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106-670: The Armistice of 11 November 1918 was the armistice signed at Le Francport near Compiègne that ended fighting on land, at sea, and in the air in World War ;I between the Entente and their last remaining opponent, Germany . Previous armistices had been agreed with Bulgaria , the Ottoman Empire and Austria-Hungary . It was concluded after the German government sent a message to American president Woodrow Wilson to negotiate terms on

212-554: A Raad van Vlaanderen (RVV or the "Council of Flanders") was formed with tacit German support. Its members, all activisten , were broadly supported by the Germans but were condemned by other flamingants and the Church. The Germans subsequently made Flanders and Wallonia separate administrative regions in June 1917. On 22 December 1917, without prior consultation with the occupation authorities,

318-583: A British nurse who had lived in Belgium before the war, was arrested after helping Allied soldiers to escape the country and was executed by a German firing squad in 1915. Another résistante , Gabrielle Petit , who had participated in various forms of resistance activity, was executed in 1916 at the Tir national in Schaerbeek and became a posthumous national heroine. A resistance movement developed in Belgium soon after

424-753: A German withdrawal to the Hindenburg Line and loss of the gains of the German spring offensive . The Allied advance, later known as the Hundred Days Offensive , entered a new stage on 28 September, when a massive United States and French attack opened the Meuse–Argonne offensive , while to the north, the British were poised to assault at the St Quentin Canal , threatening a giant pincer movement . Meanwhile,

530-418: A considerable amount of instability in the new republic. The Armistice was the result of a hurried and desperate process. The German delegation headed by Erzberger crossed the front line in five cars and was escorted for ten hours across the devastated war zone of Northern France, arriving on the morning of 8 November 1918. They were then taken to the secret destination aboard Foch's private train parked in

636-528: A form of resistance. The celebration of nationalist public holidays, like 21 July (National Day), which were officially banned by the Germans, were also often accompanied by protests and demonstrations. One of the most notable acts of passive resistance was the Judges' Strike of 1918, which managed to gain concessions from the German occupiers under considerable public pressure. By 1918, civilian morale in occupied Belgium reached an all-time low. The early successes of

742-470: A guarantee for its independence. Before the war, Belgium was a constitutional monarchy and was noted for being one of the most industrialised countries in the world. On 4 August 1914, the German army invaded Belgium just days after presenting an ultimatum to the Belgian government to allow free passage of German troops across its borders. The German army advanced rapidly into Belgium, besieging and capturing

848-507: A manpower shortage in German factories important for the war effort. From 1915, the Germans encouraged Belgian civilians to enlist voluntarily to work in Germany but the 30,000 recruits of the policy proved insufficient to meet demands. By mid 1916, the situation was becoming increasingly pressing for the German army. With the appointment of Erich Ludendorff to commander of the General Staff,

954-518: A peace treaty. The Treaty of Versailles , which was officially signed on 28 June 1919, took effect on 10 January 1920. Fighting continued up until 11 a.m. CET on 11 November 1918, with 2,738 men dying on the last day of the war. The military situation for the Central Powers had been deteriorating rapidly since the Battle of Amiens at the beginning of August 1918, which precipitated

1060-610: A railway siding in the Forest of Compiègne . Foch appeared only twice in the three days of negotiations: on the first day, to ask the German delegation what they wanted, and on the last day, to see to the signatures. The Germans were handed the list of Allied demands and given 72 hours to agree. The German delegation discussed the Allied terms not with Foch, but with other French and Allied officers. The Armistice amounted to substantial German demilitarization (see list below), with few promises made by

1166-544: A religious revival. Relief organisations, which relied on foreign support to bring food and clothing to Belgian civilians, cut off from imports by the Allied naval blockade and the fighting, also became extremely important to the social and cultural life of the country. The German occupation administration repressed political dissent and launched numerous unpopular measures, including the deportation of Belgian workers to Germany and forced labour on military projects. It also supported

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1272-598: A section of the Western Front . Under the German military, Belgium was divided into three separate administrative zones. The majority of the country fell within the General Government , a formal occupation administration ruled by a German general, while the others, closer to the front line, came under more repressive direct military rule. The German occupation coincided with a widespread economic collapse in Belgium with shortages and widespread unemployment, but also with

1378-466: A series of punitive actions collectively known as the Rape of Belgium . As many as 6,500 people were killed by the German army between August and November 1914. In Leuven , the historic library of the town's university was deliberately burned. News of the atrocities, also widely exaggerated by the Allied press, raised considerable sympathy for the Belgian civilian population in occupied Belgium. The sympathy for

1484-554: A truce, now also demanding reparation payments. The latest note from Wilson was received in Berlin on 6 November 1918. That same day, the delegation led by Matthias Erzberger departed for France. Aware that the refusal of the Kaiser to abdicate was a sticking-point in negotiations with the Allies as well as an impetus to revolution within Germany, Prince Max on his own authority announced that

1590-495: A variety of formats and geographic areas, sometimes targeting specific demographics. At its height, La Libre Belgique had 600 individual contributors. The majority form of opposition, however, was passive resistance . Small patriotic badges, depicting the royal family or national colours, were extremely popular. When these symbols were banned, new ones, such as ivy leaves , were worn with similar meaning. Workers in strategic industries deliberately underperformed in their jobs as

1696-553: Is achieved." Armistice Day (which coincides with Remembrance Day and Veterans Day , public holidays) is commemorated every year on 11 November to mark the Armistice of 11 November 1918 signed between the Allies of World War I and the German Empire at Compiègne , France , for the cessation of hostilities on the Western Front of World War I , which took effect at eleven o'clock in

1802-556: Is also different from a truce or ceasefire , which refer to a temporary cessation of hostilities for an agreed limited time or within a limited area. A truce may be needed in order to negotiate an armistice. Under international law , an armistice is a legal agreement (often in a document) that ends fighting between the "belligerent parties" of a war or conflict. At the Hague Convention of 1899 , three treaties were agreed and three declarations made. The Convention with respect to

1908-524: Is likely to have to deal with them later in regard to the international obligations of the German Empire, it must demand not peace negotiations but surrender." In late October 1918, Ludendorff, in a sudden change of mind, declared the conditions of the Allies unacceptable. He now demanded the resumption of the war which he himself had declared lost only one month earlier. By this time however the German Army

2014-644: The Oberste Heeresleitung (OHL), in August 1916, the German administration began actively considering the idea of forcibly deporting Belgian workers to Germany to resolve the problem. The policy, encouraged by the high levels of unemployment in occupied Belgium, marked a wider turn towards more oppressive rule by the German administration. The deportation began in October 1916 and lasted until March 1917. In all, as many as 120,000 workers had been deported to Germany by

2120-583: The Allied blockade were increasingly leading to discontent and disorder. Although morale on the German front line was reasonable, battlefield casualties, starvation rations and Spanish flu had caused a desperate shortage of manpower, and those recruits that were available were war-weary and disaffected. On 29 September 1918, the German Supreme Army Command at Imperial Army Headquarters in Spa of occupied Belgium informed Emperor Wilhelm II and

2226-504: The Battle of Verdun in 1916 marked a turning point in the occupation and was followed by more repressive measures by the administration, including the deportation of workers to Germany. From the time of the invasion, significant numbers of Belgian men had attempted to flee the occupied territories to join the Belgian army on the Yser front, via the Netherlands which were neutral. To stop this,

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2332-590: The Belgian Congo , also remained loyal to the Allies and the Le Havre government. During the course of their advance through Belgium, the Germans committed a number of war crimes against the Belgian civilian population along their route of advance. The massacres were often responses to towns whose populations were accused of fighting as francs-tireurs or guerrillas against the German army. Civilians were summarily executed and several towns deliberately destroyed in

2438-589: The Elbe , including Berlin, where the new Reich government, the socialist-dominated Council of the People's Deputies , had their full support. One of the primary goals of the councils was an immediate end to the war. Also on 9 November, Max von Baden handed the office of chancellor to Friedrich Ebert , a Social Democrat who the same day became co-chair of the Council of the People's Deputies. Two days later, on behalf of

2544-563: The Flamenpolitik was restricted to implementing the 1914 language laws, but became increasingly more radical. The Germans also reached out to the comparable Walloon Movement , but with much less success. In 1916, the Germans opened a new university in Ghent, dubbed Von Bissing University , in which all teaching was in Dutch. The new university was welcomed by some but encountered opposition from within

2650-537: The Imperial Chancellor , Count Georg von Hertling , that the military situation facing Germany was hopeless. Quartermaster General Erich Ludendorff claimed that he could not guarantee that the front would hold for another two hours. Stating that the collapse of Bulgaria meant that troops destined for the Western Front would have to be diverted there, and this had "fundamentally changed the situation in view of

2756-480: The Ludendorff Offensive (21 March – 18 July 1918) were believed to have made liberation virtually impossible in the foreseeable future. However, during the Hundred Days Offensive (8 August to 11 November 1918), the Allied and Belgian armies launched a series of successful offensives on the Western Front. The Belgian army, restricted to the Yser salient since 1914, advanced as far as Bruges . German forces on

2862-575: The Operationsgebiet (Operational Zone), covered a small amount of territory near the front line in the far west of Belgium. Near this zone was the Etappengebiet (Staging Zone), covering most of East and West Flanders along with parts of Hainaut and Luxembourg . The remainder of the country, the largest of the zones, the Generalgouvernement (General Government) covered the majority of

2968-521: The Rhine , Entente occupation of the Rhineland and bridgeheads further east, the preservation of infrastructure, the surrender of aircraft, warships, and military materiel , the release of Allied prisoners of war and interned civilians, eventual reparations , no release of German prisoners and no relaxation of the naval blockade of Germany . The armistice was extended three times while negotiations continued on

3074-452: The "National Relief and Food Committee") to secure and transport food to Belgium, where it could be sold to Belgian civilians. The profits from this part of the operation were then used to distribute aid. After negotiations with both the Allies and Central Powers, the CNSA managed to secure permission to import food from the neutral United States. Francqui used his acquaintance with Herbert Hoover ,

3180-454: The 1918 Armistice (on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month), and because "nine" is a homophone of the word for "long lasting" in Chinese (to suggest that the peace won would last forever). Armistice The United Nations Security Council often imposes, or tries to impose, ceasefire resolutions on parties in modern conflicts. Armistices are always negotiated between

3286-542: The Allied Supreme Commander, French Marshal Ferdinand Foch , it came into force at 11:00 a.m. Central European Time  (CET) on 11 November 1918 and marked a victory for the Entente and a defeat for Germany, although not formally a surrender. The actual terms, which were largely written by Foch, included the cessation of hostilities on the Western Front , the withdrawal of German forces from west of

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3392-518: The Allied armies. The organisation was run through a large number of independent groups and included, notably, the large Dame Blanche (White Lady) network. Alongside intelligence gathering were similar organisations which helped men wishing to join the Belgian Army on the Yser Front to escape occupied Belgium, usually across the Dutch border. Around 32,000 were successfully smuggled out which boosted

3498-470: The Allies advanced into occupied Belgium during the Hundred Days Offensive , liberating some areas. For most of the country, however, the occupation was only brought to an end in the aftermath of the armistice of November 1918 as the Belgian Army advanced into the country to replace evacuating German troops in maintaining law and order. Following its independence in 1830, Belgium had been obliged to remain neutral in perpetuity by an 1839 treaty as part of

3604-541: The Allies and Germany was subsequently settled in 1919, by the Paris Peace Conference and the Treaty of Versailles that same year. Many artillery units continued to fire on German targets to avoid having to haul away their spare ammunition. The Allies also wished to ensure that, should fighting restart, they would be in the most favourable position. Consequently, there were 10,944 casualties, of whom 2,738 men died, on

3710-493: The Allies in return. The naval blockade of Germany was not completely lifted until complete peace terms could be agreed upon. There were very few negotiations. The Germans were able to correct a few impossible demands (for example, the decommissioning of more submarines than their fleet possessed), extend the schedule for the withdrawal and register their formal protest at the harshness of Allied terms. But they were in no position to refuse to sign. On Sunday, 10 November 1918,

3816-733: The Armistice, hostilities on the fronts of the American armies were suspended at eleven o'clock this morning." News of the armistice being signed was officially announced towards 9:00 a.m. in Paris. One hour later, Foch, accompanied by a British admiral, presented himself at the Ministry of War , where he was immediately received by Georges Clemenceau , the Prime Minister of France . At 10:50 a.m., Foch issued this general order: "Hostilities will cease on

3922-445: The Belgian army of the Yser in a Joyous Entry . He was widely acclaimed by the civilian population. Subsequently, some of the notable activisten from the RVV were put on trial, but although the body had professed as many as 15,000 followers, only 312 individuals were convicted of collaboration with the enemy. Among them was Borms, who, from prison, would continue to play an important role in

4028-442: The British forces, urged moderation, stating that "Germany is not broken in the military sense" and that "it is necessary to grant Germany conditions that they can accept". and that surrender of occupied territories and Alsace-Lorraine would be "sufficient to seal the victory". The British also took the position that the German army should be kept mobilised as a counter to the spread of communist agitation. Ferdinand Foch , speaking for

4134-563: The Flemish Movement and few ever enrolled in it. The policies divided the Flemish Movement between the radical "activists" ( activisten or maximalisten ), who welcomed the German measures and believed German support was essential to realising their objectives, and the "passivists" ( passivisten ), who opposed the Germans and worried that this might discredit the movement. In particular, the activisten hoped that Flemish independence could be realised with German support. In February 1917,

4240-399: The Flemish Movement succeeded in achieving increased status for Dutch language, one of the movement's chief objectives, culminating in the legal recognition of Dutch as a national language in 1898. In 1914 new laws were passed giving further concessions to the movement, but the outbreak of war meant that their implementation had been postponed. Numerous grievances were left unaddressed. Among

4346-553: The French forces, agreed with Haig that the Germans "could undoubtedly take up a new position, and we could not prevent it", but, contrary to Haig, urged stringent terms including an occupation of the Rhineland with Allied bridgeheads over the Rhine, and the surrender of large quantities of military materiel. General Pershing , commander of the American forces, opposed any armistice being granted to

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4452-400: The German administration had a Zivilverwaltung (Civil Administration) tasked with dealing with day-to-day matters and a network of local Kommandanturen in towns and cities across Belgium. It could also call on up to 80,000 soldiers. In most cases, however, the administration was content to use the existing Belgian civil service and local government for much of its administration. Before

4558-425: The German occupation regime. Mercier published a celebrated pamphlet, Patriotisme et Endurance (Patriotism and Endurance), on Christmas Day 1914 which called for civilians to observe occupation laws if they were consistent with Belgian patriotism and Christian values . The pamphlet attacked the authority of the German occupying government, stating that any rule legitimised by force alone should not be obeyed. In

4664-595: The German occupation. Around 300 separate networks existed, often including male and female members. Resistance took various forms. Although some sabotages by the resistance, notably the destruction of the Brussels-Aachen railway line, were celebrated at the time, armed resistance represented a minority of their acts. In particular, intelligence gathering played a major role. Around 6,000 Belgian civilians were involved in gathering intelligence on German military installations and troop movements and communicating it back to

4770-484: The German occupiers was heavily repressed. Displays of patriotism, such as singing the national anthem, La Brabançonne , or celebrating Belgian National Day were banned and those breaking the rules risked strict prison sentences. Newspapers, books and mail were all tightly censored and regulated. Numerous high-profile Belgian figures, including Adolphe Max , the mayor of Brussels, and the historian Henri Pirenne , were imprisoned in Germany as hostages. The aftermath of

4876-452: The Germans began work on a barbed wire and electric fence across the length of the border. The fence, dubbed the Wire of Death ( Dodendraad ), was also guarded by German sentries. Between 2,000 and 3,000 civilians are believed to have been killed attempting to cross the border during the conflict. Captured resistance members were also executed by the German authorities. Famously, Edith Cavell ,

4982-545: The Germans were shown newspapers from Paris to inform them that the Kaiser had abdicated. That same day, Ebert instructed Erzberger to sign. The cabinet had earlier received a message from Paul von Hindenburg , head of the German High Command, requesting that the armistice be signed even if the Allied conditions could not be improved on. The Armistice was agreed upon at 5:00 a.m. on 11 November 1918, to come into effect at 11:00 a.m. CET, for which reason

5088-439: The Germans. The combined effect of this feedback was to nullify Wilson's 14 points. The sailors' revolt that took place during the night of 29 to 30 October 1918 in the port of Wilhelmshaven spread across Germany within days and led to the proclamation of a republic on 9 November and to the announcement of the abdication of Wilhelm II . Workers' and soldiers' councils took control in most major cities west of

5194-465: The Governor-General, left the city for Germany. Fighting in the streets soon broke out between German loyalists and revolutionaries. With the German police no longer keeping order, anarchy broke out in the city, which was restored only when Belgian troops arrived. On 11 November 1918, the German army signed an armistice . The ceasefire did not, however, lead to the immediate liberation of Belgium:

5300-474: The Kaiser and evaluations of the political and military situations in the Reich, by 5 October 1918 the German government sent a message to Wilson to negotiate terms on the basis of a recent speech of his and the earlier declared "Fourteen Points". In the subsequent two exchanges, Wilson's allusions "failed to convey the idea that the Kaiser's abdication was an essential condition for peace. The leading statesmen of

5406-513: The Kaiser had abdicated and handed over power to Friedrich Ebert of the Social Democratic Party on 9 November. The same day, Philipp Scheidemann , also a Social Democrat, declared Germany a republic . Whilst the Germans sought negotiations along the lines of Wilson's 14 points, the French, British and Italian governments had no desire to accept them and President Wilson's subsequent unilateral promises. For example, they assumed that

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5512-453: The Laws and Customs of War on Land stated, "If [the armistice's] duration is not fixed," the parties may resume fighting (Article 36) as they choose but with proper notifications. That is in comparison to a "fixed duration" armistice in which the parties may renew fighting only at the end of the particular fixed duration. When the belligerent parties say in effect that "this armistice completely ends

5618-463: The Ministry and called upon Clemenceau, who appeared on the balcony. Clemenceau exclaimed "Vive la France!" – the crowd echoed him. At 11:00 a.m., the first peace-gunshot was fired from Fort Mont-Valérien , which told the population of Paris that the armistice was concluded, but the population were already aware of it from official circles and newspapers. Although the information about

5724-656: The Ottoman Empire was close to exhaustion, the Austro-Hungarian Empire was in chaos, and on the Macedonian front , resistance by the Bulgarian Army had collapsed, leading to the Armistice of Salonica on 29 September. With the collapse of Bulgaria, and Italian victory in the Battle of Vittorio Veneto , the road was open to an invasion of Germany from the south via Austria. In Germany, chronic food shortages caused by

5830-548: The RVV declared Flanders to be independent and dissolved itself to prepare for elections for a new Flemish government. The German authorities viewed the declaration ambivalently and in January 1918 rejected a draft Flemish constitution presented by the RVV. 50,000 people registered to vote in the coming elections but there were clashes with opponents in Mechelen , Antwerp and Tienen . The Belgian court of appeal sent out warrants for

5936-519: The Reich were not yet ready to contemplate such a monstrous possibility." As a precondition for negotiations, Wilson demanded the retreat of Germany from all occupied territories, the cessation of submarine activities and the Kaiser's abdication, writing on 23 October: "If the Government of the United States must deal with the military masters and the monarchical autocrats of Germany now, or if it

6042-508: The United States, Congress opened an investigation to find out why and if blame should be placed on the leaders of the American Expeditionary Forces, including John Pershing . In France, many graves of French soldiers who died on 11 November were backdated to 10 November. The celebration of the Armistice became the centrepiece of memories of the war, along with salutes to the unknown soldier. Nations built monuments to

6148-499: The absence of the King or government in occupied Belgium, Mercier became the predominant figure in the country and a symbol of resilience. Because of his status, he could not be arrested without an outcry, and although he was lured back to the Vatican in 1915 to remove him from the country, he soon returned. His writings were banned, however, and copies of their work confiscated. In 1916, Mercier

6254-547: The allies. General von Gallwitz had described this eventuality as being "decisive" to the Chancellor in discussions some weeks before, as it would mean that Austrian territory would become a spring-board for an Allied attack on Germany from the south. Revolution broke out across Germany the following day, together with a mutiny in the German High Seas Fleet. On 5 November, the Allies agreed to take up negotiations for

6360-480: The armistice only reached Germany's African forces, still fighting in Northern Rhodesia (today's Zambia ), about two weeks later. The German and British commanders then had to agree on the protocols for their own armistice ceremony. After the war, there was a deep shame that so many soldiers died on the final day of the war, especially in the hours after the treaty had been signed but had not yet taken effect. In

6466-457: The armistice to the north of Mons at 10:58 a.m. Henry Gunther , an American, is generally recognized as the last soldier killed in action in World War I. He was killed 60 seconds before the armistice came into force while charging astonished German troops who were aware the Armistice was nearly upon them. He had been despondent over his recent reduction in rank and was apparently trying to redeem his reputation. The last German to die in

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6572-403: The arrest of two leading members of the council, Pieter Tack and August Borms , but the Germans freed them and instead deported the judges responsible. In protest, judges at the Court of Cassation , the Belgian supreme court, refused to try cases and other judges also went on strike. Faced with mounting opposition, the Germans stopped the planned elections in March 1918. Public opposition to

6678-433: The attacks being launched on the Western Front", Ludendorff demanded a request be given to the Entente for an immediate ceasefire. In addition, he recommended the acceptance of the main demands of US president Woodrow Wilson (the Fourteen Points ) including putting the Imperial Government on a democratic footing, hoping for more favorable peace terms. This enabled him to save the face of the Imperial German Army and put

6784-401: The basis of a recent speech of his and the earlier declared " Fourteen Points ", which later became the basis of the German surrender at the Paris Peace Conference , which took place the following year. Also known as the Armistice of Compiègne ( French : Armistice de Compiègne , German : Waffenstillstand von Compiègne ) from the place where it was officially signed at 5:45 a.m. by

6890-400: The country and the French territories. Unlike the Operational and Staging Zones, the General Government was intended to be a total administration and so was markedly less repressive that the other two zones whose governance was based on military concerns alone. Civilians in the Operational and Staging Zones were officially classed as "prisoners" by the German military. The General Government

6996-486: The country by soldiers, led to considerable inflation . The Germans also artificially fixed the exchange rate between the German mark and the Belgian franc to benefit their own economy at a ratio of 1:1.25. To cope with the economic conditions, large numbers of individual communes and regions began to print and issue their own money, known as Necessity Money ( monnaie de nécessité ), which could be used locally. Fiscal chaos, coupled with problems of transportation and

7102-494: The crisis to loot industrial machinery from Belgian factories, which was either sent to Germany intact or melted down. The policy escalated after the end of the German policy of deportation in 1917 which later created major problems for Belgian economic recovery after the end of the war. The occupation coincided with a religious revival in Belgium, which had always been overwhelmingly Catholic . The Primate of Belgium, Cardinal Désiré-Joseph Mercier , became an outspoken critic of

7208-443: The day-to-day running of a welfare system and generally prevented famine, although food and material shortages were extremely common throughout the occupation. At its height, the CNSA had more than 125,000 agents and distributors across the country. Historians have described the CNSA itself, with its central committee and local networks across the country, as paralleling the actions of the official Belgian government in peacetime. In

7314-452: The de-militarization suggested by Wilson would be limited to the Central Powers. There were also contradictions with their post-War plans that did not include a consistent implementation of the ideal of national self-determination . As Czernin points out: The Allied statesmen were faced with a problem: so far they had considered the "fourteen commandments" as a piece of clever and effective American propaganda , designed primarily to undermine

7420-453: The dead and the heroic soldiers, but seldom aggrandizing the generals and admirals. 11 November is commemorated annually in many countries under various names such as Armistice Day , Remembrance Day , Veterans Day , and in Poland , it is Independence Day . During World War II , after German success in the Battle of France , Adolf Hitler arranged that negotiations for an end of hostilities with France would take place at Compiègne in

7526-467: The end of the war. Of these, around 2,500 died from the poor conditions in which the workers were held. In addition, in the Staging Zone, around 62,000 workers were conscripted as forced labour on local military projects in poor conditions. The deportation of Belgian workers proved insufficient to meet German industrial needs and had little effect economically. Politically, however, it led to widespread condemnation in Belgium and internationally, helping

7632-703: The eyes of contemporaries, the CNSA became a symbol of national unity and of passive resistance . At the start of the war, the Belgian government hurriedly removed silver coins from circulation and replaced them with banknotes. With the German occupation, these banknotes remained legal and their production continued. To offset the costs of occupation, the German administration demanded regular "war contributions" of 35 million Belgian francs each month. The contribution considerably exceeded Belgium's pre-war tax income and so, in order to pay it, Belgian banks used new paper money to buy bonds. The excessive printing of money, coupled with large amounts of German money brought into

7738-497: The fighting spirit of the Central Powers, and to bolster the morale of the lesser Allies. Now, suddenly, the whole peace structure was supposed to be built up on that set of "vague principles", most of which seemed to them thoroughly unrealistic, and some of which, if they were to be seriously applied, were simply unacceptable. To address this impasse Wilson suggested that the military chiefs be consulted. Douglas Haig , representing

7844-543: The fighting" without any end date for the armistice, the duration of the armistice is fixed in the sense that no resumption of the fighting is allowed at any time. For example, the Korean Armistice Agreement calls for a "ceasefire and armistice" and has the "objective of establishing an armistice which will ensure a complete cessation of hostilities and of all acts of armed force in Korea until a final peaceful settlement

7950-454: The fortified cities of Liège , Namur and Antwerp and pushing the 200,000-strong Belgian army, supported by their French and British allies, to the far west. Large numbers of refugees also fled to neighbouring countries. In October 1914, the German advance was finally stopped near the French border by a Belgian force at the Yser and by a combined Franco-British force at the Marne . As a result,

8056-648: The front in Belgium were forced to retreat. Following a mutiny in Kiel at the end of October, a wave of revolutions broke out within the German army. In occupied Belgium, soldiers of the Brussels garrison mutinied against their officers on 9 November 1918. The revolutionaries formed the Brussels Soldiers' Council ( Soldatenrat ) and flew the red flag over the Brussels Kommandantur while many officers, including

8162-832: The front line stabilised with most of Belgium already under German control. In the absence of any decisive offensive, most of Belgium remained under German control until the end of the war. While most of Belgium was occupied, King Albert I continued to command the Belgian Army along a section of the Western Front , known as the Yser Front , through West Flanders from his headquarters in Veurne . The Belgian government , led by Charles de Broqueville , established itself in exile in Le Havre , in northwestern France. Belgium's colonial possession in Africa,

8268-483: The future American president, to collect food and other relief through an American organisation, the Commission for Relief in Belgium (CRB), which was then distributed within Belgium by the CNSA. A number of smaller relief organisations affiliated to other neutral countries also worked within occupied Belgium. The CNSA became a major part of everyday life and culture in occupied Belgium. The organisation fulfilled much of

8374-406: The imminent ceasefire had spread among the forces at the front in the hours before, fighting in many sections of the front continued right until the appointed hour. At 11 a.m., there was some spontaneous fraternization between the two sides but in general, reactions were muted. A British corporal reported: "...the Germans came from their trenches, bowed to us and then went away. That was it. There

8480-456: The last British soldier to die, George Edwin Ellison of the 5th Royal Irish Lancers, was killed that morning at around 9:30 a.m. while scouting on the outskirts of Mons, Belgium. The final Canadian, and Commonwealth, soldier to die, Private George Lawrence Price , was shot and killed by a sniper while part of a force advancing into the Belgian town of Ville-sur-Haine just two minutes before

8586-560: The last day of the war. An example of the determination of the Allies to maintain pressure until the last minute, but also to adhere strictly to the Armistice terms, was Battery 4 of the US Navy's long-range 14-inch railway guns firing its last shot at 10:57:30 a.m. from the Verdun area, timed to land far behind the German front line just before the scheduled Armistice. Augustin Trébuchon

8692-568: The morning, the "eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month" of 1918. Most countries changed the name of the holiday after World War II to honor veterans of that and subsequent conflicts. Most member states of the Commonwealth of Nations adopted the name Remembrance Day, and the United States chose Veterans Day. German occupation of Belgium during World War I The German occupation of Belgium (French: Occupation allemande , Dutch : Duitse bezetting ) of World War I

8798-689: The new government, Matthias Erzberger of the Catholic Centre Party signed the armistice at Compiègne. The German High Command pushed the blame for the surrender away from the Army and onto others, including the socialists who were supporting and running the government in Berlin. In the eyes of the German Right, the blame was carried over to the Weimar Republic when it was established in 1919. This resulted in

8904-428: The occasion is sometimes referred to as "the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month". Signatures were made between 5:12 a.m. and 5:20 a.m., CET. The occupation of the Rhineland took place following the Armistice. The occupying armies consisted of American, Belgian, British and French forces. The Armistice was prolonged three times before peace was finally ratified. During this period it

9010-575: The outstanding grievances was the University of Ghent which, though situated in largely Dutch-speaking Flanders, taught exclusively in French. In 1915, the Governor General decided to launch the Flamenpolitik (Flemish Policy) to use the animosity between the two language groups to facilitate the administration of the territory and to portray the occupation regime as the liberation of Flanders. It

9116-408: The parties themselves and are thus generally seen as more binding than non-mandatory UN cease-fire resolutions in modern international law . An armistice is a modus vivendi and is not the same as a peace treaty , which may take months or even years to agree on. The 1953 Korean War Armistice Agreement is a major example of an armistice which has not been followed by a peace treaty. An armistice

9222-410: The plight of Belgian civilians and Belgian refugees continued in Allied newspapers and propaganda until the end of the war. By November 1914, the vast majority of Belgian territory (2,598 out of 2,636 communes) was under German occupation. From November 1914, occupied Belgium, together with the occupied French border areas of Givet and Fumay , was divided by the Germans into three zones. The first,

9328-433: The radical Flemish Movement by making numerous concessions as part of the Flamenpolitik in an attempt to gain support among the country's Flemish population. As a result, numerous resistance movements were founded which attempted to sabotage military infrastructure, collect intelligence for the Allies or print underground newspapers. Low-level expressions of dissent were common but frequently repressed. From August 1918,

9434-498: The requisition of metal led to a general economic collapse as factories ran out of raw materials and laid off workers. The crisis especially afflicted Belgium's large manufacturing industries. As raw material usually imported from abroad dried up, more firms laid off workers. Unemployment became a major problem and increased reliance on charity distributed by civil institutions and organisations. As many as 650,000 people were unemployed between 1915 and 1918. The German authorities used

9540-461: The responsibility for the capitulation and its consequences squarely into the hands of the democratic parties and the parliament . He expressed his view to officers of his staff on 1 October: "They now must lie on the bed that they've made for us." On 3 October 1918, the liberal Prince Maximilian of Baden was appointed Chancellor of Germany , replacing Georg von Hertling in order to negotiate an armistice. After long conversations with

9646-462: The rise of the resistance. In late 1917, under pressure from neutral powers, most of the Belgian deported workers were returned. In the years leading up to the outbreak of the war, the Flemish Movement had become increasingly prominent in Belgian politics. French had traditionally been the dominant language of government and the upper class of Belgian society. After a period of marginalisation,

9752-631: The same rail car as the 1918 conference. The Armistice of 22 June 1940 was portrayed as revenge for Germany's earlier defeat, and the Glade of the Armistice was mostly destroyed. The end of the Second World War in China (end of the Second Sino-Japanese War ) formally took place on 9 September 1945 at 9:00 a.m. (the ninth hour of the ninth day of the ninth month). The date was chosen to echo

9858-433: The size of the Belgian force considerably. In addition, underground newspapers also formed a big part of resistance activity. The newspapers provided information censored in the approved press and also patriotic propaganda. Some underground papers, most notably La Libre Belgique (The Free Belgium) and De Vlaamsche Leeuw (The Flemish Lion), could reach large numbers of people. Underground newspaper were produced in

9964-476: The terms of the armistice set a timescale for German withdrawal to avoid clashes with the retreating army. Nevertheless sporadic fighting continued. The Belgian army gradually advanced into the country, behind the evacuating German occupying force. The remaining German forces in Belgium moved eastwards towards the German border, gradually evacuating more territory. The final German troops left the country on 23 November. On 22 November, Albert I entered Brussels with

10070-461: The war, Belgium had been a net importer of foodstuffs. The German invasion, together with the Allied blockade meant that as early as September 1914, various Belgian organisations had been preparing for the onset of famine in the occupied territory. Under the direction of a financier, Émile Francqui , and other philanthropists established the Comité National de Secours et d'Alimentation (CNSA or

10176-507: The war, though his name is not fully known, is believed to be a Lieutenant by the name of Tomas. At a time shortly after 11:00 a.m, perhaps 11:01 a.m, he exited his trench and began to walk across no-mans-land to inform the Americans there that the Armistice had just gone into effect, and that his soldiers would soon be evacuating their trenches. The Americans, who had not yet heard news of the armistice, opened fire, killing him instantly. News of

10282-518: The whole front as from November 11 at 11 o'clock [Central European Time]. The Allied troops will not, until further order, go beyond the line reached on that date and at that hour." Five minutes later, Clemenceau, Foch and the British admiral went to the Élysée Palace . At the first shot fired from the Eiffel Tower , the Ministry of War and the Élysée Palace displayed flags, while bells around Paris rang. Five hundred students gathered in front of

10388-403: Was a military occupation of Belgium by the forces of the German Empire between 1914 and 1918. Beginning in August 1914 with the invasion of neutral Belgium , the country was almost completely overrun by German troops before the winter of the same year as the Allied forces withdrew westwards. The Belgian government went into exile, while King Albert I and the Belgian Army continued to fight on

10494-500: Was also developed. Peace was ratified at 4:15 p.m. on 10 January 1920. For the Allies, the personnel involved were all military. The two signatories were: Other members of the delegation included: For Germany, the four signatories were: In addition the German delegation was accompanied by two translators: Among its 34 clauses, the armistice contained the following major points: A. Western Front B. Eastern and African Fronts C. At sea D. General The British public

10600-585: Was also hoped that it would give Germany some form of influence within the neutral Netherlands. The policy was especially advocated by pan-Germanists , like the Alldeutscher Verband , who believed that the Flemish shared racial traits with the Germans that the Walloons did not. The policy achieved support among some demographics, particularly among young Flemish students within the Flemish Movement. Initially,

10706-438: Was nothing with which we could celebrate, except cookies." On the Allied side, euphoria and exultation were rare. There was some cheering and applause, but the dominant feeling was silence and emptiness after 52 exhausting months of war. According to Thomas R. Gowenlock, an intelligence officer with the U.S. First Division , shelling from both sides continued during the rest of the day, ending only at nightfall. The peace between

10812-464: Was notified of the armistice by a subjoined official communiqué issued from the Press Bureau at 10:20 a.m., when British Prime Minister David Lloyd George announced: "The armistice was signed at five o'clock this morning, and hostilities are to cease on all fronts at 11 a.m. to-day." An official communique was published by the United States at 2:30 pm: "In accordance with the terms of

10918-448: Was officially prohibited from publishing pamphlets but continued to campaign against the deportation of workers and various other German policies. Initially opposed by Pope Benedict XV , who was anxious to remain neutral, the Pope was supportive of the Belgian church but encouraged it to moderate its stance to avoid confrontation. The conscription of German men at the start of the war created

11024-469: Was placed under the command of a German general who was accountable to the army. After a brief tenure by Colmar von der Goltz in 1914, command was held by Moritz von Bissing and later, from April 1917, by Ludwig von Falkenhausen . The German authorities aimed to use the occupation to benefit the German economy and industrial production but hoped to keep the Belgian state and economy functioning if it did not impede their main objectives. Administratively,

11130-474: Was suffering from poor morale and desertions were on the increase. The Imperial Government stayed on course and Ludendorff was dismissed from his post by the Kaiser and replaced by Lieutenant General Wilhelm Groener . On 3 November 1918, Prince Max, who had been in a coma for 36 hours after an over-dose of sleep-inducing medication taken to help with influenza and only just recovered, discovered that both Turkey and Austria-Hungary had concluded armistices with

11236-449: Was the last Frenchman to die when he was shot on his way to tell fellow soldiers, who were attempting an assault across the Meuse river, that hot soup would be served after the ceasefire. He was killed at 10:45 a.m. Marcel Toussaint Terfve was the last Belgian soldier to die as he was mortally wounded from German machine gun fire and died from his lung wound at 10:45 a.m. Earlier,

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