By the end of August, there were over 1. Not only that, but German citizens back home were suffering from food shortages and illness, and started to rebel. There were strikes and demonstrations in the capital of Berlin. By the autumn of , Germany and its allies realised it was no longer possible to win the war. Those fighting alongside Germany started to withdraw from the war and - by the start of November - Germany was fighting alone. They could not win.
The leaders of the German army told the German government to end the fighting. The government asked the US for an armistice - an agreement to stop the fighting - and Germany's leader, Kaiser Wilhelm, left his job on 9 November Two days later, Germany signed the Armistice and the guns fell silent.
The fighting stopped at 11am on the eleventh day of the eleventh month. Across the UK, there were huge parties in the streets as Big Ben, which had been silenced during the war, rang out once more. But despite the celebrations, there was deep sadness. No conflict before World War One had been so devastating - most families in the UK had lost someone they loved. Millions of soldiers and ordinary citizens had lost their lives, and many more came home affected by injuries or mental trauma.
After the war, Britain, France and the US wanted to ensure that there was peace for a long time. They met up to decide how they could do this, but Germany, Austria and Hungary were not invited. Once they had made up their minds, they invited the other countries' leaders to meet them in Versailles in France, where they were presented with an agreement called the Treaty of Versailles. Germany was shocked by how strict the treaty was. For example, it said that it had to accept total blame for starting the war.
It also demanded huge costs in repayments, called reparations, to be used to help rebuild civilian areas after the devastation. But many experts now say that these costs were far higher than Germany could ever pay. Russia had capitulated in June after the Russian Revolution. Under the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, signed with Germany on 3 March , the Russian empire had been split and its constituent countries restored to independence, but they were quickly occupied by Germany.
After the armistice, the question of who controlled Russia remained. As winter approached, the British Government had to decide whether to retain forces in the region as with the extreme cold, there was the risk of being frozen in until the following year.
But even before November , with Russia engaged in civil war, her former allies were concerned about Bolshevik ambitions. The newly independent countries, Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania, were also anxious, and appealed to the Allied governments for support.
In Britain, thoughts of assistance were counterbalanced by fears of being drawn in to a foreign conflict with further loss of life. Part of the armistice agreement was that German troops in the Baltics should remain in the area as a precaution against Bolshevism. After the armistice, the number of allied troops in the region increased. The reasons for engagement had changed, but they still faced loss of life. An armistice is a ceasefire, not an official end to war.
Demobilisation of British, colonial and imperial troops did not finish until , considerably longer than servicemen had anticipated. This caused more than one mutiny. Despite the unlikeliness that the Central Powers would resume combat, troops had to be prepared to fight again. Whilst we remember all those who died, and how 11 November represented the end of the war for most, this was not true for all and there was still fighting and dying after the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month of Joseph E.
Tags: Armistice , First world war. Tsar Nicholas II of Russia , who found himself caught between Russia's loyalty to Serbia, and his desire to avoid war on the continent.
Skip to header Skip to main content Skip to footer. In Depth. Remembrance Day: why do we fall silent and wear poppies? How did World War One end? The most moving First World War poems.
June 28, - Gavrilo Princip assassinates Franz Ferdinand. July 28, - Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia. August 2, - Ottoman Empire Turkey and Germany sign a secret treaty of alliance. August 3, - Germany declares war on France. August 4, - Germany invades Belgium, leading Britain to declare war on Germany. August 10, - Austria-Hungary invades Russia. Which nation was the primary aggressor? Why did the US join the war? Is it wrong to try to point the finger? Can any individual be blamed for the First World War?
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