The armistice of 11 November 1918 was the armistice signed at Francport near Compiègne, which ended the fighting on land, at sea and in the air during the First World War between the Allies and their last remaining adversary, Germany. Previously, armistices had been agreed with Bulgaria, the Ottoman Empire and the Austro-Hungarian monarchy. Also known as the Armistice of Compiègne from the place where it was signed at 5:45 am.m. .m by the Allied commander-in-chief, French Marshal Ferdinand Foch[1], it entered into force at 11:00.m.m. The Paris period of 11 November 1918 marked a victory for the Allies and a defeat for Germany, although formally not a surrender. In the early morning of November 11, Erzberger and Foch met for the final negotiations. According to Lowry, the German envoy did his best to convince Foch to make the deal less stringent. Foch made some small changes, including the Germans leaving some of their weapons. Finally, just before sunrise, the agreement was signed. Negotiations for the final armistice with Germany on the Western Front began on November 9, 1918 in the forest of Compiègne – the same day that Emperor Wilhelm II abdicated and Germany was declared a republic. The head of the German delegation, Matthias Erzberger, pleaded in vain for lenient conditions. The armistice, which came into force on 11 November, ordered the immediate evacuation by the Germans of Belgium, France, Luxembourg and Alsace-Lorraine, the Allied occupation of West Germany and the strength of the German army. But the war ended with a ceasefire, an agreement in which both sides agree to stop fighting rather than capitulate.
For both sides, a ceasefire was the quickest way to end the misery and carnage of the war. The last Canadian and Commonwealth soldier to die, Private George Lawrence Price, was shot dead by a sniper as part of a force that advanced north of Mons at 10:58 a.m. .m in the Belgian town of Ville-sur-Haine just two minutes before the armistice to be recognized as one of the last killed with a monument in his name. Henry Gunther, an American, is widely regarded as the last soldier killed in World War I. He was killed 60 seconds before the armistice came into effect when he blamed the astonished German troops who knew the armistice was almost ahead of them. He had been desperate about his recent reranking and was apparently trying to redeem his reputation. [29] [30] On November 10, Emperor Wilhelm went into exile, leaving Germany to the leaders of his most prominent political parties. .
