Compiègne Forest.html |
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The Compiègne Forest is a forest in Picardie, France, located near the town of Compiègne. The area of the forest is 144.85 km².
Armistices of 1918 and 1940
A railway track in the forest was the site of two armistices
- The treaty between the Allies and Germany at the end of World War I, also known as the Armistice with Germany.
- The site of the armistice treaty between Nazi Germany and France during World War II on the 22nd of June 1940, also known as the Armistice with France.
 WWI: Ferdinand Foch (second from right) and the two delegations which negotiated the terms of the armistice of World War I. |
 WWII: Hitler (hand on side) and his key military officers staring at Marshal Ferdinand Foch's memorial statue before entering the railway carriage where the terms of the 1940 armistice would be signed. |
Memorials at the site
- Alsace-Lorraine Memorial: a depiction of a sword (representing the allies) stabbing a fallen eagle (representing Germany).
- Ferdinand Foch's statue
- Memorial tablet placed at the precise location of the cease-fire signing: reads (in French) HERE ON THE ELEVENTH OF NOVEMBER 1918 SUCCUMBED THE CRIMINAL PRIDE OF THE GERMAN REICH. VANQUISHED BY THE FREE PEOPLES WHICH IT TRIED TO ENSLAVE. (This tablet was dismantled and taken to Germany in 1940. It was returned after World War 2).
- Copy of the original train carriage where the cease-fire was signed (In order to avoid the prospect of signing a surrender in the train carriage the second time, the original was dynamited by Germany near the end of World War 2).