Nearing the Armistice
Although the end of WWI seems like it would have been highly accepted by the American public it was not. Sure there were people that wanted the end of the war and were willing to obtain it any way possible, but others did not want to cave to the Germans in any way. This newspaper article written on October 14, 1918 by the Hartford Courant consists of many Newspaper extracts all claiming that an Armistice must not be granted to Germany. Many of the extracts explain that in order to America to have justice the Kaiser must be killed and Germany must provide action not words. The many extracts comprised in the Hartford Courant show that the Press and at least a portion of the American public were not willing to let Germany off easy after the four year war. In the American eyes, they believed that an Armistice not give them what they deserved for fighting and winning the war that cost them so much.
Even though part of the American public did not agree with the Armistice terms, the end of WWI was still an exciting prospect; so much so that there was even a false armistice. On November 7, 1918 the New York Agency of United Press received new from their President Roy Howard that Germany had signed the armistice. The news spread like wildfire throughout the streets and America celebrated believing that the war had ended. The false news was given to Roy Howard without being signed off by a superior official and every person after Howard had also believed it to be true, since everyone new the War was so close to ending. Once the United Press was informed of their false information it was too late and the public wouldn’t accept it. It wasn’t until three days later that the official Armistice took place and the celebration continued.
Source: http://www.nysun.com/on-the-town/false-armistice/4596/