Armistice Day

Armistice Day

Armistice Day is the anniversary of the symbolic end of World War I on 11 November, 1918. It commemorates the armistice signed between the Allies and Germany at Compiègne, France, for the cessation of hostilities on the Western Front, which took effect at eleven o'clock in the morning - the "eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month." While this official date to mark the end of the war reflects the ceasefire on the Western Front, hostilities continued in other regions, especially across the former Russian Empire and in parts of the old Ottoman Empire.

The date was a national holiday in many of the former allied nations to allow people to commemorate those members of the armed forces who were killed during war. This day in Poland is national day (also a public holiday) called "Polish Independence Day". After World War II, it was changed to Veterans Day in the United States and to Remembrance Day in the British Commonwealth of Nations. Armistice Day is an official holiday in France. It is also an official holiday in Belgium, known also as the day of peace in the Flanders Fields.

In many parts of the world people take a two minute moment of silence at "11:00 a.m." as a sign of respect for the roughly eight million who died in the war, as suggested by Edward George Honey in a letter to a British newspaper although Wellesley Tudor Pole established two ceremonial periods of remembrance based on events in 1917. [cite web|url=http://www.rsa.org.nz/remem/rsa_hist_ceremony.html|title=RSA - Remembrance - The Remembrance Ceremony|publisher=Royal New Zealand Returned and Services' Association|accessdate=2008-05-16] [cite web|url=http://www.networkoflight.org/links/lamplighter6.htm|title=The Lamplighter Movement|accessdate=2008-05-16] In Germany however, it coincides with the official beginning of the carnival season.

Beginning in 1939 the two-minute silence was moved to the Sunday nearest 11 November in order not to interfere with wartime production should 11 November fall on a weekday. Since the 1990s a growing number of people have observed a two-minute silence on 11 November, resulting in both Armistice Day and Remembrance Sunday being commemorated formally in the UK (although in 2007 they fell on the same day).

11 November 2008 will be the 90th anniversary of Armistice Day.

ee also

* Remembrance Sunday
* Remembrance Day
* Veterans Day

References


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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Armistice Day — n. Nov. 11, the anniversary of the armistice of WWI in 1918: see VETERANS DAY …   English World dictionary

  • Armistice Day — November 11th, celebrated as the ↑anniversary of the end of the World War I in 1918 →↑Remembrance Day →Veterans Day …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • Armistice Day — Armistice ,Day noun count or uncount November 11th, the ANNIVERSARY of the date in 1918 on which World War I ended, now called Veterans Day …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

  • Armistice Day — noun a legal holiday in the United States; formerly Armistice Day but called Veterans Day since 1954 • Syn: ↑Veterans Day, ↑Veterans Day, ↑November 11 • Hypernyms: ↑legal holiday, ↑national holiday, ↑public holiday …   Useful english dictionary

  • Armistice Day — UK / US noun [countable/uncountable] Word forms Armistice Day : singular Armistice Day plural Armistice Days 11 November, the anniversary of the date in 1918 on which the First World War ended …   English dictionary

  • Armistice Day Blizzard — Infobox winter storm|name=Armistice Day Blizzard image location=19401111.jpg stormtype=Cyclonic blizzard, Panhandle Hook date formed=10 November, 1940 date dissipated=12 November, 1940 maximum amount=27 inches (68.6 cm) (Collegeville, MN)… …   Wikipedia

  • Armistice Day — noun Etymology: from the armistice terminating World War I on November 11, 1918 Date: 1919 Veterans Day used before the official adoption of Veterans Day in 1954 …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • Armistice Day — noun the anniversary of the armistice of 11 November 1918, now replaced by Remembrance Sunday in the UK …   English new terms dictionary

  • Armistice Day — Ar′mistice Day n. mil former name of Veterans Day • Etymology: 1918–19 …   From formal English to slang

  • Armistice Day — /ˈaməstəs deɪ/ (say ahmuhstuhs day) noun → Remembrance Day …  

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