This terse text sent to British units, very similar to those that the combatants of the other countries involved would receive, it signaled the beginning of the end of "the war that was going to end all wars" (the phrase is attributed to H. G. Wells), the conflict that, when it broke out, should not last longer beyond Christmas, that of 1914, but that in the end had lasted for more than four years, fifty months of destruction and death after which Europe had been disfigured, physically and psychologically.
The armistice of the First World War
It was 5:00 am in Rethondes when what was undoubtedly the first step towards the next war was taken. The German plenipotentiaries then signed the armistice of the First World War , a text riddled with difficult conditions:“Immediate evacuation of the invaded countries […] as well as of Alsace and Lorraine, which will have to be completed within 15 days of the signing of the armistice” (clause II); “Delivery in good condition, by the German Army, of the following equipment:5,000 guns (2,500 heavy and 2,500 field), 25,000 machine guns, 3,000 trench mortars and 1,700 airplanes (fighters and bombers, starting with the Fokker D VII and the night bombing apparatus)” (clause IV); “Evacuation by the German Army of the territories on the left bank of the Rhine. […] they will be administered by the authorities under the control of occupying armies of the allies and the United States” (clause V); “The support of the occupation troops in the Rhine territories (with the exclusion of Alsace and Lorraine) shall be borne by the German Government” (clause IX); “The immediate repatriation, without reciprocity […] of all Allied and United States prisoners of war […]” (clause X); “The following financial reparations are imposed:repair of damages. […]” (clause XIX, the figure was left undetermined).
The conditions imposed for the signing of the armistice were so The German representatives demanded that a declaration be added whose last paragraphs read:“the undersigned plenipotentiaries consider it their duty to reiterate and emphasize their repeated statements, both oral and written, to the effect that the execution of this agreement will throw the German people into hands of anarchy and famine […]. The German people, who have endured for fifty months against a world of enemies, will manage, despite all the forces that oppose them, to preserve their freedom and their unity. A town of seventy million inhabitants suffers, but does not die”.
Revenge would come twenty-two years later, when Hitler forced the French to repossess that same railway car to sign his own armistice, this time against a victorious Germany.
A war that never ends
Meanwhile, it was impossible to think that the imminent end of the conflict would cause the immediate freezing of the front, routines and hatred usually resist dying. East of Valenciennes Shortly before 1100 a.m., a wounded German lieutenant informed a British patrol that the small hamlet they could see in front of them had been abandoned, but when the battalion paraded through it the trap was closed and he was riddled with fire. machine gun, which caused a hundred casualties before the fight became general. Meanwhile, further north, in Lessines , the 7th Dragoons, a cavalry unit, took advantage of the last minutes to charge to the conquest of a bridge over the Dendre River, to establish themselves on the other side in case the Germans decided not to comply with the armistice. The romantic event was also subjected to brutal machine gun fire, which lasted exactly until 11:00, at which time the German defenders decided to comply with the orders received, on the ground there were many absurd last dead of that war.
Another of the meaningless events of that morning had place in the US sector , between the Meuse and Argonne rivers, when the Americans, subjected to artillery fire so intense that it seemed that the Germans did not want to have to throw away the ammunition they had left after the ceasefire, decided to respond. "Apparently, the feeling spread among the soldiers that although the American artillery had not been present in the first shot of the war, it could well make sure to unload the last one -Barrie Pitt narrates, with some irony, in 1918 , The Last Act –. It wouldn't have mattered if the Americans weren't competitive by nature and each team of gunners hadn't wanted the honor for themselves." Finally, the battle would extend well beyond the appointed time, and only direct orders from the highest leadership would end that last endless duel.
It seems that only in the French sector calm remained. Informed of the imminent ceasefire, the units limited themselves to posting sentinels and preparing for a possible last attack, but without taking any offensive action, making good, for an army that had suffered so much during the conflict, the saying that the last dead of a war is undoubtedly the most tragic.
The moment
We do not know who this unfortunate victim could have been, but one of the candidates was named George Price, a Canadian private soldier, who was in the trenches near Ville-sur-Haine when , two minutes before the final hour, was hit by a sniper's bullet. Why shoot at such a late moment? No doubt four years of bitter war had to produce these kinds of fruits, and an intense sense of mistrust, once the time had come to lay down arms. At first, the men hardly dared look beyond their trenches, terrible mud ditches, to be sure, but they had had the virtue of keeping them alive until then. Then, little by little, small groups gathered, looking sideways at those in front, until, at some point, peace broke out. “There was a second of expectant silence –quotes Martin Gilbert, in The First World War , to John Buchan—and then a curious rustling sound, which observers far behind the line compared to the noise of a gentle wind. It was the sound of men cheering from the Vosges to the sea.”
With peace came the moment of remembrance, About that same night, Alan Brooke, who would rise to marshal during World War II, wrote:“The wild night unnerved me. I felt incredible relief that it was finally over, but I was overwhelmed by the influx of memories from those years of struggle. I was full of melancholy that night and went to sleep early.”
After the signing of the armistice, the arrival of the peace was not, however, the end of suffering, since the brutal flu epidemic was in full swing, which, between 1918 and 1920, ended millions of lives, and there were still many minor conflicts to resolve, in the four corners of the world , before World War I turned into World War II.