Home > Myths
and legends > The war ended in 1918
On 11 November 1918, fighting on
the Western Front in France and Flanders came to an end when
an Armistice, agreed bwteeen he Allies and Germany, came into
force. This is the foundation of Remembrance Day, Veterans Day
and other national days of remembrance. It is also why most war
memorials say 1914-1918.
So why do some memorials refer to 1919? Why do some war graves
have dates as late as 1921?
Although fighting stopped, the war was not ended on 11 November 1918.
It was a ceasefire, with certain conditions being placed on Germany
to withdraw from occupied territories and give up arms. Allied troops
advanced across Belgium and into Germany as the enemy withdrew, taking
up a bridgehead positions across the Rhine. While there was no major
fighting, there were many localised incidents and Germany itself
was in political turmoil - effectively in a civil war. Another condition
of the Armistice was that peace talks would begin. These took place
at a lengthy conference that concluded with the signing of the Treaty
of Versailles on 28
June 1919. This is the date that on which the Great War could
be said to have finally ended.
The British Army was still involved in operations that had begun
during the war, notably in North Russia (until withdrawal in October
1919) and Mesopotamia (which went on into the 1920's) .
The formal end of wartime emergency procedures in the UK was 31
August 1921. This date is also applied for war graves registration
purposes by the Commonwealth War
Graves Commission.
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