Germany's frantic plea for an armistice followed. There were those in
the Allied countries who maintained that nothing short of unconditional
surrender should be permitted. Cooler counsel prevailed, and an
armistice was offered to the German High Command through General Foch,
the terms of which far exceeded in severity those granted to Turkey and
Austria. These were read for the first time by Germany's representatives
on Friday, November 8th. General Foch, when he gave the document to the
German delegation, declared that Germany's decision must be made within
seventy-two hours. Eleven o'clock on Monday, November 11th, was the time
limit permitted to Germany. The armistice was signed by General Foch and
the German representatives on the morning of November 11th, but fighting
did not actually cease until eleven o'clock, several hours after the
terms had been agreed to. This was in accordance with arrangement made
between the signers.
Sedan, where Marshals McMahon and Bazaine, commanding the armies of
Napoleon III, surrendered to the King of Prussia in 1870, marked the
last notable victory of the American forces in France. The Sedan of 1870
marked the birth of German militarism. The Sedan of 1918 marked its
death.
Preceding the advance of the Americans upon Sedan, came a cloud of
aviators in pursuit and bombing planes, headed by the famous aces of the
American forces.
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