A crowd of soldiers on the Western Front cheer as an officer announces the news of the armistice between the Allies and Germany, in November 1918. Archive Photos/Getty Images
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Commentary
On the stroke of 11 a.m. on the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918, fighting ceased on the Western Front, bringing an end to what contemporaries were calling the Great War—the most destructive conflict in world history up to that point. Rejoicing and relief were the order of the day, at least on the Allied side.
Gerry Bowler is a Canadian historian and a senior fellow of the Frontier Centre for Public Policy.
