At the 11th hour of the 11th day of the eleventh month 1918: World War I ends
At the 11th hour on the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918, the Great War ends. Germany, bereft of manpower, supplies, and food, signs an armistice agreement with the Allies. The war left 9 million soldiers dead and 21 million wounded, with Germany, Russia, Austria-Hungary, France, and Great Britain each losing nearly a million or more lives. In addition, some 6 million civilians died from disease, starvation, or exposure. World War I led to the fall of the imperial dynasties of Russia, Germany, Turkey, and Austria-Hungary, and spurred the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia. In 1919, the Treaty of Versailles officially ended the conflict, but its punitive terms destabilized Europe and laid the groundwork for World War II.
In Flanders Fields
...the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
John McCrae
A Canadian doctor who died in Flanders in 1917
In Flanders Fields
...the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
John McCrae
A Canadian doctor who died in Flanders in 1917
