The conflict of the First World War ended on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of the year 1918. King George V of Great Britain asked the Empire to observe that armistice in November of 1919 with two minutes of silence to honour the fallen soldiers. In 1921 the Canadian Parliament passed the Armistice Day bill to observe the 1918 armistice formalities on the first Monday of November together with the Thanksgiving Day holiday. The First World War armistice was mostly observed by veterans and their families in churches or at war memorials.
The Canadian government then separated the two observances in 1931. On Nov. 11 there would be a Remembrance Day to emphasize the memory of fallen soldiers in addition to the political and military events leading to armistice and victory in the First World War. Thanksgiving Day was moved to the second Monday of October, eventually officially fixed to that date in 1957.
Armistice means a pause or a stop to the acts of warfare by agreement between enemies. Armistice was derived from the Latin word armistitium. Armistitum combined the Latin verb sistere, meaning to make a stand, halt, bring to a standstill, with arma (implements of war, weapons).
In the 1660s English legal scholars and diplomats called formal pauses in fighting an armistice. The 1667 Truce of Andrusovo, an agreement between the Tsardom of Russia and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, was referred to as an armistice. It was a 13 ½ year pause in hostilities rather than a final settlement, so it was referred to as the Armistice of 1667.
An armistice is only a military pause or halt in combat. It does not legally end a state of war. The Korean War Armistice in 1953 was the end of active combat between North and South Korea, but they were technically still at war as no peace treaty was ever signed. Even today, they are still in a state of conflict as the armistice was a military ceasefire, not a permanent peace treaty.
In Canada Remembrance Day being on November 11 was chosen because of the armistice between the allied powers and Germany signed on that date. The armistice signatories were Marshal Ferdinand Foch of France (the Allied Supreme Commander) and Matthias Erzberger of Germany (German government). At about 5:15 am (Paris time), on Nov. 11, 1918 the armistice was autographed inside Marshal Foch’s private railway car in the Compiegne Forest. Separate armistices were also signed earlier in the fall of 1918 with other nations, including Bulgaria, the Ottoman Empire, and Austria-Hungary. The peace treaty, The Treaty of Versailles, was not initialed until June 28, 1919. It went into effect Jan. 10, 1920.
The provinces and territories of Canada have different ways of dealing with Remembrance Day. Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut, British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland & Labrador recognize Remembrance Day as a fully paid public holiday. In Manitoba, though Remembrance Day is not a statutory holiday, there are provincial rules to restrict some businesses and retail outlets from operating, along with the closure of all public and private schools. Ontario and Quebec do not recognize Remembrance Day as a provincial public holiday, but it is a federal statutory holiday, which means that federally regulated businesses give employees the day off. The Remembrance Day Act in Nova Scotia restricts retail sales and businesses from operating. The province mandates a moment of silence at 10:59 a.m. The Act also requires specific pay or alternate day-off rules for employees who work on Remembrance Day. Farming and fishing industries are exempt.
Today, Remembrance Day does not have a major focus on any particular armistice but honours fallen soldiers and encourages Canadians to remember the horrors of war and embrace peace. Perhaps in Saskatchewan it would be beneficial for children to remain in school on Nov. 11 so teachers could focus on the point of Remembrance Day, teach about wars of the past, and the importance of peace through armistices.
Columnist John Kreutzwieser loves to research words and has an interest in the usage, origin, and relevance of words for society today. Greek and Latin form the basis of many words, with ancient Hebrew shedding light on word usage.
John would like to know if anyone has a sincere interest in a relevant word that he could possibly research for an upcoming column. If so, please send your requests to wordwisdom2021@gmail.com. Words will be selected according to relevance and research criteria. We cannot confirm that all words will be used.
