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The Armistice Trick

Raemaekers, Louis, 1919, Chromolithograph
The Armistice Trick
The Armistice Trick
The Armistice Trick
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Category
Library Item
Item no
33472
Title
The Armistice Trick
Description
"Ferdinand: 'I say, Bill, I know all about the Armistice trick; it only works with unconditional surrender.'"

From the moment that Ferdinand of Bulgaria sued for peace and finally abdicated the fate in store for the Emperor of Germany became obvious. To the last the All-Highest was contemptible, and nothing in a long and dishonourable career was so typical of his character as the miserable shuffling by which he attempted to adjust his waning fortune and to save his own dignity. He was literally pushed out from Berlin, and only the bluntest expressions brought this vain posturer to a sense of grim realities. On 28th October 1918 he made one last desperate attempt to stabilise this position, when he issued to Prince Max of Baden a decree transferring the fundamental rights of the Kaiser's person to the people. 'This,' he remarked, 'brings to a close a period which will stand in honour before the eyes of future generations. In the terrible storms of four years of war, however, old forms have been broken up, not to leave ruins behind but to make place for new and vital forms.' Thus, lying to the last, he ungraciously parted with despotic power. But it was too late. Prince Max by 10th November had handed over the Chancellorship to the Socialist Ebert, and the ex-Kaiser had abdicated and was flying over the Dutch frontier to safety. His fall was even less dignified than that of Ferdinand; when he knocked at the door of the Allies, Ferdinand could guess what fate awaited the Emperor, for he had learned the value of 'notes' presented by monarch fearing unemployment."
Artist / maker
Date
1919
Size
33.4 x 25.4 cm
Location
Art and Design Library
Copyright
Louis Raemaekaers' drawings are reproduced by kind permission of the Louis Raemaekers Foundation.