Germany and the Allies sign the Treaty of Versailles formally ending World War I. The treaty imposed sweeping penalties on Germany as the primary aggressor in the war: it was forced to accept sole responsibility for having started the war, it lost approximately 13% of its territory, and was required to pay massive war reparations, which would become crippling for the German economy in the interwar years.
The Armistice ended four years of fighting between Germany and the Allied powers. Initiated by Germany on November 10 and quickly negotiated, the Armistice was signed early in the morning of November 11 and called for an end to hostilities on the Western front beginning 11 AM the same day: the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month.
Following its establishment, Israel is attacked by neighboring Arab states Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, and Iraq, marking the beginning of the first Arab-Israeli war. The war only concludes with an armistice agreement in July 1949.
The measure to create two separate states on the territory of Mandatory Palestine--one Jewish and one Arab--is passed by the UN General Assembly. Partition is accepted by Jewish leaders but rejected by Arab leaders.
The first mass murders at a stationary facility are undertaken at the Chelmno killing center, located c. 40 miles north of Lodz in the Warthegau province of German-annexed Poland. In the first four months of its operation, over 50,000 people are asphyxiated with carbon monoxide gas in specially equipped trucks at Chelmno. The majority of them are Polish Jews from the Lodz ghetto, where most of the Jews of the Warthegau have been consolidated.