Armistice Day 2011 was marked at 11.00 hours with two-minute silences anywhere in memory of ceasefire with agreement which effectively ended the “Great War”, as World War One until 1939. It happened in the morning on 11 November 1918 in Europe. Generally the front saw long periods of low action and starving, freezing and they would like to get a cup of black coffee to warm their cold hands. But they still had to work. Until Germany had its own trouble from within with revolutionaries agreed to a cease-fire along the entire Western Front at 11 am. Upon testimonies, between 1915 and 1920, Germans had a lack of food and supplies. It’s the “hunger generation” who became the most radical followers of Hitler.
Kaiser Wilhelm II abdicates the throne of the German Empire after revolution breaks out in Germany. After two days, Allied and German military leaders implement an armistice.
Then the new German government issues an appeal to President Wilson to negotiate peace. But the conference didn’t open until Jan. 18 1919 because British prime minister, David Lloyd George chose to have his mandate confirmed.
German Army go home because they had a morale in evident decline on the Western Front, and the bodies of dead lie no more on the streets. There will be ten million of deads whose seven hundred thousand will stay unidentified.
Paris Peace Conference took place in Paris and involved diplomats from more than 32 countries and nationalities to build a lasting peace and decide what to do with defeated.
From time to time, they met and discussed various options and developed a series of treaties (“Paris Peace Treaties”) for the post-war world. They talk in english cause there’s President Woodrow Wilson.
President Wilson came to the Paris with his ‘Fourteen Points’, which were fourteen different things that he believed should be included in the treaty. They included freedom of seas, open diplomacy, removal of trade barriors, and creating new countries such as Poland and Czecholovakia. And he leave with some disappointment though, because many of his 14 Points were ignored, England opposed freedom of seas, and only defeated countries were forced to disarm.
Eventually five treaties emerged from the Conference to deal with the defeated powers. These treaties were named after the Paris suburbs: There are Versailles (Germany), St Germain (Austria), Trianon (Hungary), Neuilly (Bulgaria) and Serves (Turkey). These treaties imposed territorial losses, financial liabilities and military restrictions on all members of the Central Powers.
Cartographers redraw frontiers because the big four _ Georges Clemenceau, Prime minister of France, David Lloyd George, Prime minister of United Kingdom, Victorio Orlando, Prime minister of Italy not present at the end, and Woodrow Wilson, President of the USA _ approve the proposal to create the “League of Nations” whose principal mission was to improve a better security of the France against the Germany and maintain world peace for the next generations.
In the end he had achieved self-determination for Poland, Czecholovakia, and other new countries and the League of Nations were created (but the US never aproved the treaty and the US never joined the League of nations and it fell apart after a few years).
Lloyd George achieved a very reduced German Navy and gained many colonies for Germany but he disliked Clemenceau’s harshness and disagree with some parts of the treaty.
Clemenceau achieved disarmament of Germany, regaining Alsace-Lorraine taken in the Franco-Prussian Warm, harm reparations, and Clause 231 said that Germany is blamed for all the damage in the war.
Finally, the Germans can not pay for the war more than ten milliard marks but they accept to sign in June 1919.
The Treaty of Versailles was proposed twice. Because the Senate rejected the treaty, Then the Treaty of Versailles was defeated. In fact, Germany defaulted on nearly all of their war reparations (and nobody intervened, paving the way to isolationism and another World War), but France wanted even more far-reaching economic concessions. They issued claim to nearly all of the Saarland, the center of German industrialism. Fortunately for Germany, this didn’t become part of the treaty. However, economic crippling would have prevented remilitarization in the 1930’s.
President Woodrow Wilson tired promote the Leage of Nations in USA. He proclaimed Nov. 11 as the first commemoration of Armistice Day with the following words:
“To us in America, the reflections of Armistice Day will be filled with solemn pride in the heroism of those who died in the country’s service and with gratitude for the victory, both because of the thing from which it has freed us and because of the opportunity it has given America to show her sympathy with peace and justice in the councils of the nations…“
President Wilson wins the Nobel Peace Prize in 1919 for his efforts to secure a lasting peace after the Great War. and He will die in feb. 1924.
If it involved all the greatest power of today: the United Kingdom, the Ireland, the Russian empire, France, Belgium, Canada, Australia, Italy, New Zealand, Japan, Portugal and the US against the Germany; it’s more than 70 million military personnel, including 60 million Europeans, who were mobilised in one of the largest wars in history who served their country. It’s generally regarded by the people as the end of “the war to end all wars”.
The original concept for the celebration was for a day observed with parades and public meetings and a brief suspension of business beginning at 11:00 a.m.
In South Africa and Malta it is more commonly known as Poppy Day. It is a national holiday in France and Belgium.
The significance of the poppy is because the fields in Flanders were seen to be covered in poppies in the Spring of 1919, as indeed they have been every Spring since, and this has been taken as being symbolic of the blood that was shed.In England, Wales and Northern Ireland the poppies appeal is run by the Royal British Legion and in Scotland by the Earl Haig Fund Scotland.
And in Poland, 11th November 1918 is celebrated as Independence Day, as this was the date on which Poland became reunited, having been divided between Russia, Prussia, and Austria for 123 years.
It’s thanks to these million of heroes who have been killed, served, fought not only for their lives, but also for values, beliefs and others lives. At the same time they give us another chance to keep the key human rights issues such as freedom or democracy in the present-day society.
But the history it’s not too far. in the 21st Century, they fight not only abroad on battlefields against fascist groups but at Home. And it is designed to protect world population sinds schools and colleges, using drama, media, arts and sport; or to their surprise by meeting surviving veterans who have the obligation to inform them at what they can make in today and tomorrow’s communities to protect against the violent extremist messages. And there’s considerable interest in and support to fight the branch of those leaderships who are inspired by Pre-World War 2 Fascism.