On Nov. 11, the world remembers the Armistice
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It was the War to end all Wars; it was the Great War; in 1941 with the Japanese attack on the U.S. Naval Base at Pearl Harbor, it became known as World War I.
But while WW II was, in comparison, worse than the WWI, The Great War marked a change in world history and the world's way of governing.
It ended the age of Monarchies.
It also ended 20 million lives. Intense use of poison gases, such as chlorine, mustard gas, bromine, and phosgene, so heavily saturated the earth that in some areas of France and Belgium, human habitation is impossible even to this day. World War I destroyed lives, towns, cities, and eliminated nations, redrew national borders of Europe, and in the end, resolved very little, other than to set the stage for World War II.
One of the causes of the war was the June 28, 1914 assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir presumptive to the Austro-Hungarian throne, and his wife, Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg. objective of the assassination was to free Bosnia and Herzegovina of Austria-Hungarian rule and establish a common South Slav ("Yugoslav") state. Gravilo Princip, a young Serbian nationalist, shot Ferdinand and his wife at close range while driving through Sarajevo, the provincial capital of Bosnia-Herzegovina, which had been annexed by Austria-Hungary and Ferdinand's uncle, Austro-Hungarian Emperor Franz Josef, in 1908.
As the National WWI Museum and Memorial pointed out, when World War I began in August 1914, few expected the conflict to last beyond Christmas. In fact, Austria-Hungary's declaration of war against Serbia on July 28, 1914, surprised most of Europe. The Archduke was not what one would consider worth starting a war. The Austrian declaration of war prompted a declaration of war on Austria by Russia; Germany felt obligated to declare war on Russia, which prompted Germany and France to go to war. Germany decided to invade France through neutral Belgium, which prompted Great Britain to declare was on Germany, and within five weeks of Princip having shot Ferdinand, the whole of Europe was at war.
The conflict, already expanded beyond Europe, included great movements of imperial colonies in Africa and Asia. As it progressed, further independent nations like Bulgaria, Romania, Italy, the Ottoman Empire, China and Japan joined the fighting. The United States became formally involved in April, 1917, The fall of that year saw the Allies launch an offensive against Germany along the French/German lines, that involved more than a million U.S. soldiers. Not until 1918 would the war's end be in sight. In October of that year, an armistice between the Ottoman Empire and the Allies ended fighting in the Middle East. Only days later, the disintegrating Austro-Hungarian Empire signed an armistice with Italy.
Germany, betrayed by Austria, was compelled to seek an armistice in the fall of 1918, which went into effect on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month.
The Armistice was recognized by the U.S. Congress in 1926, although other nations had long celebrated it as Remembrance Day or Armistice Day. However, it was not until 1938, that Congress declared it an official holiday, set aside to honor the veterans of the Great War.
After World War II and the Korean War, veterans service organizations urged Congress to amend the day to honor American veterans of all wars. On June 1, 1954, Armistice Day became Veterans Day.
History.com states that for a while, Veterans Day's date was changed, too," and it confused everybody."
Congress signed the Uniform Holiday Bill in 1968 to ensure that a few federal holidays -- Veterans Day included -- would be celebrated on a Monday. Officials hoped it would spur travel and other family activities over a long weekend, which would stimulate the economy, states the History website.
For some inexplicable reason, the bill set Veterans Day commemorations for the fourth Monday of every October.
While the first Veterans (no apostrophe) Day was first celebrated under the new bill on Oct. 25, 1971, many states were not happy with the date change, and continued celebrating the holiday in November.
Within a few years, it became apparent that most U.S. citizens wanted to celebrate Veterans Day on Nov. 11, since it was a matter of historic and patriotic significance. So, on Sept. 20, 1975, President Gerald Ford signed another law (Public Law 94-97), which returned the annual observance to its original date starting in 1978.
World War I was a multinational effort; it makes sense that the Allies also wanted to celebrate their veterans on Nov. 11. The name of the day and the types of commemorations differ, however.
Canada and Australia, for example, both call Nov. 11 "Remembrance Day." Canada's observance is is much like that of the U.S., except many of its citizens wear red poppy flowers to honor their war dead. In Australia, the day is more akin to the U.S. Memorial Day.
Great Britain calls it "Remembrance Day," too, but observes it on the Sunday closest to Nov. 11 with parades, services and two minutes of silence in London to honor those who lost their lives in war.