What is Armistice Day and how is it celebrated?
On the first Armistice Day, November 11, 1919, President Woodrow Wilson issued a message to his countrymen in which he expressed his feelings about what the day meant to Americans: Our adversaries laid down their arms a year ago today in accordance with an armistice, rendering them powerless to renew hostilities and giving the world…
On the first Armistice Day, November 11, 1919, President Woodrow Wilson issued a message to his countrymen in which he expressed his feelings about what the day meant to Americans: Our adversaries laid down their arms a year ago today in accordance with an armistice, rendering them powerless to renew hostilities and giving the world an assured opportunity to rebuild its shattered order and work out in peace a new and more just set of international relations. The soldiers and people of the European Allies had fought and endured for more than four years to maintain the civilizational barrier against armed force aggressions. We had been involved in the conflict for over a year and a half.
We remodeled our industries, concentrated our financial resources, increased agricultural output, and assembled a massive army so that in the end, our power was a decisive factor in the victory. We were able to bring the vast resources, both material and moral, of a great and free people to the aid of our European colleagues who had suffered and sacrificed untold amounts in the cause for which we fought.
What is Armistice Day and how is it celebrated?
The Armistice, an agreement to end the fighting in the First World War as a prelude to peace talks, went into effect at 11 a.m. on November 11, 1918. Armistice is a Latin term that means “to stand (still) arms.” To this day, we observe Armistice Day with a two-minute silence at 11 a.m. on the 11th day of the 11th month.
