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What does Armistice Day mean to you?
Armistice Day services have been been held following the deaths of the last three remaining World War I veterans still living in Britain. How did you mark Armistice Day?
In the UK, the Queen led the country in observing a two-minute silence, while Angela Merkel became the first German chancellor to mark Armistice Day by attending a commemorative event in Paris.
US President Barack Obama laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery.
The silence, observed around the world at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, marks the moment four years of war ended with the signing of the Armistice Treaty by Germany and the Allies in 1918.
Did you take part in an Armistice Day event? Has the meaning of Armistice Day changed over the years? Are there still lessons to be learned from World War I?
Read about services in the UK
Read about services around the world
Published:
Wednesday, 11 November, 2009, 08:46 GMT
08:46 UK
All comments as they come in
Added:
Thursday, 12 November, 2009, 15:20 GMT
15:20 UK
It would make my blood boil less if only front bench politicians with campaign medals stood at the Cenotaph. The ever-lengthening line of ungallant MPs becomes increasingly tasteless.
[Bugginsturn], Winchester, United Kingdom
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Added:
Thursday, 12 November, 2009, 14:25 GMT
14:25 UK
I don’t celebrate this day whatsoever, the two World Wars were pointless and should not have happened. I do not wish to remind my self of those sad days.
Catherine Akurut
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Added:
Thursday, 12 November, 2009, 14:00 GMT
14:00 UK
I remember my grandfather who lied about his age (17) to join up and fight in WW1-he survived and lived into his 90's but not without physical and mental scars.He rarely spoke of his ordeal but the little I do know of his story I tell to my son who hopefully will remember and pass it on to his children. He said yesterday that although the war was a terrible trauma for his great grandad, he felt very proud to have someone like that in our family. How mankind can suffer so yet endure is humbling.
Helen Fox, Sheffield
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Added:
Thursday, 12 November, 2009, 13:57 GMT
13:57 UK
It's a day where we succeed in remembering the past, but still fail to think about the future. We mourn those who died, but do nothing to make sure it will never happen again.
Mat, London
The alternative to war (2 sides fighting each other) is genocide (One side murdering the other). If you claim that a unjust peace is better than a just war then you are saying Genocide is ok as long as no one tries to stop it.
Andy Salter, Bournemouth, United Kingdom
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Added:
Thursday, 12 November, 2009, 13:56 GMT
13:56 UK
2 minutes to think about hideous loss of human life over the ages in wars, all caused by the egos of politicians and/or religious leaders.
[Sepenenre]
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Added:
Thursday, 12 November, 2009, 13:49 GMT
13:49 UK
It is a reminder to me to be grateful for what we have, that nothing is free or without hardship, that anything worthwhile takes time and effort, and that the sacrifice of the men and women of my grandads generation must never be forgotton.
A heavy price in human life has got us where we are today and nobody should ever take that for granted.
[markus33], whitehaven, United Kingdom
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Added:
Thursday, 12 November, 2009, 13:45 GMT
13:45 UK
Avoiding war for a nation signifies a great quality in it and its leaders.
A R Shams, Pakistan
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Added:
Thursday, 12 November, 2009, 13:45 GMT
13:45 UK
I was born just after the start of WW1 - I knew it as `The Great War`. I can just remember my sister running into the house to tell my mother that armistice had been declared. I well remember in the following years ex-service men begging on every street corner. No jobs and no dole. Nobody wanted to remember them.
John, Weston-super-Mare
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Added:
Thursday, 12 November, 2009, 13:43 GMT
13:43 UK
It means the senseless slaughter of men for profits for the capitalists.
tim, london
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Added:
Thursday, 12 November, 2009, 13:41 GMT
13:41 UK
I sat in silence in the university library. Shame the same couldn't be said for some of my fellow students - for all their intelligence, they are stunningly ignorant.
[Thin_Lizzy], Edinburgh, United Kingdom
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Added:
Thursday, 12 November, 2009, 13:23 GMT
13:23 UK
It means very little to me. It was a long time ago and has been hijacked by religions ever since.
David, Kernow
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Added:
Thursday, 12 November, 2009, 13:15 GMT
13:15 UK
Every time I see someone demonstrate and have opinions that are not in the countries interest or News Papers that print stories that are not in the interest of the British people. I think of the men and woman who have given their lives and in some cases their life as an able bodied person, so others can live in a democracy with free speech, freedom to worship. I feel proud of the People who have made that sacrifice, but also, sometime ashamed that to many people, take this right and rubbish it
Kerry Brown, Aldershot
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Added:
Thursday, 12 November, 2009, 13:11 GMT
13:11 UK
Judging by the ironic release of COD : Modern Warfare 2 on this day/or thereabouts I suspect all respect for it has actually gone.
[Iron_Monkey], Walsall, United Kingdom
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Added:
Thursday, 12 November, 2009, 13:09 GMT
13:09 UK
I remember Armistice Day because my father served in the infantry in 1914-18, was wounded twice, gassed, taken prisoner.and came out weighing just over 5 stone (around 30 kg), and he was one of the lucky ones. The experience affected him for the rest of his life. All for what? The politicians keep on starting wars, and people like my father are killed, maimed and have their lives ruined. That's why I remember Armistice Day, and why I don't like politicians.
Robert, Edinburgh
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Added:
Thursday, 12 November, 2009, 13:06 GMT
13:06 UK
If your answer is "it means nothing to me", then look around you and consider for a moment the freedoms you have. Again, this is hard to appreciate for most complacently ignorant people of 21st Century Britain who take take, take, but rarely give. You may think it irrelevant, but you have what you have today, because hundreds of thousands of soldiers sacrificed their lives to fight for your freedoms. Be grateful, not ignorant.
Mark H, Luton, United Kingdom
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