Armistice Day marks the signing of the armistice between the Allies of World War I and Germany at Compiegne, France at 5.45 am for the cessation of of hostilities on the Western Front. It took effect on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month of 1918.

Having received a bullet in his wrist in September 1918 whilst on route to deliver a message to Brigade Headquarters at Bony in the days leading up to the Battle of St Quentin Canal, Maze had been recuperating in his home town of Le Havre. After four long years of fighting, he joined the people gathering in the French capital to celebrate the end of the war on Armistice Day. The Place Vendome, situated at the starting point of the Rue de la Paix, with its bronze column erected by Napoleon 1 as a war memorial, was the perfect setting for such a significant painting. Poignant and emotionally-charged with its tricolours prominent, the mood is victorious, but the grey skies suggest a tinge of sadness, full of memories of those who had died in combat.