
A
white flag is traditionally used to represent a truce.
An 'armistice' is the effective end of a
war, when the warring parties agree to stop fighting. It is derived from the
Latin ''arma'', meaning weapons and ''statium'', meaning a stopping.
A truce or
ceasefire usually refers to a temporary
cessation of hostilities for an agreed limited time or within a limited area. A truce may be needed in order to negotiate an armistice.
An armistice is a ''
modus vivendi'' and is not the same as a
peace treaty, which may take months or even years to agree on. The 1953
Korean War armistice
[1] is a major example of an armistice which has not yet been followed by a peace treaty.
The
United Nations Security Council often imposes or tries to impose cease-fire resolutions on parties in modern conflicts. Armistices are always negotiated between the parties themselves and are thus generally seen as more binding than non-mandatory UN cease-fire resolutions in modern international law.
Notable armistices in history
The most notable armistice, and the one which is still meant when people say simply "The Armistice", is the
armistice at the end of World War I, on
11 November,
1918, signed near
Compiègne, France and effective at the "eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month."
[2] Armistice Day is still celebrated in some places on the anniversary of that armistice; alternatively
November 11, or a Sunday near to it, may still be observed as a
Remembrance Day.
[3]
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Armistice of Copenhagen of 1537 ended the Danish war known as the
Count's Feud.
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Armistice of Stuhmsdorf of 1635 between the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and Sweden.
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Peace of Westphalia of 1648 that ended the
Thirty Years' War.
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World War I
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★ Armistice between Russia and the Central Powers, at Brest-Litovsk , 1917. See
Treaty of Brest-Litovsk.
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Armistice with Bulgaria 1918
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Armistice with Germany (Compiègne) 1918
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Austrian-Italian Armistice of Villa Giusti ended the First World War on the Italian front in early November 1918.
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Armistice of Mudros Between the Ottoman Empire and the Allies, 1918
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Armistice of Mudanya between Turkey, Italy, France and Britain and later Greece of 1922.
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World War II
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Armistice with France (Second Compiègne) of 1940
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Armistice of Saint Jean d'Acre of 1941 between British forces in the Middle East and Vichy France forces in Syria
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Armistice with Italy of 1943
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Moscow Armistice , signed by Finland and the Soviet Union on
September 19,
1944 ending the
Continuation War.
★
★ (Germany implemented an
unconditional surrender at the end of the war, immediately prior to
V-E day)
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Japanese Instrument of Surrender
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1949 Armistice Agreements between Israel and its neighbors Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria.
[4]
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Korean War Armistice July 1953
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Armistice of Trung Gia signed by France and the Viet Minh on
July 20,
1954 ending the
First Indochina War.
★ 1962 armistice in
Algeria attempted to end the
Algerian War
References
1. Text of the Korean War Armistice Agreement
2. The Armistice
3. What is Remembrance Day?
4. 1949 Armistice
External links
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Allied Armistice Terms, 11 November 1918