November 11: On This Day in World History … briefly
The common British, Canadian, South African, and ANZAC tradition includes a one- or two-minute silence at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month (11:00 am, 11 November), as that marks the time (in the United Kingdom) when the armistice became effective.
1918: Lest We Forget: The Great War ends
After four years and 97 days, guns finally fell silent. In a carriage of Marshal Foch’s train in the Forest of Compiègne, Foch, General Weygand and British Admiral Sir Rosslyn Wemyss accepted the German surrender from a civilian, Reichstag Deputy Matthias Erzberger, and two junior generals.
The German high command had no intention of getting involved in surrender negotiations and stayed away. The Armistice document required Germany to hand over 5 000 heavy guns, 30 000 machine guns, 2 000 aircraft, all U-boats, 5 000 locomotives, 150 000 wagons and 5 000 lorries; the surface fleet would be interned, Allies would occupy the Rhineland and the blockade of German seaports would remain in force.
The Kaiser abdicated and fled to Holland. The number of lives lost in the war is though to be around 9 million, with another 27 billion injured. The war cost the Allies some $126 billion (£68.5 billion), the Central Powers $60 billion (£32.6 billion). It was undoubtedly the most destructive war the world has ever seen.
Most notable historic snippets or facts extracted from the book ‘On This Day’ first published in 1992 by Octopus Publishing Group Ltd, London, as well as additional supplementary information extracted from Wikipedia.
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