Feature : Armistice Day
At 11am on 11 November 1918 the guns of the Western Front fell silent after more than four years of continuous warfare. The armistice between the Allies and Germany was signed at 5am in a railway carriage in Compiègne Forest, to take effect at 11am Paris time (11am GMT); the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month. In the years following, this symbolic end of the 'war to end all wars' gained special significance, as allied countries adopted Armistice Day as the day for remembering all who died in the war.
Armistice Day was dedicated by King George V, on 7 November 1919, to the observance of members of the armed forces killed during the war. The King personally requested all the people of the British Empire to suspend normal activities for two minutes on the hour of the armistice 'which stayed the worldwide carnage of the four preceding years and marked the victory of Right and Freedom'. In Australia Armistice Day was renamed Remembrance Day following the end of the Second World War, when the day became an occasion to remember all war dead.
11 November 2008 marks 90 years since the signing of the armistice that ended the fighting of the First World War. The war officially ended 28 June 1919 with the signing of the Treaty of Versailles, following six months of negotiations at the Paris Peace Conference.
Picture Queensland holds many images of the men serving on the Western Front and in the Middle East during the First World War, and of those at home rallying support for the war. The State Library of Queensland invites you to browse our images which show people and events during war years.
Last updated: 26th October 2009
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