17 - Waffenstillstand, October–November 1918

Summary

During October 1918 Foch deployed all his energy in pushing the Allies into their general offensive and in dealing with disputes with the national CinCs and his Premier. At the same time he had to return to the political arena of the SWC to deal with armistice terms. The first German request was sent to President Wilson on 4 October, and five weeks later the Armistice was signed in a railway carriage near Rethondes in the Compiègne forest. The date and the time of that signing have been commemorated annually ever since as marking the end of the war. Yet the armistice agreement was not intended to end the war but to call a truce; it merely caused the weapons to fall silent. That is why the German term – the silencing of weapons – is used for the title of this chapter, rather than the sometimes misinterpreted English/French term.

At OHL headquarters in Spa, the news that on 25 September Bulgaria had requested an armistice, coupled with the start of Foch’s general offensive in Belgium and France, caused Ludendorff’s physical collapse. His increasing pessimism had already alarmed some OHL staff, who decided on 26 September to call Foreign Minister Paul von Hintze to Spa to discuss the situation. Three days later Hintze and the Kaiser met with Hindenburg and Ludendorff and were told that an immediate Waffenstillstand was required to save the army, and that political reform was required to make the country accept it.