Armistice
An
armistice is the effective end of a
war, when the warring parties agree to stop fighting. The most famous armistice, the one still meant when people say simply "The Armistice", is the one at the end of
World War I, on
November 11,
1918.
Armistice Day is still celebrated in some places on the anniversary of that armistice; alternatively November 11, or a Sunday near to it, may still be observed as
Remembrance Day.
An armistice is not the same as a
peace treaty, which may take months or even years to agree on. The armistice of 1953 in the
Korean War has, as of May
2004, not yet been followed by a peace treaty.