At 11 am on 11 November 1918 the guns on the Western Front fell silent after more than four years of continuous warfare . The allied armies had driven the German invaders back , having inflicted heavy defeats upon them over the preceding four months . In November the Germans called for an armistice ( suspension of fighting ) in order to secure a peace settlement . They accepted allied terms that amounted to unconditional surrender .

The 11th hour of the 11th day of the

11th month attained a special significance in the post-war years . The moment when hostilities ceased on the Western Front became universally associated with the remembrance of those who had died in the war . This first modern world conflict had brought about the mobilisation of over 70 million people and left between 9 and 13 million dead , perhaps as many as one-third of them with no known grave . The allied nations chose this day and time for the commemoration of their war dead .

On the first anniversary of the armistice in 1919 two minutes ’ silence was instituted as part of the main commemorative ceremony at the new Cenotaph in London . The silence was proposed by Australian journalist Edward Honey , who was working in Fleet Street . At about the same time , a South African statesman made a similar proposal to the British Cabinet , which endorsed it . King George V personally requested all the people of the British Empire to suspend normal activities for

two minutes on the hour of the armistice “ which stayed the worldwide carnage of the four preceding years and marked the victory of Right and Freedom ”. The two minutes ’ silence was popularly adopted and it became a central feature of commemorations on Armistice Day .

On the second anniversary of the armistice in 1920 the commemoration was given added significance when it became a funeral , with the return of the remains of an unknown soldier from the battlefields