For 90 years, Bermuda has joined the United Kingdom and other countries around the world in solemn ceremonies of remembrance to those who gave their lives in war. Known by some as Remembrance Day, by others Armistice Day Veterans Day or Poppy Day, the significance of November 11 is universal.

The Queen, heads of state, government leaders and other dignitaries, war veterans, representatives of the armed forces and other service units, relatives and friends of the fallen gather at their country's cenotaph or other memorial to pay tribute to those who made the ultimate sacrifice so that others might live in peace.

Integral to the ceremony is two minutes' silence at 11 a.m., and the laying of wreaths of blood-red poppies, which are also worn by the populace.

With the ranks of Bermuda's war veterans growing ever-thinner, and the passage of time putting more and more distance between the dates of the First and Second World Wars, the observance of November 11, particularly among our younger generations, is either only vaguely understood, or not at all. Indeed, many of those who gather on Front Street to witness the Cenotaph ceremony do so purely for the spectacle, or to see their friends and relatives on parade.

With this in mind, Lifestyle's Nancy Acton turns back the calendar to November 11, 1918 to revisit the origins of tomorrow's commemorations.

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By 1918, World War One (also known as 'The Great War' and 'the War to End All Wars') had been raging globally for four years, but primarily in Europe. Triggering the succession of events which lead to its outbreak on June 28, 1914 was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne. Underlying causes dated back, in part, to the unification of Germany, and the changing balances of power among the European great powers in the early part of the 20th century.

The 1914-18 war was fought between two major alliances: the Entente Powers, initially consisting of France, the UK, Russia and their associated empires and dependencies, and later joined by Italy and the US. The Central Powers, so-called because of their central European location, initially consisted of Germany and Austria-Hungary and their associated empire, with the Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria joining later.

Most of the fighting raged on what was known as the Western Front (several fronts broadly circling the continent of Europe) — an area marked by a system of trenches, breastworks, and fortifications, separated by what was known as "no man's land". The Eastern Front included vast plains and a limited railroad network. On both Fronts, the fighting was fierce, the devastation and carnage appalling, and the massive loss of life horrific — all in addition to the concurrent hostilities at sea and in the air.

By early November, 1918 it was evident that German military morale was in decline on the Western Front, and revolution was brewing at home with the abdication of Kaiser Wilhelm II on November 9.

With the negotiation of an armistice with the Allies in mind, the German government first put out preliminary diplomatic feelers on November 4, which were followed with a more determined effort two days later.

On November 7, German army chief-of-staff Paul von Hindenburg, under pressure of imminent revolution in Berlin, Munich and elsewhere across Germany, exchanged a series of telegrams with Supreme Allied Commander Ferdinand Foch to agree a date, time and place for formal negotiations.

The German delegation crossed the front line in five cars and, in a ten-hour journey, was escorted across the devastated war zone of northern France before being put on a train to a secret destination: Foch's own railway siding in the Forest of Compiègne.

The following day, November 8, the Allies presented their armistice terms to the German negotiators, and they were severe. The Armistice amounted to complete German demilitarisation, with few promises by the Allies in return. There was no question of negotiation. Although the alarmed Germans succeeded in correcting a few impossible demands, they were in no position to refuse to sign.

On November 10, the Germans learned of Kaiser Wilhelm's abdication, and received a telegram from Friedrich Ebert's hastily assembled civilian government in Berlin ordering them to sign. Thus it was that, between 5.12 a.m. and 5.20 a.m. Paris time on November 11, 1918 in a railway carriage sidelined in a French forest, the requisite signatures were affixed to the armistice treaty, formally ending hostilities on the Western Front, although they continued elsewhere.

Both parties agreed that the ceasefire would come into effect at 11 a.m. Paris time that very day. Hence the commemorative events which still take place in many Commonwealth and non-Commonwealth countries at "the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month".

On November 11, 1919 — the first Armistice Day — Britain's King George V specifically dedicated November 11 to the observance of members of the armed forces killed during the First World War. At the end of the Second World War the name 'Armistice Day' was changed to 'Remembrance Day' to include the dead of both wars. More recently, those who fell in later wars have also been commemorated.

The word 'cenotaph' in Greek means 'empty tomb'. The original cenotaph in London, England was designed by Edwin Lutyens and built of wood and plaster for the Peace Day events of 1919. At its unveiling, the public spontaneously covered the temporary structure in memorial wreaths.

In fact, such was the public's enthusiasm for the original cenotaph, that a permanent structure, made of Portland stone, and bearing the simple inscription 'The Glorious Dead', was unveiled in 1920. Bermuda's Cenotaph is a replica of the London one. Its cornerstone was laid in 1920 by Edward, Prince of Wales (later the uncrowned King Edward VIII).

While Britain now marks Remembrance Day on the Sunday nearest November 11, Bermuda continues its observance at "the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month", which is also a public holiday as a further mark of respect.

The service has changed little from the original, which was introduced in 1921, and includes hymns, prayers and the laying of poppy wreaths, followed by a march-past of war veterans and service personnel.

An Australian journalist is credited with the concept of the two minutes silence. In a letter published in the May 8, 1919 edition of the London Evening News, he proposed that a resepectful silence be observed as a way of remembering those who gave their lives in the Great War. King George V agreed, and on November 7, 1919 issued his proclamation making it official.

While many link the scarlet poppy (popaver rhoeas) with the First World War, it was actually after the Napoleonic wars of the early 19th century that fields of the little red flower flourished in formerly barren battlefields. Apparently, it grows naturally in conditions of disturbed earth throughout western Europe, so after the tremendous bombardments of the 1914-18 war, when rubble enriched the soil with lime, poppies carpeted the fields of France and Flanders.

During this war, Lt.Col. John McCrae, a Canadian surgeon serving with the First Brigade, Canadian Forces Artillery in the front lines, was so inspired by the horrors he had seen and treated, that he scrawled his immortal poem, 'In Flanders Fields' on a scrap of paper. Published by others in 1915, the poppy became a popular and lasting symbol of remembrance for those who died in battle.

The custom of wearing a poppy in remembrance of the war dead began in 1918 when an American woman, Moina Michael, initiated the practice while working in a New York City YMCA canteen. When Madame Guerin, the French YMCA Secretary, learned of the custom during a visit to the US, she returned to France and hand-made silk poppies to raise money for destitute children in war-torn areas of her country.

Selling poppies to raise funds for veterans incapacitated by war first began in Britain on Armistice Day, 1921.