among the troops and even some men that crossed the line to celebrate with their former enemy. But, for the most part, the troops were sombre, quiet and exhausted after a long war. According to Jörn Leonhard, one British corporal recalled “…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” .

 

9 – These are the names of the last soldiers killed in each army on the Western Front

• George Edward Ellison, a British soldier killed at 9:30 AM
• Augustin Trébuchon, a French soldier killed at 10:45 AM
• George Lawrence Price, a Canadian soldier killed at 10:58 AM
• Henry Gunther, an American soldier killed at 10:59 AM
• Lt. Tomas, a German who was killed after the 11:00 AM deadline by American troops who didn’t receive word of the ceasefire.

10 – The “stab in the back” myth was born

This myth, exploited by the Nazi’s in their rise to power, began when German troops started coming home. Many, especially right-wing nationalists, believed that the forces of Germany had not been defeated, but undermined and betrayed by the new civilian government of the Weimar Republic trying to seize full power.
However, the facts are against this notion, are that the Imperial Army and Navy no longer supported the Kaiser, the Navy was in full mutiny, and the people of Germany were rioting and starving with various Socialist and Bolshevik groups trying to stage a revolution.
By Colin Fraser for War History Online