By the autumn of 1918, it became clear that Germany was not going to win the war. Its opponents had too much economic and military strength. Besides, more and more allies of Germany were giving up the fight. Germany itself was in great turmoil as well. There was no other option than to end the war.
On 9 November 1918, the Allies and the Germans convened in a railway carriage in the forest of Compiègne, a small town 60 kilometres to the north of Paris. The German delegate Matthias Erzberger tried to negotiate about the terms of the armistice. The Allies did not yield. They wanted Germany to surrender. Two days later, on 11 November, Germany signed the truce, which started at 11.00 am on the same day.
Germany lost a lot because of the armistice. The agreement demanded that all German troops would withdraw from French and Belgian territory within two weeks. The Rhineland, an area bordering on Belgium and France, was to be occupied by Allied troops. Germany had to return territory in Eastern Europe it had conquered during the war. Moreover, Germany had to donate large quantities of military equipment to the Allies.