November 11th And November 12th.....

Why is November 11th such an important day in the western world? It was the day that a ceasefire went into effect in 1918 ending World War I. It was called Armistice Day in the US till 1952 and is still called that in France and Belgium. In the Commonwealth, that includes the UK, Canada and Australia, the World War I armistice is called Remembrance Day. Since it fell on a Sunday this year, Monday is the bank holiday in the US but it is not an official full fledged holiday, the stock market is open.

Military Casualties in World War I
1914-1918

Belgium 45,550
British Empire 942,135
France 1,368,000
Greece 23,098
Italy 680,000
Japan 1,344
Montenegro 3,000
Portugal 8,145
Romania 300,000
Russia 1,700,000
Serbia 45,000
United States 116,516
Austria-Hungary 1,200,000
Bulgaria 87,495
Germany 1,935,000
Ottoman Empire 725,000

The 10 million military deaths are dwarfed by civilian deaths estimated in the 10's of millions. Additionally, the world suffered from 10's of millions of deaths caused by the Spanish Influenza that preyed upon soldiers living in close conditions and this spread into the general population easily.

The War drove the world to consider a new governance association, The League of Nations....

The League of Nations was an international organization founded as a result of the Paris Peace Conference in 1919–1920. The League's goals included disarmament, preventing war through collective security, settling disputes between countries through negotiation, diplomacy and improving global welfare. The diplomatic philosophy behind the League represented a fundamental shift in thought from the preceding hundred years.

but this proved ineffective and did not alleviate the problems that led to World War II.