Compiègne in the context of "Guy, Count of Flanders"

The Armistice of 11 November 1918 was the armistice that ended fighting on land, at sea, and in the air in World War I between the Entente and their last remaining opponent, Germany. It was signed in a railroad car in the Compiègne Forest, near the town of Compiègne. Previous armistices had been agreed with Bulgaria, the Ottoman Empire and Austria-Hungary. It was concluded after the German government sent a message to American president Woodrow Wilson to negotiate terms on the basis of a recent speech of his and the earlier declared "Fourteen Points", which later became the basis of the German surrender at the Paris Peace Conference, which took place the following year.

Also known as the Armistice of Compiègne (French: Armistice de Compiègne, German: Waffenstillstand von Compiègne) from the town near the place where it was officially agreed to at 5:00 a.m. by the Allied Supreme Commander, French Marshal Ferdinand Foch, it came into force at 11:00 a.m. Paris Time (11:00 UT) on 11 November 1918 and marked a victory for the Entente and a defeat for Germany, although not formally a surrender.

The Aisne (/eɪn/ ayn, US also /ɛn/ en, French: [ɛːn] ; Picard: Ainne) is a river in northeastern France. It is a left tributary of the Oise. It gave its name to the French department of Aisne. It was known in the Roman period as Axona.

The river rises in the forest of Argonne, at Rembercourt-Sommaisne, near Sainte-Menehould. It flows north and then west before joining the Oise near Compiègne. The Aisne is 356 kilometres (221 mi) long. Its main tributaries are the Vesle, the Aire and the Suippe. The Battle of the Axona was fought between the Romans and the Belgae near the Aisne in 57 BC. Three Battles of the Aisne were fought in the Aisne valley during the First World War.

The Armistice of 22 June 1940, sometimes referred to as the Second Armistice at Compiègne, was an agreement signed at 18:36 on 22 June 1940 near Compiègne, France by officials of Nazi Germany and the French Third Republic. It became effective at midnight on 25 June. Signatories for Germany included Colonel General Wilhelm Keitel, head of the German armed forces (OKW), while those on the French side held lower ranks, led by General Charles Huntziger.

Following the decisive German victory in the Battle of France, the armistice established a German occupation zone in Northern and Western France that encompassed about three-fifths of France's European territory, including all English Channel and Atlantic Ocean ports. The remainder of the country was to be left unoccupied, although the new regime that replaced the Third Republic was mutually recognised as the legitimate government of all of Metropolitan France except Alsace–Lorraine.

Armistice Day, later known as Remembrance Day in the Commonwealth and Veterans Day in the United States, is commemorated every year on 11 November to mark the armistice signed between the Allies of World War I and Germany at Compiègne, France, at 5:45 am for the cessation of hostilities on the Western Front of World War I, which took effect at 11:00 am—the "eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month" of 1918—although, according to Thomas R. Gowenlock, an intelligence officer with the U.S. First Division, shelling from both sides continued for the rest of the day, ending only at nightfall. The armistice initially expired after a period of 36 days and had to be extended several times. A formal peace agreement was reached only when the Treaty of Versailles was signed the following year.

The date is a national holiday in France, and it was declared a national holiday in many Allies of World War I nations, several of which have since changed the name of the holiday from Armistice Day to either Remembrance Day in the Commonwealth of Nations, or Veterans Day in the United States. Italy celebrates the Armistice with Austria on November 4 as National Unity and Armed Forces Day. In Poland, November 11 coincides with National Independence Day.

The Forest of Compiègne (French: Forêt de Compiègne, French pronunciation: [fɔʁɛ də kɔ̃pjɛɲ]) is a large forest in the region of Picardy, France, near the city of Compiègne and approximately 80 kilometres (50 mi) north of Paris.

The forest is notable as the site of the Armistice of 11 November 1918 between the Allies and Germany which marked the end of fighting in World War I, as well as the Armistice of 22 June 1940 after the Battle of France in World War II.

The Compiègne Wagon (2419D) was a train carriage in which the armistices of the First World War and the Battle of France in World War II were held. The wagon, which was a dining car, hosted both treaty meetings at the same spot in the Forest of Compiègne, France almost 22 years apart. It was built by the Belgian-founded French company Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits in May 1914. The company was known for supplying and operating luxury trains with sleepers and dining cars.

During the First World War, the Compiègne Wagon had been the dining car on the personal train of Marshal Ferdinand Foch. In November 1918 it hosted the armistice talks between the Allied Powers and the German Empire. After the war, it was put on museum display at the Glade of the Armistice in France. However, after the victorious invasion of France by Nazi Germany, Adolf Hitler, in a symbolic act to show total subjugation of the French, had the wagon moved back to its exact spot of the 1918 Armistice for the signing of the 1940 Armistice. After the signing, the Glade of the Armistice was destroyed and the Compiègne Wagon was taken to Germany. It was destroyed by the SS near the end of World War II.