Macron reviewed the troops at the Arch of Triumph and laid a wreath in front of the Flame of the Unknown Soldier, which was first lit up 100 years ago.

In a speech, the French President remembered all the soldiers who perished in combat and said that all French citizens should honor their legacy in preserving the country’s unity.

The Armistice was signed in Compiègne on the early morning of November 11, 1918, and came into force at CET 11:00 a.m. that day. It marked the end of hostilities, although not yet a formal surrender of Germany or a peace treaty (which would be signed in Versailles on June 28, 1919).

More than 17 million people on either side of the conflict, both soldiers and civilians lost their lives during the course of the war.

Of that number, almost 1.4 million soldiers and about 340,000 civilians were French. France lost as much as 4.3% of its pre-war population and large swathes of the country were devastated in the aftermath of the German occupation and more than four years of brutal positional warfare.

To this day, some areas of the country remain uninhabitable due to unexploded ordnance and the poisoning of soil with compounds used in chemical combat.