I have a special fascination with World War One, a fascination that intensified when my father told me that his dad served in the Marines in 1917-1918. (My other grandfather and my wife’s grandfathers served in World War II, but my dad’s dad was in the first war.) My grandpa had trained as a sniper, but was never sent to France and was discharged after the armistice. The following are 11 fascinating facts concerning the people and events of the finale of the most destructive and bloody war in human history (until World War II, of course), which ended at 11 a.m. on 11/11/1918.
Once they crossed the lines on Nov. 8, the German delegates were not driven directly to the railway car where the armistice talks were to be held. Rather, the French gave them a 10-hour “scenic tour” that showed incredible damage to the French countryside after four years of war. The delegates were then ushered into a rail car in the forest of Compiegne to begin the talks that lasted three days. After being informed that Kaiser Wilhelm II had abdicated on Nov. 10, the German delegates received an un-coded message from general-in-chief Hindenburg to accept whatever terms they could get — and quickly — because of rioting and increasing unrest at home. The picture shows just a small portion of the devastation in northern France.
The Germans and Allies signed the armistice just after 5 a.m. Paris time. Only one photograph seems to exist of the actual signing, unlike, say, the surrender of France in 1940 or the surrender of Japan in 1945. The photo above appears to have been shot through a window; I think that’s Matthias Erzberger, the chief German negotiator, at far right. This other photo shows the Allied representatives shortly after the signing; Marshal Foch stands second from right.
The rail carriage (car) and armistice spot later became a national monument. Almost 22 years later, in June 1940, Hitler made the French surrender in that very rail car. Before the Allies liberated France in 1944, Hitler ordered the monument dynamited and the following year ordered the carriage itself destroyed, to prevent a possible second German armistice or surrender from being signed in that same car. Here’s how the site looks today: http://pierreswesternfront.punt.nl/?r=1&id=435051
The armistice was signed just after 5 a.m. (Paris time) the morning of Nov. 11. The fighting was to officially end at 11 a.m. The German delegation had requested an immediate cease-fire, but the Allies set a six-hour deadline so that all commanders could get the word. When they heard the news, some commanders had their men stand down. Why fight for piece of ground that you could simply walk over a few hours later? But others continued to attack — especially some American commanders — who saw chances for “glory” or promotion slipping away, or because they thought the Germans needed to be flat-out beaten. Several thousand men on both sides were killed or wounded in the final six hours of the war. For example, the Commonwealth War Graves Commission recorded 863 British and Commonwealth deaths on Nov. 11. The picture shows German troops under attack in the final weeks of the war.
One American artillery captain kept his battery firing at the Germans until just minutes before 11 a.m., because he believed the armistice was premature and the Germans needed to be truly beaten, not just defeated. His name? Capt. Harry S. Truman. Some historians draw a straight line from Truman’s actions on 11/11/1918 and his decision to use the atomic bombs.
In a freak coincidence, the British Army started and ended the war at Mons. Some of the first British soldiers killed in the Great War died at Mons in August 1914, when the five divisions of the BEF fought their first battle. More than four years later, the British returned to Mons, and some of the very last Commonwealth soldiers killed in the Great War died there on November 11, 1918. Scroll down this page of the St. Symphorien Military Cemetery at Mons, which has the graves of the first and last British soldiers killed at Mons.
Many men wounded on November 11 succumbed to injuries after the 11th hour. Many more endured years of pain and suffering over physical wounds that couldn’t quite heal right or could never be healed. One of the most horrifying, a Commonwealth soldier named Thomas, was gravely wounded on Nov. 6, just before negotiations started, and was still alive AND conscious when the armistice took effect. Whatever hit him in the face literally tore away the lower parts of his face — nose, mouth, jaw. Amazingly, he survived. After years of surgical reconstruction, Thomas finally had something approaching a normal looking face in August 1922.
Matthias Erzberger, Germany’s lead negotiator at the Armistice, initially supported the war until 1917. By then, the static and incredibly bloody lines in France convinced him that Germany should negotiate a peace. Prince Max Von Baden picked Erzberger to lead the negotiations because Erzberger was a civilian and known opponent of the war. After the fighting ended, Erzberger joined the newly formed government and endorsed the 1919 Treaty of Versailles, which many hard-core Germans held in contempt. For his role in the “stab in the back” (see #2), Erzberger was forced from office in 1920 and murdered in 1921.
Historians generally (but not totally) list a German soldier by the name of Lt. Tomas with being the final German casualty. He was killed after the 11th hour by an American unit that apparently hadn’t received word of the cease-fire. The final German killed before the 11th hour is not known. According to generally accepted records, the last British, Canadian, French and American men killed were the following: British soldier George Edwin Ellison died around 9:30 a.m. while scouting around Mons. French soldier Augustin Trébuchon was killed at 10:45 a.m. while spreading the news that they would get hot soup after the 11th hour. Canadian soldier George Lawrence Price died two minutes before the 11th hour, just north of Mons.
The last man believed killed in the Great War was American soldier Henry Gunther, 60 seconds before the 11th hour. German soldiers were shouting and waving at Gunther and the others to go back. The photo above is of Gunther.
Most accounts of the end of World War I and the origins of World War II contain some discussion of the “stab in the back,” the claim that the German army had not been defeated but was betrayed by the civilian leadership. This wasn’t merely a Nazi propaganda line, either – many Germans heading home from France, Belgium, Romania, Italy, Russia, etc. really did believe it. Never mind the facts. The military leaders had told the Kaiser that the army and navy would no longer support him; naval mutineers had refused to fight any more; the army high command had sought the armistice before Allied armies hit German soil; and the home front was literally starving and rioting. Nevertheless, the legend of the “stab in the back” became darn near holy writ. So, while the Nazis didn’t create the “stab in the back” legend, they certainly exploited it to devastating effect.
Both AEF commander Gen. Pershing and Allied supreme commander Foch of France were unhappy with the nature of the armistice and subsequent Versailles peace treaty. Pershing believed that it was a grave mistake to let the Germans simply lay down their arms without actually being beaten. (They were defeated, yes, but not beaten.) He correctly predicted that because they did not make the Germans beg for peace on their knees inside a ruined Germany, the Allies would soon be fighting them again. Foch was even more prescient. Upon reading the Versailles treaty in 1919, Foch was heard exclaiming, “This isn’t a peace. It’s a cease-fire for 20 years!” Twenty years and two months later, England and France declared war on Germany.
nice list…keep it up
No more war.. Please.
Fantastic list! Much better than yesterday’s. Keep it up!
Horrible picture of cheek wound. What an awful mincing machine the trenches must have been.
nice list…im a war trivia buff myself..
awesome list Jf!!!
Absolutely fascinating list…I too have always been fascinated with WWI, as I feel it was the first war to include what is considered “modern warfare” instead of the usual hand-to-hand type combat seen up to the time of, and during, the Civil War.
I think more than anything it is the psychology of war that most interests me. I can’t imagine the mindset soldiers must slide into to be able to kill enemy soldiers. My favorite quote is by Einstein…”He who marches to music in rank and file has already earned my contempt…It is my conviction that killing under the cloak of war is nothing but an act of murder.”
What a tragic waste of life. Nice list.
@Grasshopperking (4):
Totally agree with yesterday’s list…
Wow! Didnt know a lot of this.
I really liked this list. Its always great to learn more about our history.
Good..a refreshing change from WWII..there has been an overdose of WWII with all the games and movies devoted to it.
Nice one. I have always been intrested in history
Nice one. I have always been intrested in history!
very nice list, gooood.
The ridiculous “concessions” demanded by the Allied Powers in the Treaty of Versailles are in no small part to blame for Hitler’s rise to power and consequently, the Second World War.
More fighting would have led to more death, and a fairer peace would have been much more benificial in the long run. A weakened Germany would have been (and was) a bitter Germany, and Germany wasn’t going to stay weak for long.
That’s what revenge gets you… Just ask France, was it worth it?
My Grandfather told me of the disabled veterans who were blinded in gas attacks.
There was a ‘marching’ band of them, the leader would shuffle along in the gutter using the kerb-stones to guide them along whilst playing for pennies.
So many dead, such an awful war.
Not interested.
Very good. The war that shaped the world for the entire 20th century, and beyond.
Interesting facts. I wonder how long it will be before there can be a list about “The facts about the end of the Iraq war” hopefully not too long! Good list
Great list. I find pictures of WW1 especially fascinating.
Great list! I think too much of WWI is glossed over in history classes as a precursor to the (arguably) more exciting and eventful WWII.
Interesting side note: General John Pershing was my great(several times over) uncle. My grandfather has letters written home to his grandfather, James Pershing, who was John’s brother. I’ve also seen a few pictures and an old keepsake book with newspaper articles.
During World War I many German reports had called the attacking Marines “teufel-hunden,” meaning Devil-Dogs. Teufel-hunden were the vicious, wild, and ferocious mountain dogs of Bavarian folklore.
Some Marines offer a more detailed story: The Battle of Belleau Wood was fought in France in the summer of 1918, in the midst of a heat wave. At some point during the battle, the Marines were ordered to take a hill occupied by German forces. As the Marines prepared to charge the hill, word came down from command that the Germans were preparing to use mustard gas to repel the attack. As a precaution, the Marines were ordered to put on their gas masks and take the hill. As the Marines fought their way up the hill, the heat caused them to sweat profusely, foam at the mouth and turned their eyes bloodshot. Additionally, at some points the hill was very steep, which caused the Marines to have to scramble on all fours to make their way up. Consequently, from the Germans’ vantage point, they witnessed a pack of tenacious, growling figures whose lower faces were obscured by gas masks (which at the time had a prolonged shape that somewhat resembled a snout) but left open their bloodshot eyes and mouth foam seeping from the sides, advancing up the hill, sometimes on all fours, and killing everything in their way. As the legend goes, the German soldiers, upon seeing this spectacle, began to yell that they were being attacked by “dogs from hell.”
Great list STLMo fantastic work
I read somewhere that:
1) One of the smaller combatant nations (maybe Andorra) was accidentally left out of the armistice document, so technically they continued to be at war with Germany. In 1939, they had to sign an armistice before immediately declaring war again.
2) The clerk who typed the document accidentally put the carbon paper between the sheets of paper incorrectly, so that one of the documents which was signed was reversed, and no-one noticed.
(I can’t verify those two right now.)
Many WWI memorials in Australia are dated 1914-1919. Because the war finished so late in the year, soldiers were still counted as being on active service while they were returning on the troop ships.
Minor error in item no 1: should be 20 years and *ten* months.
loved this list, always had thought that the second world war recieves a bit too much of the limelight.
Personally I think that if the treaty of versailles had not been so rediculously harsh then we might have never had a second world war.
(i’d even go so far as to saying that britain and france should not have got involved, I suspect that the true reason was jealousy, seeing as germany was fast becoming more powerful than both of them)
btw i am british
After the First World War, Germany had millions unemployed, and the hyperinflation was so ridiculous that money was used as wallpaper. Was it right to let Germany be like that? I don`t think it was. If that hadn`t happened, we never would have had, you know who. and the world today would be a much better place.
Superb list, well done! I too have a huge fascination with all things WWI and trench warfare.
Not a fan of war of any kind, but this one always amazed me on the sheer epic scale of it. Interesting list, STLMo. I liked all of the facts.
Okay. This list needed a warning for the picture from number 5. I’m sure more people would be complaining about it if the subject were more popular.
Well, off to breakfast then….
What a fantastic list. ty very much.
Intersting list.
One minor typo.
Harry S Truman
No period after the S.
great list,
enjoyed it a lot
Great list, horrible war.
Happened in my backyard. 3th battle for Yper (Passchendaele) was here in the neighbourhood.
A quote on that:
Lancelot Kigell, LT-General on the 6th of November 1917:
‘Good God, did we really send men to fight in that?’
The answer
“It’s worse further up on….”
@31
sheesh… warnings?
I’m sure the poor dude in #5 didn’t have someone go into a room to announce he was coming in as a warning to folks who might be grossed out.
great list. being a history student its always frustrating how much emphasis pop culture puts on WW2, to the degree where i just get sick to death of hearing it mentioned (usually in inane ‘my country is better than yours’ arguments).
WW1 is fascinating largely for how farcical the whole thing was. you have this huge war which nobody wanted and with causes stretching back as far as the 17th century, being hideously mismanaged by incompetent generals who were clearly out of their depth when it came to the new form of warfare that was developing. no wonder Blackadder chose it as the setting for the fourth series.
Your title for #5: No End for the Wounded is poetic and as true today as it was then. Whenever I see a list about the number of casualties of any war, I always wonder about those who continue to die months or years later as a result of their injuries. But I realize it’s probably impossible to account for them all. Also those who commit suicide because of their inability to cope with the injuries or the horrors they endured are just as much victims of any war.
Very good list. Often when a list inspires me to want to know more about a subject, it gets bonus points from me.
I’m curious about Thomas (from #5) and wonder if there is more info about him. Although he was certainly not the only one to suffer horrific disfiguring injuries.
Great list, STLMo, your passion for the subject is apparent in your careful research.
There was quite a bit of pressure on the neutral Netherlands as they offered asylum to Kaiser Wilhelm (the house of Orange and the house of Hohenzollern were tied by blood). Lloyd George and Woodrow Wilson both pressed Wilhelmina to release Wilhelm to them, but she refused – both because of her blood ties and because of Dutch foreign policy. When WWII broke out, Wilhelm refused the British offer of asylum, as he didn’t trust them due to their earlier efforts at extradition. When the Germans invaded, Hitler ensured that almost no one had access to the Kaiser as he distrusted his desire to restore the monarchy in Germany. Wilhelm died in March of ’41, and remains buried in the Netherlands as he refused a German burial until the monarchy was restored.
How true Item 5 is. My Grandfather served for 3 1/2 years in France – most of the time in or near the front lines – with the “KOSBEES”: The King’s Own Scottish Borderers.
He was gassed 3 times (one of his brothers was also gassed – but “only” once).
My Grandmother was advised by all and sundry; especially the army and civilian medics NOT to marry my Grandfather because “He’ll be dead before he’s 30!” Grandfather lived to be 62 before dying in 1960 from the effects of the gassing that utterly destroyed his lungs and heart – he survived (only being able to work intermittently) because of the babying and nursing at my Grandmother’s loving hands: she died in 2002 living to be 104 and spent her last 42 years mourning “her Johnnie”
Of seven brothers who all fought; 6 made it home alive; My Grand-dad’s brother succumbed to his destroyed lungs in his late forties (just after World War 2 – or The Great War; PART 2 as it probably should be called – Foch was correct).
My Dad then had to go and take part in the sequel.
***** WAR!@
Hi. War! – has never been so much fun! (to research that is) as WWI and WWII. Both for different reasons. War in the 19′teens had moved on from the Boer wars with the help of new machinery, tactics, logistics, and many other coined advances in a world in which the chivalry of the cavalry had ruled since the middle ages!
The art of modern warfare was very much still in it’s infancy; leading to blindsightedness in the face of a class-divided infrastructure. Mismanagement and “gentleman’s club” rules eventually leading to a huge stale-mate on all sides – and throwing scores of men into the mix did nothing to improve the recipe.
The reason I love to research the ‘Wars’ is because, for a very limited time (1914-1945), the world was still quite naive in many ways and yet had modernised considerably after the industrial revolution. Technology was thin on the ground – but technological advances over those thirty-odd years steadily revolutionized the world and necessitated millions of applications and provisions we take for granted today.
Now-a-days war is soooo technical that the honor, bravery and diplomatic skill seems to have moved out in favour of ‘Lets see what this button does.’,'Lets see if we can destroy their DNA.’, ‘Lets see if we can microwave their brains from 100 miles away?’. That is to say, some prefer World of Warcraft, I prefer Stratego.
From what I understand the “stab in the back” was more along the lines of Hindenburg saying he wanted to keep fighting but it the parliment wanted peace.
Really good list, informative and interesting. i agree with many of the other commenters that it is really great to learn more about WWI. I’m from Europe, but because my home country was neutral in WWI but occupied during WWII there has always been much more focus on the second in history classes, literature, movies ect. Hope to see more lists dealing with WWI in the future…
Hi. War! – has never been so much fun! (to research that is) as WWI and WWII. Both for different reasons. War in the 19′teens had moved on from the Boer wars with the help of new machinery, tactics, logistics, and many other coined advances in a world in which the chivalry of the cavalry had ruled since the Middle Ages!
The art of modern warfare was very much still in it’s infancy; leading to blind sightedness in the face of a class-divided infrastructure. Mismanagement and “gentleman’s club” rules eventually leading to a huge stalemate on all sides – and throwing scores of men into the mix did nothing to improve the recipe.
The reason I love to research the ‘Wars’ is because, for a very limited time (1914-1945), the world was still quite naive in many ways and yet had modernised considerably after the industrial revolution. Technology was thin on the ground – but technological advances over those thirty-odd years steadily revolutionized the world and necessitated millions of applications and provisions we take for granted today.
Now-a-days war is soooo technical that the honour, bravery and diplomatic skill seems to have moved out in favour of ‘Lets see what this button does.’, ‘Lets see if we can destroy their DNA.’, ‘Lets see if we can microwave their brains from 100 miles away?’. That is to say, some prefer World of Warcraft, I prefer Stratego.
(sorry if this post appears twice)
Excellent list, excellent comments!
Hi. War! – has never been so much fun! (to research that is) as WWI and WWII. Both for different reasons. War in the 19′teens had moved on from the Boer wars with the help of new machinery, tactics, logistics, and many other coined advances in a world in which the chivalry of the cavalry had ruled since the Middle Ages!
The art of modern warfare was very much still in it’s infancy; leading to blind sightedness in the face of a class-divided infrastructure. Mismanagement and “gentleman’s club” rules eventually leading to a huge stalemate on all sides – and throwing scores of men into the mix did nothing to improve the recipe.
The reason I love to research the ‘Wars’ is because, for a very limited time (1914-1945), the world was still quite naive in many ways and yet had modernised considerably after the industrial revolution. Technology was thin on the ground – but technological advances over those thirty-odd years steadily revolutionized the world and necessitated millions of applications and provisions we take for granted today.
Now-a-days war is soooo technical that the honour, bravery and diplomatic skill seems to have moved out in favour of ‘Lets see what this button does.’, ‘Lets see if we can destroy their DNA.’, ‘Lets see if we can microwave their brains from 100 miles away?’. That is to say, some prefer World of Warcraft, I prefer Stratego.
Wonder why my post is lost in moderation???
Great list STLMo well written and researched.- Thanks
I had a few relatives who fought in this war although you didn’t dare ask them about it. Both my grandpas and a great uncle served in ww2. Only my moms dad would talk about his experiences in the pacific the other 2 relatives were silent. I don’t know if it is true or not but I heard that Native Americans were used greatly in this war because of their mentality. I wonder when ww3 is gonna happen. Good list
Great list, STLMo. Thanks!
Excellent list! I am also fascinated by The Great Wat, but moreso on the aviation side.
The Argus newspaper is the local paper in the Brighton and Hove area, I wonder if it’s actually the same paper or just a coincidence?
I’m very interested in the 20th century – I live in the Netherlands, which was neutral in WWI (though there’s a rather believable theory that Germany crossed some of the Netherlands when they went to Belgium – officially making the Netherlands an occupied country, but since we were never actually occupied I don’t think it counts) but was occupied in WWII. The focus in history class has always been much more in WWII. I must say I muself are more interested in that too, specifically the shoah and such.
It’s fascinating, though, to see how history has this kind of snowball effect. I mean, a cause of WWII (A cause, not THE cause) was Germany’s anger over the Treaty of Versailles, as they felt they were being treated unfairly and had a hatred towards France for it. The Treaty of Versailles also caused Germany to become very poor as they had to pay lots of money to the countries who’d suffered..
and then WWI, in turn, was caused among other things by the war in 1870-1871 between France and Germany… which I’m sure had another cause in history, too.
And this way something that happened over 130 years ago can still has its effects today… (WWII definitely still has some effect nowadays)
Yeah, I’ll stop rambling. I guess all I wanted to say is good list! ^^
good list, but i didn’t really learn much new stuff other than #4 and #7. i’ve had a huge interest in the great war for about 30 years now. that’s probably why i already knew so many of these.
you could have added a #12 about those suffering from shell shock or possibly added that into #5. just because their bodies remained whole doesn’t mean their minds weren’t scarred for the rest of their lives. some of the film i’ve seen of the shell shocked guys were extremely disturbing.
As a frenchman, I do prefer WW1 because I can actually feel more pride in it (also, like many frenchmen, I have ancestors who fought in WW1, but not in WW2… hence I feel more “involved”).
I think WW1 is fascinating. I’m interested in WW2 as well, but I think it has less of this psychological warfare side to it, and its also less “old school”. ^^
Ah, I see someone has managed to watch the episode of Timewatch presented by Michael Palin on WWI.
Great list. When i was in high school i was lucky enough to go on a trip away to France and Belgium to see the battlefields and what remains of the trenches.
Extremely moving experience standing in a field where thousands of people have been killed/wounded. The French countryside is scarred by ww1 to this day
Fun stuff, STLmo! Thanks.
It should be mentioned for number 6 that the second battle at Mons was completely unnecessary.
good list buddy. please, many more to come
excellent list was fascinating to read, dont think ive ever seen so many positive comments about a list before.
Wow thats the first list in a long time that didn’t reach 100 comments in the first day! One of the most disturbing moments I ever had was standing in the middle of the Verdun soldier cemetary and in every direction, as far as I can see, just graves. Just whole generations waste, and for what?