Armistice

(Nov. 11, 1918) Agreement between Germany and the Allies ending World War I. Allied representatives met with a German delegation in a railway carriage at Rethondes, France, to discuss terms. The agreement was signed on Nov. 11, 1918, and the war ended at 11:00 AM that day (“the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month”). The principal term was that Germany would evacuate Belgium, France, and Alsace-Lorraine. Negotiations formalizing the armistice were conducted at the Paris Peace Conference. Later a “stab in the back” legend developed in Germany, asserting that the German military situation had not been hopeless and that traitorous politicians had done the Allies' bidding by signing the Armistice.

Learn more about Armistice with a free trial on Britannica.com.

An armistice is a situation where the warring parties agree to stop fighting. It is not necessarily the end of a war, but can instead be just a cease fire. It is derived from the Latin arma, meaning weapons and statium, meaning a stopping.

A truce or ceasefire usually refers to a temporary cessation of hostilities for an agreed limited time or within a limited area. A truce may be needed in order to negotiate an armistice. An armistice is a modus vivendi and is not the same as a peace treaty, which may take months or even years to agree on. The 1953 Korean War armistice is a major example of an armistice which has not yet been followed by a peace treaty.

The United Nations Security Council often imposes or tries to impose cease-fire resolutions on parties in modern conflicts. Armistices are always negotiated between the parties themselves and are thus generally seen as more binding than non-mandatory UN cease-fire resolutions in modern international law.

The key aspect in an armistice is the fact that "all fighting ends with no one surrendering". This is in contrast to an unconditional surrender, which is a surrender without conditions, except for those provided by international law.

Notable armistices in history

The most notable armistice, and the one which is still meant when people say simply "The Armistice", is the armistice at the end of World War I, on 11 November, 1918, signed near Compiègne, France, and effective at the "eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month."

Armistice Day is still celebrated in some places on the anniversary of that armistice; alternatively November 11, or a Sunday near to it, may still be observed as a Remembrance Day.

Other armistices in history are:

• Armistice of Copenhagen of 1537 ended the Danish war known as the Count's Feud.
• Armistice of Stuhmsdorf of 1635 between the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and Sweden.
• Peace of Westphalia of 1648 that ended the Thirty Years' War.
• World War I
• Armistice between Russia and the Central Powers, at Brest-Litovsk, 1917 (see Treaty of Brest-Litovsk)
• Armistice with Bulgaria, also known as the Armistice of Solun, September 1918
• Armistice with Germany (Compiègne), 1918
• Austrian-Italian Armistice of Villa Giusti ended the First World War on the Italian front in early November 1918
• Armistice of Mudros Between the Ottoman Empire and the Allies, 1918

• Armistice of Mudanya between Turkey, Italy, France and Britain and later Greece, 1922.
• World War II
• Armistice with France (Second Compiègne), 1940
• Armistice of Saint Jean d'Acre between British forces in the Middle East and Vichy France forces in Syria, 1941
• Armistice with Italy, 1943
• Moscow Armistice, signed by Finland and the Soviet Union on September 19, 1944 ending the Continuation War.
• (Germany implemented an unconditional surrender at the end of the war, immediately prior to V-E day)
• Japanese Instrument of Surrender

• 1949 Armistice Agreements between Israel and its neighbors Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.
• Korean War Armistice, July 1953.
• Armistice of Trung Gia signed by France and the Viet Minh on July 20, 1954 ending the First Indochina War.
• 1962 armistice in Algeria attempted to end the Algerian War.

References

External links

• Allied Armistice Terms, 11 November 1918. The War to End All Wars. FirstWorldWar.com. Retrieved on 2007-01-04..