signed first edition wraps
1918 · Washington
by WILSON, Woodrow
Washington: [Government Printing Office], 1918. First Edition. wraps. Vertical crease down center, fair amount of wrinkling. Very Good. Printed wraps, 11 pages. SIGNED by the President on the front cover. A scarce example, most especially when signed, of Woodrow Wilson's official announcement of the end of World War I. The Allies' armistice terms were first presented to German negotiators on 8 November 1918; alarmed at the severity of the terms the Germans lodged formal protests before reluctantly signing revised terms at 5 A.M. on 11 November; the armistice was to come into effect six hours later, at 11 A.M. President Wilson shortly afterwards announced details of the armistice to Congress in this speech which also outlines the terms of the armistice: "The war thus comes to an end; for, having accepted these terms of armistice, it will be impossible for the German command to renew it. It is not now possible to assess the consequences of this great consummation. We know only that this tragical war, whose consuming flames swept from one nation to another until all the world was on fire, is at an end and that it was the privilege of our own people to enter it at its most critical juncture in such fashion and in such force as to contribute in a way of which we are all deeply proud to the great result. We know, too, that the object of the war is attained; the object upon which all free men had set their hearts; and attained with a sweeping completeness which even now we do not realize. Armed imperialism such as the men conceived who were but yesterday the masters of Germany is at an end, its illicit ambitions engulfed in black disaster." (Inventory #: 014918)
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