On what date did World War I end with an armistice?

World War I ended with an armistice on November 11, 1918.

The armistice was signed early that morning in a railway carriage in the Compiègne Forest, near Compiègne, France. Germany accepted the terms after military setbacks, political upheaval, and the abdication of Kaiser Wilhelm II. The agreement took effect at 11 a.m. Paris time.

That timing created the famous phrase “the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month.” The ceasefire stopped fighting between Germany and the Entente on land, at sea, and in the air, but it was not a final peace treaty.

The Treaty of Versailles and other postwar settlements followed in 1919 and 1920. This distinction matters: November 11 marks the end of active hostilities, while the legal and diplomatic aftermath continued for years.