The bugle sounds on the Franco-German front. The end of the fighting, at last! On November 11, 1918, Germany, following Bulgaria, the Ottoman Empire, and Austria-Hungary, signed the armistice at Rethondes. The war is over!
The ceasefire takes effect at 11:11 AM, leading to peals of bells and the sounds of bugles across France, announcing the end of a war that resulted in over 18.6 million deaths, injuries, and mutilations among all belligerents, including 8 million civilians.
In the minds of everyone, both combatants and civilians, there’s one thought: “Never again!” This war is the “War to End All Wars.”
Many commemorative ceremonies will be held in the azure capital.
From 8:30 AM to 5:00 PM – Quai des États-Unis: Reconstruction of a military encampment on Quai des États-Unis (opposite the Opera)
At 10:55 AM: Sounding of “ceasefire” on the forecourt of the Cathedral, followed by the tolling of the cathedral’s great bell and a grand peal of bells
At 11:11 AM: Solemn Mass for Peace presided over by Monsignor André Marceau, Bishop of Nice
At 1:45 PM: Procession on foot (period re-enactment) from Thiers Station (avenue Jean-Médecin, rue Desboutins, rue Saint-François-de-Paule)
At 2:15 PM: Arrival of the procession in front of the City Hall and unveiling of a plaque in tribute and in glorious memory of the Nice combatants of the Great War & procession to the War Memorial with the reliquary
At 3:00 PM – War Memorial, Quai Rauba Capeù: Official ceremony to commemorate the November 11 Armistice in the presence of civil and military authorities & associations of veterans, resistance fighters, deportees, and war victims
