Armistice Day Armistice Day ( which coincides with Remembrance Day and Veterans Day , public holidays ) is commemorated every year on 11 November to mark the armistice signed between the Allies of World War I and Germany at Compiègne , France , for the cessation of hostilities on the Western Front of World War I , which took effect at eleven o ' clock in the morning — the " eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month " of 1918 . While this official date to mark the end of the war reflects the ceasefire on the Western Front , hostilities continued in other regions , especially across the former Russian Empire and in parts of the old Ottoman Empire . The date was declared a national holiday in many allied nations , to commemorate those members of the armed forces who were killed during war . An exception is Italy , where the end of the war is commemorated on 4 November , the day of the Armistice of Villa Giusti . In the Netherlands World War I is not commemorated as the country remained neutral . The Initial or Very First Armistice Day was held at Buckingham Palace commencing with King George V hosting a " Banquet in Honour of The President of the French Republic " during the evening hours of November 10 , 1919 . The First Official Armistice Day was subsequently held on the Grounds of Buckingham Palace on the Morning of November 11 , 1919 . This would set the trend for a day of Remembrance for decades to come . Most countries changed the name of the holiday after World War II , to honor veterans of that and subsequent conflicts . Most member states of the Commonwealth of Nations adopted the name Remembrance Day , while the United States chose All Veterans Day ( later shortened to ' Veterans Day ' ) to explicitly honor military veterans , including those participating in other conflicts . " Armistice Day " remains the name of the holiday in France , Belgium and New Zealand ; and it has been a statutory holiday in Serbia since 2012 . In the U . S . , the function of Veterans Day is subtly different from that of other 11 November holidays . Unlike the situation in other countries , where that calendar date is set aside specifically for honoring those who died in action , Veterans Day honors " all " American veterans , whether living , dead in action , or deceased from other causes . The official national remembrance of war dead is instead Memorial Day , originally called ' Decoration Day ' , from the practice of decorating the graves of soldiers , which originated in the years immediately following the American Civil War . In many parts of the world , people observe a moment of silence at 11 : 00 a . m . local time as a sign of respect in the first minute for the roughly 20 million people who died in the war , and in the second minute dedicated to the living left behind , generally understood to be wives , children and families left behind but deeply affected by the conflict . This gesture of respect was suggested by Edward George Honey in a letter to a British newspaper , although Wellesley Tudor Pole had established two ceremonial periods of remembrance based on events in 1917 . From the outset , many veterans in many countries have also used silence to pay homage to departed comrades . The toast of " Fallen " or " Absent Comrades " has always been honoured in silence at New Zealand veteran functions , while the news of a member ’ s death has similarly been observed in silence at meetings . Similar ceremonies developed in other countries during the inter - war period . In South Africa , for example , the Memorable Order of Tin Hats had by the late 1920s developed a ceremony whereby the toast of " Fallen Comrades " was observed not only in silence but darkness , all except for the " Light of Remembrance " , with the ceremony ending with the Order ’ s anthem " Old Soldiers Never Die " . In Australia , meanwhile , the South Australian State Branch of the Returned Sailors & Soldiers ' Imperial League of Australia similarly developed during the interwar period a simple ceremony of silence for departed comrades at 9 p . m . , presumably to coincide with the traditional 11 a . m . time for Armistice ceremonies taking place in Europe ( due to the ten - hour time difference between Eastern Australia and Europe ) . In the United Kingdom , beginning in 1939 , the two - minute silence was moved to the Sunday nearest to 11 November in order not to interfere with wartime production should 11 November fall on a weekday . After the end of World War II , most Armistice Day events were moved to the nearest Sunday and began to commemorate both World Wars . The change was made in many Commonwealth countries , as well as the United Kingdom , and the new commemoration was named Remembrance Sunday or Remembrance Day . Both Armistice Day and Remembrance Sunday are now commemorated formally in the UK . In recent years Armistice Day has become increasingly recognised , and many people now attend the 11am ceremony at the Cenotaph in London - an event organised by The Western Front Association , a UK charity dedicated to perpetuating the memory of those who served in the First World War .