Compiègne

Having been placed on board a carriage with covered windows the German delegation was accompanied to Marshal Foch's HQ in the forest at Rethondes near the town of Compiègne.

To accommodate the meeting a disused artillery siding was used. The train carrying the German delegation pulled into one siding whilst Foch's own carriage came in on the track next to it. Foch met them in his own carriage at 09:00 hours and laid down the conditions for an armistice.

The German delegates' leader: Matthias Erzberger tried to gain a ceasefire whilst the negotiations were taking place, but Foch scenting the German army's incapacity refused.

Having been given the terms and conditions, the German delegation returned to transmit the details back to Berlin. There on 9 November a Republic was declared and the Kaiser abdicated - going into exile in Holland (He died there in 1941).

On the night of the 10th Marshal Foch and his Chief of Staff: General Weygand retired to the nearby church at Rethondes to meditate on what the dawn would bring.

At 02:05 hours on 11 November the civilian government in Berlin replied that they agreed and the German delegation was once again conducted to Rethondes.

Germany signs the Armistice

One more in Foch's railway carriage, General Weygand the French Chief of Staff read through all 34 articles which defined the armistice.

They were tough and uncompromising. The German army would give up all the territory it had occupied and this would include Alsace and Lorraine. Furthermore the Allies would occupy the west of Germany up to the left bank of the Rhine. Other articles accounted for their submarine and High Seas fleets, and the provision of reparations for France and Belgium.

At 05:05 hours on 11 November 1918 Erzberger signed the document on behalf of the German Government. Signals were immediately sent out to the Allied commands:

The Armistice was to take effect at 11 o'clock, on the 11th day, of the 11th month.

It was a cold wet and miserable day. At La Pierre d'Haudroy, Bugler Cpl. Sellier who had first met the delegation a few days earlier and sounded a cease fire then, now sounded the end of the war to end all wars. After 51 months of war France had lost 1 400 000 killed and 600 000 wounded.

La Pierre d'Haudroy
The Clairière de l'Armistice
The last casualties of the war