ON THIS DAY ·
Armistice ends the First World War
At the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, the guns of the First World War fall silent.
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The moment in context
The German fleet’s leaders ordered a last sortie in late October 1918. For the sailors at Kiel, the prospect was clear: they were being asked to risk their lives against the British fleet when a victory at sea could no longer change the outcome of the war. They refused. Their mutiny became a revolution, as workers’ and soldiers’ councils appeared across Germany. On 9 November the Kaiser abdicated, and a republic was proclaimed almost in passing.
From Armistice and the end of WWI, chapter 13 of The Great War, 1871–1923 (NOV 1918).
Teach this in 5 minutes
- Why it happened — Collapse from the rear, forced from the front. The military and domestic crises reinforced each other. Germany’s army was retreating, surrendering in mass, losing its allies and facing a front…
- The turn — The eleventh hour, 11 November 1918. At Compiègne, Catholic politician Matthias Erzberger signs for Germany. The generals have arranged for civilians to take responsibility for defeat;…
- What it changed — Four empires, one map of hatching. Scrub to 1919 to see what replaces the empires: republics in Vienna and Berlin, Soviet power in the red east, and new states from Helsinki to…
Then ask the room: Should the Allies have fought on to Berlin in 1919 instead of granting an armistice? The argued answer is on the chapter page →
The atlas that shows it
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