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Armistice Day
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<p>Armistice Day, later known as <a href="/facts/Remembrance_Day/NqLRJoaX">Remembrance Day</a> in the <a href="/facts/Commonwealth_of_Nations/TcIRQnNq">Commonwealth</a> and <a href="/facts/Veterans_Day/lVUvfffG">Veterans Day</a> in the <a href="/facts/United_States/P0sCdLe5">United States</a>, is commemorated every year on 11 November to mark <a href="/facts/Armistice_of_11_November_1918/xDvqSpuq">the armistice</a> signed between the <a href="/facts/Allies_of_World_War_I/HBo9sw1M">Allies of World War I</a> and <a href="/facts/German_Empire/lwQutJyN">Germany</a> at <a href="/facts/Compi%C3%A8gne/2oaFSe1f">Compiègne</a>, <a href="/facts/French_Third_Republic/I2nlEmcn">France</a>, at 5:45 am for the cessation of hostilities on the <a href="/facts/Western_Front_of_World_War_I/RrhMPVQP">Western Front of World War I</a>, which took effect at 11:00 am—the "eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month" of 1918—although, according to Thomas R. Gowenlock, an intelligence officer with the <a href="/facts/1st_Infantry_Division_(United_States)/RX4ehUFN">U.S. First Division</a>, shelling from both sides continued for the rest of the day, ending only at nightfall. The armistice initially expired after a period of 36 days and had to be extended several times. A formal peace agreement was reached only when the <a href="/facts/Treaty_of_Versailles/BsNmjaqV">Treaty of Versailles</a> was signed the following year. </p><p>The date is a national holiday in <a href="/facts/Public_holidays_in_France/bEaba3Qv">France</a>, and was declared a national holiday in many <a href="/facts/Allies_of_World_War_I/HBo9sw1M">Allies of World War I</a> nations, several of whom have since changed the name of the holiday from Armistice Day to either <a href="/facts/Remembrance_Day/NqLRJoaX">Remembrance Day</a> in the <a href="/facts/Commonwealth_of_Nations/TcIRQnNq">Commonwealth of Nations</a>, or <a href="/facts/Veterans_Day/lVUvfffG">Veterans Day</a> in the United States. Italy celebrates the <a href="/facts/Armistice_of_Villa_Giusti/c7QJCzHb">Armistice with Austria</a> on November 4 as <a href="/facts/National_Unity_and_Armed_Forces_Day/5VHHzIaK">National Unity and Armed Forces Day</a>. In Poland, November 11 coincides with <a href="/facts/National_Independence_Day_(Poland)/SxwGvhyL">National Independence Day</a>. </p>