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Armistice: The Eleventh Hour:
Realizing that the war was lost, a German peace delegation signed an armistice agreement ending the European struggled at 11 o'clock on November 11, 1918. Reaction to the Armistice among the troops was subdued. Many doughboys were stunned by the eerie quiet on the Western Front, and it took several days before celebrations erupted. And despite the Armistice, more than 14,000 Americans, including some fro Wisconsin, were still fighting in North Russia and Siberia -- tragic sideshows of the European war.
As in earlier wars, American leaders rapidly demobilized the mass army of citizen-soldiers. Those who had served in France could take home a helmet and a gas mask along with a uniform, a pair of shoes, a coat, and a $60 bonus. |