Armistice on the Eastern Front (December 1917)

On December 15, 1917, an armistice was signed between the Central Powers and the new revolutionary communist government of Soviet Russia.  It went into effect two days later, on December 17.  The Soviets wouldn’t officially leave the war until the following March, after the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, but the December armistice clearly felt like the end of the war to the Austrian and Russian soldiers in this photograph.  After three and a half years of trench warfare under appalling conditions, they climbed out of the trenches and clasped arms with former enemies.

The back of the postcard has an inscription in German: “Armistice in Russia!  December 1917.”  Above the inscription, the letters “Ö” and “R” presumably refer to Austrian and Russian soldiers.