NOVEMBER 11TH. This Friday, November 11, 2022 is a public holiday in France, as the country commemorates the signing of the Armistice of 1918, the first stage of the end of the First World War, with many ceremonies. Emmanuel Macron chaired one at the Arc de Triomphe.
[Mis à jour le 11 novembre 2022 à 11h45] This Friday, November 11, 2022, we commemorate the 104th anniversary of the signing of the Armistice of 1918, which marked the first step towards the end of the First World War. In France, this day has been a public holiday since the law of October 24, 1922. On this occasion, many ceremonies are organized everywhere in France, including in Paris, where Emmanuel Macron chaired one this Friday at the end of the morning. The President of the Republic first laid a wreath of tricolor flowers in front of the statue of Georges Clemenceau, who was President of the Council during the First World War.
The Head of State then walked up the Champs-Elysées, escorted by the Republican Guard. Arrived under the Arc de Triomphe, Emmanuel Macron laid a second wreath in front of the tomb of the Unknown Soldier, before rekindling the flame. In the audience, the Minister for the Armed Forces Sébastien Lecornu, the Minister for Foreign Affairs Catherine Colonna as well as the former Head of State Nicolas Sarkozy were present. On November 11, France also pays tribute to two soldiers aged 24 and 29 who died in Mali. They are Chief Brigadier Alexandre Martin and Marshal Adrien Quélin. Indeed, since 2012, France has also paid tribute on November 11 to combatants killed in external operations during the past year.
As a reminder, the Armistice is a document that was signed between Germany and the Triple Entente (France, Great Britain, United States) on November 11, 1918. It marked the beginning of the process of stopping the First World War, which officially ended on June 28, 1919, when the Treaty of Versailles was signed. If the commemorations are followed by a certain number of French people, others intend to take advantage of this holiday to do some shopping. And there is plenty to do on November 11, as many department stores and supermarket chains are open all over France. As Christmas approaches, it’s the perfect time to start scouting for presents. Discover in our file below the program of the commemorations of November 11, but also the shops and museums open this holiday and the history of November 11, 1918.
Traditionally, on November 11 in Paris, the President of the Republic, who wears the Cornflower of France in his buttonhole, lays a wreath of tricolor flowers in front of the statue of Georges Clemenceau, President of the Council during the First World War. After going up the Champs-Élysées, escorted by the Republican Guard, he laid a second wreath in front of the tomb of the Unknown Soldier, under the Arc de Triomphe, before rekindling the flame.
Since 2012, this symbolic day has also been celebrated with a series of ceremonies paying tribute to the soldiers of the Great War, the “poilus” who died for France, alongside some 30,000 war memorials erected in French towns and villages. It is also a new opportunity to walk in the footsteps of the Armistice of November 11, 1918. At 11 a.m. sharp on November 11, 2022, commemorative bells rang in every village in France. This is the time at which the Allied victory was announced. Two minutes of silence were then observed at the national level.
The choice of the date of November 11 is no coincidence: it is a “French” choice since this date falls right on that of the traditional feast of the patron saint of the Franks, St-Martin. The gun was therefore silent at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month of the year 1918 on the front in the North-East of France… and therefore throughout Europe. The soldiers then come out of the trenches without fear but the festivities are inevitably bereaved. From 11 a.m. on November 11, 1918, peals of bells and bugle calls announced the end of the fighting on the Western Front. They resound after four years of war which left a bloodless France and 1,500,000 victims, mostly young. In total, the Great War left more than 8 million dead and injured. At 4 p.m., at the Palais Bourbon, Clemenceau read the armistice conditions. He also greets Alsace and Lorraine while paying homage to the Nation.
In 1919, the project of homage to an unknown soldier who died in the First World War, an anonymous symbol of all the “Poilus”, was adopted by the French deputies. The following year, the unknown soldier who was to be transferred to Paris was designated by another soldier in Verdun, by placing a bouquet of flowers on one of the coffins. In the process, in 1920, Parliament voted the following law unanimously: “Item 1er : The honors of the Pantheon will be returned to the remains of one of the unidentified soldiers who died on the field of honor during the 1914-1918 War. […]
Item 2: […] The remains of the Unknown Soldier will be buried under the Arc de Triomphe.” This will be done on January 28, 1921. On November 24, 1922, Parliament declares November 11 a “national holiday” with the name “Remembrance Day”. Therefore, November 11 becomes a public holiday. On November 11 of the following year, following the idea put forward by several artists, a “Flame of Remembrance” was lit by the Minister of War André Maginot. Sacred flame that a “Committee of the Flame” has since the task of rekindling every day at dusk. It never died out, even during the Occupation. To keep it alive, a very strict “flame rekindling” ceremony has been observed daily for 92 years, always the same. It takes place every evening at 6:30 p.m. The Associations are led, in procession, as far as the Arc de Triomphe, with the wreath bearers in the lead and then the standard bearers. Flag of “The flame”, bugle and drum of the Republican Guard are placed around the sacred slab. The bell of the Flame resounds; the flame is rekindled; the sheaves laid. Then, the bell “Aux Morts” rings, the flags are lowered and a minute of silence is followed. We sign the Visitors’ Book, we greet each other and then everyone finally finds themselves at the foot of the tomb, to listen to the musicians play “Honor to the Unknown Soldier”.
Also called Remembrance Day, the 315th day of the year (316th in case ofLeap year as was the case in 2016) can lead to a “bridge” in the month of November, an extended weekend for both employees and the self-employed. In 2022, the November 11 public holiday falls on a Friday, employees benefit from a 3-day weekend. Pupils, from kindergarten to university, will not have lessons!
This Friday, November 11 is an opportunity to immerse yourself in history or culture as a family or alone. You will be spoiled for choice for a visit to a monument, museum or castle. In Paris, Center Pompidou, Palais de Tokyo, Louvre Museum, Atelier des Lumières, Eiffel Tower, Grévin Museum, Guimet Museum, Palais de la Découverte, Petit Palais and many more are opening their doors. Entertainment is also planned. The castles of Fontainebleau, Malmaison or Breteuil welcome visitors. It’s also a good excuse to go shopping as Christmas approaches!
November 11 marks the anniversary of the Armistice of 1918. This document, signed between Germany and the Triple Entente (France, Great Britain, United States) and prelude to the Treaty of Versailles of 1919, suspended the fighting which had been raging for four years between the two camps. Each year, in France, this symbolic day is celebrated with a series of ceremonies paying tribute to the soldiers of the Great War, who died for France, at some 30,000 war memorials erected in French towns and villages.
The armistice of 1918 is a treaty that occupies a great place in history. What happened on November 11, 1918? After the failure of the German offensives of June and July 1918 during the Great War, the Americans and British began an offensive in August 1918 which definitively pushed back the German forces. At the end of two months of resistance by the German General Staff, the text of the armistice was negotiated and recorded in the “Wagon de l’Armistice” on November 11, 1918, at 5:15 am. This is Marshal Foch’s command car near the Allied headquarters, not far from the Rethondes station in the Oise. At 11 a.m. on November 11, 1918, the armistice took effect on the front.
By signing the famous treaty at Rethondes on November 11, 1918, the Allied forces and Germany officially put an end to their conflict by setting several conditions. Also on November 11, Charles I, then Emperor of Austria, finally renounced the throne – his Habsburg dynasty had ruled for more than 600 years. For 100 years, even among the youngest, November 11 has symbolized the end of the Great War.
The appointment of November 11 has many anecdotes, and its history remains unknown or forgotten by many former schoolchildren. What did the Treaty of Versailles say? What were the conditions of the 1918 armistice? Find out more in our file dedicated to the 1918 armistice.
Saint-Martin is the patron saint of France. Christian tradition has it that “When Clovis attributed his victory in 507 to the protection of Saint-Martin and Saint-Hilaire, Saint-Martin then became the patron saint of the Franks. The Merovingians were then imitated by the Carolingians and later by the Capetians who declared themselves “lay abbots of St Martin of Tours”.