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Allied Supreme Commander Marshal Ferdinand Foch and the Allied Delegation after Signing the Armistice at Compiègne (November 11, 1918)

The armistice talks in Compiègne, north of Paris, took place November 8–11, 1918. It fell to Mathias Erzberger, head of the German delegation and undersecretary of state without portfolio, to sign the agreement for Germany. Given the clear military defeat and the catastrophic supply situation in the homeland, the German delegation had very little with which to negotiate. It was compelled to accept Allied armistice terms after a 72-hour deadline had passed, as directed by both army supreme headquarters and the civilian government. In this photograph, from left to right, are Captain Jack Marriott, General Maxime Weygandt, First Seelord Sir Rosslyn Wemyss, Marshal Ferdinand Foch (supreme commander of allied forces and author of the armistice terms), as well as George Hope. Behind them are four unidentified members of the allied delegation. The image was taken in front of Foch’s train car, in which the armistice terms were handed to the German delegation and three days later signed.

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Allied Supreme Commander Marshal Ferdinand Foch and the Allied Delegation after Signing the Armistice at Compiègne (November 11, 1918)

© Bundesarchiv