At the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918, the guns fell silent along the vast earthen fortifications known as the trenches. The earthen forts stretched from the North Sea coast of Belgium along a winding frontier between warring forces to the French frontier with Switzerland.
It was not a surrender, but an armistice.
Thus ended, at least on the Western Front, the "War to end wars."
Until 1954, we celebrated November 11th as Armistice Day and commemorated the event by wearing artificial poppies in the lapel.
In 1954 the day of observance was renamed "Veteran's Day" in the US.
I prefer "Armistice Day." It commemorates an actual event, rather than a bland, undifferentiated recognition of veterans.
It also conveys the transitory nature of the termination of that conflict.
The war didn't end all wars.
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