http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history
On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918, the bloodiest, most devastating, and most brutal war that humanity had ever known came to an end, after around four and half years of relentless fighting.
It was particularly shocking, because people on all sides generally thought much better of humanity prior to the outbreak of the war, and it was widely assumed from each of the countries involved that the war would be won quickly and decisively, and with much glory for the victorious sides.
Some people even assumed that it would be the "war to end all wars".
That, however, proved to be mere wishful thinking.
The so-called "Great War" unleashed such a measure of fury on both sides, with horrific living conditions and merciless attacks and shelling that caused record deaths and injuries, that it shook people's faith in humanity itself.
On the heels of a century that had seemed full of progress and strides for true betterment across the globe, the common sentiment for many was that "civilization" was quickly reaching a point where it could and would transcend the horrors of the past. But World War I showed just what humanity was capable of, with terror on a scale never before seen. It also set the tone for a century that would see unparalleled war and mass human crimes.
Nov 11, 1918: World War I ends
At the 11th hour on the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918, the Great War ends. At 5 a.m. that morning, Germany, bereft of manpower and supplies and faced with imminent invasion, signed an armistice agreement with the Allies in a railroad car outside Compiégne, France. The First World War left nine million soldiers dead and 21 million wounded, with Germany, Russia, Austria-Hungary, France, and Great Britain each losing nearly a million or more lives. In addition, at least five million civilians died from disease, starvation, or exposure.
On June 28, 1914, in an event that is widely regarded as sparking the outbreak of World War I, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian empire, was shot to death with his wife by Bosnian Serb Gavrilo Princip in Sarajevo, Bosnia. Ferdinand had been inspecting his uncle's imperial armed forces in Bosnia and Herzegovina, despite the threat of Serbian nationalists who wanted these Austro-Hungarian possessions to join newly independent Serbia. Austria-Hungary blamed the Serbian government for the attack and hoped to use the incident as justification for settling the problem of Slavic nationalism once and for all. However, as Russia supported Serbia, an Austro-Hungarian declaration of war was delayed until its leaders received assurances from German leader Kaiser Wilhelm II that Germany would support their cause in the event of a Russian intervention.
On July 28, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, and the tenuous peace between Europe's great powers collapsed. On July 29, Austro-Hungarian forces began to shell the Serbian capital, Belgrade, and Russia, Serbia's ally, ordered a troop mobilization against Austria-Hungary. France, allied with Russia, began to mobilize on August 1. France and Germany declared war against each other on August 3. After crossing through neutral Luxembourg, the German army invaded Belgium on the night of August 3-4, prompting Great Britain, Belgium's ally, to declare war against Germany.
For the most part, the people of Europe greeted the outbreak of war with jubilation. Most patriotically assumed that their country would be victorious within months. Of the initial belligerents, Germany was most prepared for the outbreak of hostilities, and its military leaders had formatted a sophisticated military strategy known as the "Schlieffen Plan," which envisioned the conquest of France through a great arcing offensive through Belgium and into northern France. Russia, slow to mobilize, was to be kept occupied by Austro-Hungarian forces while Germany attacked France.
The Schlieffen Plan was nearly successful, but in early September the French rallied and halted the German advance at the bloody Battle of the Marne near Paris. By the end of 1914, well over a million soldiers of various nationalities had been killed on the battlefields of Europe, and neither for the Allies nor the Central Powers was a final victory in sight. On the western front—the battle line that stretched across northern France and Belgium—the combatants settled down in the trenches for a terrible war of attrition.
In 1915, the Allies attempted to break the stalemate with an amphibious invasion of Turkey, which had joined the Central Powers in October 1914, but after heavy bloodshed the Allies were forced to retreat in early 1916. The year 1916 saw great offensives by Germany and Britain along the western front, but neither side accomplished a decisive victory. In the east, Germany was more successful, and the disorganized Russian army suffered terrible losses, spurring the outbreak of the Russian Revolution in 1917. By the end of 1917, the Bolsheviks had seized power in Russia and immediately set about negotiating peace with Germany. In 1918, the infusion of American troops and resources into the western front finally tipped the scale in the Allies' favor. Germany signed an armistice agreement with the Allies on November 11, 1918.
World War I was known as the "war to end all wars" because of the great slaughter and destruction it caused. Unfortunately, the peace treaty that officially ended the conflict—the Treaty of Versailles of 1919—forced punitive terms on Germany that destabilized Europe and laid the groundwork for World War II.
Here's a more detailed look at events that transpired on this date throughout history:
308 - The Congress of Carnuntum: Attempting to keep peace within the Roman Empire, the leaders of the Tetrarchy declare Maxentius and Licinius to be Augusti, while rival contender Constantine I is declared Caesar of Britain and Gaul.
887 - Parliament in Tribur: King Charles III resigns
1158 - Emperor Frederik I Barbarossa declares himself ruler of North Italy
1208 - Otto van Wittelsbach chosen German king
1215 - 4th Lateran Council (12th ecumenical council) opens in Rome
1417 - Oddo Colonna elected as Pope Martinus V
1493 - Explorer Christopher Columbus discovers Saba
1500 - Treaty of Granada: France & Aragon divide Naples
1503 - Pope Julius II elected
1572 - Duke of Alva's son Don Fredrik begins siege for Haarlem
1606 - Turkey & Austria sign Treaty of Zsitva-Torok
1634 - Following pressure from Anglican bishop John Atherton, the Irish House of Commons passes "An Act for the Punishment for the Vice of Buggery".
1640 - Thomas Wentworth, Earl of Strafford, impeached by the House of Lords on the evidence of John Pym, and imprisoned in the Tower of London; he was later executed.
1647 - Massachusetts passes 1st US compulsory school attendance law
1648 - Dutch & French agree to divide St Maarten, Leeward Islands
1671 - Dutch States-General forbids importation of French wine
1673 - Second Battle of Khotyn in the Ukraine, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth forces under the command of Jan Sobieski. defeat the Ottoman army. In this battle, rockets of Kazimierz Siemienowicz were successfully used.
1675 - Gottfried Leibniz demonstrated integral calculus for the first time to find the area under the graph of y = f(x) function.
1688 - Prince Willem III's invasion fleet sails to England
The Warrior Pope Julius IIThe Warrior Pope Julius II 1714 - A highway in Bronx is laid out, later renamed East 233rd Street
1724 - Joseph Blake, alias Blueskin, a highwayman known for attacking "Thief-Taker General" (and thief) Jonathan Wild at the Old Bailey, is hanged in London. (b. c. 1700)
1725 - Georg F Handel's opera "Tamerlano," premieres in London
1745 - Bonnie Prince Charlie's army enters England
1750 - The F.H.C. Society, also known as the Flat Hat Club, was formed at Raleigh Tavern, Williamsburg, Virginia. It was the first college fraternity.
1752 - Theresianische Military Academy opens in Vienna
1778 - Iroquois Indians in NY kill 40 in Cherry Valley Massacre
1790 - Chrysanthemums are introduced to England from China
1805 - Napoleonic Wars: Battle of Dürenstein - 8000 French troops attempted to slow the retreat of a vastly superior Russian and Austrian force.
1811 - Cartagena Colombia declares independence from Spain
1813 - Dresden surrenders to allied armies
1836 - Chile declares war on Bolivia & Peru
1839 - The Virginia Military Institute is founded in Lexington, Virginia.
1851 - Alvan Clark patents telescope
1862 - Opera "La Forza Del Destino" is produced (St Petersburg Russia)
Composer George Friedrich HandelComposer George Friedrich Handel 1864 - Sherman's troops destroy Rome, Georgia
1864 - Skirmish at Shoal Creek, AL
1865 - Mary Edward Walker, 1st Army female surgeon, awarded Medal of Honor
1865 - Thomas Robertsons "Society," premieres in London
1865 - Treaty of Sinchula is signed in which Bhutan ceded the areas east of the Teesta River to the British East India Company.
1868 - 1st American amateur track & field meet (NYC)
1880 - Australian Bushranger Ned Kelly is hanged at Melbourne Gaol
1887 - Anarchist Haymarket Martyrs August Spies (b. 1855), Albert Parsons (b. 1848), Adolph Fischer (b. 1858) and George Engel (b. 1836) are executed.
1887 - Construction of the Manchester Ship Canal starts at Eastham.
1889 - Washington admitted as 42nd state of USA
1890 - D McCree patents portable fire escape
1895 - Bechuanaland becomes part of Cape Colony
1896 - Jules Vandenpeereboom becomes Belgium's minister of War
1899 - Stuart/Rubens/Boyd-Jones' "Floradora," premieres in London
1901 - Maurice Ravel composition "Jeux d'eau" premieres
1906 - Ethel Smyth's "Standrecht" premieres in Leipzig
1909 - Construction of US navy base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, begins
1909 - J M Synge's "Tinker's Wedding," premieres in London
1911 - Many cities in the U.S. Midwest broke their record highs and lows on the same day as a strong cold front rolls through. (see The 11/11/11 cold wave).
1918 - Dutch SDAP leader Troelstra announces revolution
1918 - Emperor Charles I of Austria abdicates
1918 - Poland declares independence
1918 - Armistice signed by the Allies and Germany comes into effect, WW I hostilities end at 11.00 am
1919 - Pope Benedictus XV states Roman Catholics political/business views
1921 - President Harding dedicates Tomb of Unknown Soldier at Arlington Cemetery
1922 - Largest US flag displayed (150' X 90') expanded in 1939 (270' X 90')
1923 - Eternal flame lit for tomb of unknown solder, Arc de Triumph
1924 - Martin Beck Theater opens at 302 W 45th St NYC
1924 - Palace of Legion of Honor dedicated (SF)
1925 - Earnest Thalmann becomes chairman of German KPD
Jazz Musician Louis ArmstrongJazz Musician Louis Armstrong 1925 - Louis Armstrong records 1st of Hot Five & Hot Seven recordings
1925 - Night of Kersten - Colijn Dutch government falls by SGP-amendement
1925 - Robert A. Millikan announces discovery of cosmic rays
1926 - Eddie Collins is released as White Sox manager
1926 - U.S. Route 66 is established.
1928 - France's 5th government of Poincaré forms
1928 - KXO-AM in El Centro CA begins radio transmissions
1928 - WGL-AM in Ft Wayne IN begins radio transmissions
1928 - WMT-AM in Cedar Rapids IA begins radio transmissions
1928 - WOL-AM in Washington DC begins radio transmissions
1930 - Patent number US1781541 was awarded to Albert Einstein and Leó Szilárd for their invention, the Einstein refrigerator.
1931 - Cornerstones laid for Opera House & Veteran's Building
1933 - "Great Black Blizzard" 1st great dust storm in Great Plains
1934 - 1st penalty shot vs Toronto Maple Leafs, Mondou (Mont) unsuccessful
1934 - WOC-AM in Davenport Iowa splits from WHO-WOC & becomes KICK-AM
Theoretical Physicist Albert EinsteinTheoretical Physicist Albert Einstein 1935 - Explorer 2 balloon sets altitude record of 72,000 feet over SD
1937 - Messerschmidt ME-109V13 flies world record 610.4 kph
1937 - Nobel prize for physics awarded to C J Davisson & GP Thomson
1938 - German & Austrian Jewish suffer 1 billion Mark damage in nazi
1938 - Kristallnacht; Jews forced to wear Star of David
1939 - Kate Smith 1st sings Irving Berlin's "God Bless America"
1940 - Thousands of Paris students lay a wreath at the Grave of the Unknown Soldier
1940 - Blizzard strikes midwestern US killing over 100
1940 - British air attack destroys half of Italian fleet
1940 - Willys unveiled its General Purpose vehicle ("Jeep")
1941 - Czech premier general Eliasjarrested by nazis
1942 - -12] last German offensive in Stalingrad
1942 - 745 French Jews deported to Auschwitz
1942 - During WW II Germany completes their occupation of France
1942 - Jews in Free Zone of France ordered to wear yellow star of David
1942 - Lt-general Kumakashi Harada becomes Japanese commander on Java
1942 - Transport nr 45 departs with French Jews to Nazi-Germany
1943 - Spud Chandler wins AL MVP; Stan Musial wins NL MVP
1943 - US air raid on Rabaul
1944 - NY Rangers set NHL record of 25 games without a win (0-21-4)
1946 - NY Knicks' 1st game at Madison Sq Garden loses 78-68 to Chic Stags
1949 - WTTV TV channel 4 in Bloomington-Indianapol, IN (IND) 1st broadcast
1953 - Jimmy Dykes succeeds Marty Marion as Baltimore Orioles manager
1957 - Demolition begins on cable car barn at California& amp; Hyde (SF)
1958 - "La Plume de Ma Tante" opens at Royale Theater NYC for 835 perfs
1958 - AL announces Kansas City will play AL record 52 night games in 1959
1959 - 1st episode of "Rocky & His Friends" airs
1959 - Seals Stadium in San Francisco, demolished
1960 - Largest NY Knick 49th St Madison Square Garden crowd-18,499
1961 - Adulterous couple up mestkar through Staphorst riding
1961 - Congolese soldiers murder 13 Italian UN pilots
1961 - Molotov, Malenkov & Kaganovitsj expelled from USSR's communist party
1961 - Stalingrad renamed Volgograd
1962 - Kuwait's National Assembly ratifies the Constitution of Kuwait.
1963 - Brian Epstein & Ed Sullivan sign a 3 show contract for Beatles
1963 - Gordie Howe ties Rocket Richard's lifetime 544 goal record
1964 - Murray Schisgal's "Luv," premieres in NYC
1965 - Heavyweight Cassius Clay KOs Floyd Patterson in Las Vegas
1965 - Rhodesia proclaimed independence from Britain by PM Ian Smith
1965 - William Alfred's "Hogan's Goat," premieres in NYC
1966 - Gemini 12 (Lovell & Aldrin) launched on 4-day flight
1966 - Methodist Church & Evangelical United Brethren Church unite as United Methodist Church (USA)
1966 - NASA launches spaceship Gemini 12.
Musician and Beatle John LennonMusician and Beatle John Lennon 1968 - John Lennon & Yoko Ono appear nude on cover of "2 Virgins" album
1968 - Maldives (in Indian Ocean) becomes a republic
1968 - Ron Hill sets record 10-mile run (46:44) at Leicester England
1969 - Beatles with Billy Preston release "Get Back" in UK
1969 - Jim Morrison arrested on an airplane by FBI for drunkeness
1970 - Balt Oriole Boog Powell wins AL MVP
1971 - Man-made earthslide at Kawasaki Japan, kills 15
1971 - Neil Simon's "Prisoner of Second Avenue" premieres in NYC
1972 - Dow Jones Index moves above 1,000 for 1st time
1972 - US Army turns over Long Bihn base to South Vietnamese army
1975 - Angola gains independence from Portugal (National Day)
1975 - Australian PM Gough Whitlam removed from office by Governor General Sir John Kerr (1st elected PM removed in 200 yrs)
1977 - Wings release "Mull of Kintyre" & "Girl's School"
1978 - Maumoon Abdul Gayoom becomes president of Maldives
1979 - Boston Court issues occupancy permit for Cambridge Buddhist Center
1980 - Crew of Soyuz 35 returns to Earth aboard Soyuz 37
1980 - Islanders' Mike Bossy scores 4 goals against North Stars
1981 - "Oh, Brother!" closes at ANTA Theater NYC after 3 performances
1981 - Fernando Valenzuela is 1st rookie ever to win a Cy Young Award
1982 - 30th time Islanders shut-out-2-0 vs North Stars
1982 - 5th space shuttle mission-Columbia 5-launched 1st coml flight
1982 - Gas explosion in Israeli army headquarters near Tyre; kills 60
1982 - Joe Altobelli succeeds retiring Earl Weaver as Oriole manager
1983 - 1st US cruise missiles arrive in Great Britain
1983 - President Reagan became 1st US president to address Japanese legislature
1983 - Wayne Phillips scores 159 on Test Cricket debut, v Pakistan at WACA
1984 - "Three Musketeers" opens at Broadway Theater NYC for 9 performances
1985 - 1st AIDS theme TV movie - "An Early Frost"
1985 - Challenger flies back to Kennedy Space Center via Davis-Monthan AFB
1985 - Yonkers is found guilty of segregating schools & housing
1986 - Houston's Astro Mike Scott (18-10) wins NL Cy Young Award
1986 - Suriname government proclaims gold purification
1987 - "Roza" closes at Royale Theater NYC after 12 performances
1987 - Judge Anthony M Kennedy nominated to Supreme Court
1987 - Moscow party secretary Boris Jerusalem resigns
1987 - Roger Clemens wins consecutive Cy Young Awards
1987 - Van Gogh's "Irises" sells for record $53.6 M at auction
1988 - Oldest known insect fossils (390 million yrs) reported in Science
1989 - "Prince of Central Park" closes at Belasco Theater NYC after 4 perfs
1989 - Sam's Town Bowling Invitational won by Tish Johnson
1990 - "Shadowlands" opens at Brooks Atkinson Theater NYC for 169 perfs
1990 - Calif's Chuck Finley & Seattle's Randy Johnson combine to pitch a no-hitter in exhibition game between US & Japanese all-star teams
1992 - Anglican Church & Church of England OK female priests
264th Pope John Paul II264th Pope John Paul II 1993 - Pope John Paul II hospitalized for 2 days for fractured shoulder
1994 - Bill Gates buys Leonardo da Vinci's "Codex" for $30,800,000
1994 - Progress M-25 launched to space station Mir
1996 - Braves' John Smoltz wins NL Cy Young Award
1997 - CBS News anchor Dan Rather renews his contract to 2002
1997 - Roger Clemens wins his 4th AL Cy Young Award
1997 - WNBA expands to Detroit & Washington DC
1999 - Last upside down date until January 1, 6000
2000 - In Kaprun, Austria, 155 skiers and snowboarders die when a cable car catches fire in an alpine tunnel.
2001 - Journalists Pierre Billaud, Johanne Sutton and Volker Handloik are killed in Afghanistan during an attack on the convoy they were traveling on top off.
2004 - New Zealand Tomb of the Unknown Warrior dedicated at the National War Memorial, Wellington.
2004 - Yasser Arafat is confirmed dead by the Palestine Liberation Organization, of unidentified causes. Mahmoud Abbas is elected chairman of the PLO minutes later.
2006 - The New Zealand war memorial monument was unveiled by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in London, United Kingdom, commemorating the loss of soldiers from the New Zealand Army and the British Army.
2008 - The RMS Queen Elizabeth 2 (QE2) set sail on her final voyage to Dubai.
2012 - 12 people are killed by a magnitude 6.8 earthquake in Burma
1620 - The Mayflower Compact was signed by the 41 men on the Mayflower when they landed in what is now Provincetown Harbor near Cape Cod. The compact called for "just and equal laws." 1831 - Nat Turner, a slave and educated minister, was hanged in Jerusalem, VA, after inciting a violent slave uprising. 1851 - The telescope was patented by Alvan Clark. 1868 - The first indoor amateur track and field meet was held by the New York Athletic Club. 1880 - Australian outlaw and bank robber Ned Kelly was hanged at the Melbourne jail at age 25. 1887 - Labor Activists were hanged in Illinois after being convicted of being connected to a bombing that killed eight police officers. 1889 - Washington became the 42nd state of the United States. 1918 - World War I came to an end when the Allies and Germany signed an armistice. This day became recognized as Veteran's Day in the United States. 1918 - Poland was reestablished shortly after the surrender of Germany. 1920 - The body of an unknown British soldier was buried in Westminster Abbey. The service was recorded with the first electronic recording process developed by Lionel Guest and H.O. Merriman. 1921 - The Tomb of the Unknowns was dedicated at Arlington Cemetery in Virginia by U.S. President Harding. 1938 - Kate Smith first sang Irving Berlin's "God Bless America" on network radio. 1940 - The Jeep made its debut. 1942 - During World War II, Germany completed its occupation of France. 1946 - The New York Knickerbockers (now the Knicks) played their first game at Madison Square Garden. 1952 - The first video recorder was demonstrated by John Mullin and Wayne Johnson in Beverly Hills, CA. 1965 - The government of Rhodesia declared its independence from Britain. The country later became known as Zimbabwe. 1965 - Walt Disney announced a project in Florida. Disney movies, music and books 1966 - The U.S. launched Gemini 12 from Cape Kennedy, FL. The craft circled the Earth 59 times before returning. 1972 - The U.S. Army turned over its base at Long Bihn to the South Vietnamese army. The event symbolized the end of direct involvement in the Vietnam War by the U.S. military. 1975 - Civil war broke out when Angola gained independence from Portugal. 1981 - Stuntman Dan Goodwin scaled the outside of the 100-story John Hancock Center in Chicago in about six hours. 1981 - The U.S.S. Ohio was commissioned at the Electric Boat Division in Groton, CT. It was the first Trident class submarine. 1984 - The Reverend Martin Luther King Sr. died in Atlanta at age 84. 1984 - U.S. President Ronald Reagan accepted the Vietnam Veterans Memorial as a gift to the nation from the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund. 1984 - Gary Coleman, at age 13, underwent his second kidney transplant in Los Angeles. He had his first transplant at age 5. 1986 - Sperry Rand and Burroughs merged to form "Unisys," becoming the second largest computer company. 1987 - Vincent Van Gogh's "Irises" was sold for a then record 53.9 million dollars in New York. 1988 - Police in Sacramento, CA, found the first of seven bodies buried on the grounds of a boardinghouse. Dorothea Puente was later charged in the deaths of nine people, convicted of three murders and sentenced to life in prison. 1990 - Stormie Jones, the world's first heart-liver transplant recipient, died at a Pittsburgh hospital at age 13. 1991 - The U.S. stationed its first diplomat in Cambodia in 16 years to help the nation arrange democratic elections. 1992 - Russian President Boris Yeltsin told U.S. senators in a letter that Americans had been held in prison camps after World War II. Some were "summarily executed," but others were still living in his country voluntarily. 1992 - The Church of England voted to ordain women as priests. 1993 - Walt Disney Co. announced plans to build a U.S. history theme park in a Virginia suburb of Washington. The plan was halted later due to local opposition. Disney movies, music and books 1993 - In Washington, DC, the Vietnam Women's Memorial was dedicated to honor the more than 11,000 women who had served in the Vietnam War. 1994 - In Gaza, a suicide bomber detonated his explosives at an Israeli military checkpoint killing three soldiers. 1996 - The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund unveiled "The Wall That Heals." The work was a half-scale replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial that would tour communities throughout the United States. 1997 - The Eastman Kodak Company announced that they were laying off 10,000 employees. 1997 - Roger Clemens (Toronto Blue Jays) became the third major league player to win the Cy Young Award four times. 1998 - Jay Cochrane set a record for the longest blindfolded skywalk. He walked on a tightrope between the towers of the Flamingo Hilton in Las Vegas, NV. The towers are 600 feet apart. 1998 - Vincente Fernandez received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. 1998 - Israel's Cabinet ratified a land-for-peace agreement with the Palestinians. 2002 - Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates pledged $100 million to fight AIDS in India.
1620 The Mayflower Compact was signed by Pilgrims aboard the Mayflower. It would provide the basis for all governments of the American colonies. 1831 Former slave Nat Turner was executed. 1889 Washington became the 42nd state. 1918 The Allies and Germany signed an armistice ending World War I. 1921 The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier was dedicated in Arlington National Cemetery. 1965 Rhodesia proclaimed its independence from Britain. 1992 The Church of England voted to ordain women as priests. 2004 Yasir Arafat, chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization, died in Paris. Mahmoud Abbas was elected to take his place.
The following links are to web sites that were used to complete this blog entry:
http://www.historyorb.com/today/events.php
http://on-this-day.com/onthisday/thedays/alldays/nov11.htm
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history
http://www.infoplease.com/dayinhistory
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