Armistice: Encyclopedia - Armistice

Armistice

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 stitium, 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 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 to 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.

Armistice - Notable Armistices in history

The most famous armistice, which is the one still meant when people say simply "The Armistice", is the one at the end of World War I, on November 11, 1918 at the "eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month." 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.

• World War I
  • Russian German armistice of 1917
  • Armistice with Germany (Compiègne)
  • Armistice with Austria

• World War II
  • Armistice with France (Second Compiègne)
  • Armistice with Italy
  • (Germany implemented an unconditional surrender at the end of the war, immediately prior to V-E day)
  • Japanese Instrument of Surrender

• Korean War
  • Korean War Armistice

Categories: War | Treaties

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Armistice", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki