Andorra’s 44 Years of World War finally Ended, 1958

The time one disregarded European state forgot to end the ‘Great War’

For its main belligerents, World-War-I lasted from 1914 until 1918, yet bizarrely Germany remained at war, technically, with one country for another 39 years.

Andorra is a European minnow state of 468 km (181 sq mi) and just 76,000 call it home.

It was also one of the first nations to declare war on the Germans and Austro-Hungarians yet, after the unfettered hurly-burly of mass war, the fact it didn’t possess an army meant Andorra’s govt. weren’t exactly central players in the peace talks of WWI’s end. It seems, amidst the heady atmosphere of peace negotiations amongst tired generals and statemen, Andorra was simply overlooked when the moment came to put pen to paper.

Andorra were not a signatory of the Treaty of Versailles in 1919 and so, technically for this mountain enclave, ‘The Great War’ continued unabated until 1958. The New York Times reported the day ‘hostilities ended’ on September the 24th: 

“World War I is over for this 191 square mile Pyrenees Republic. Andorra, a participant, was not invited to the Versailles Peace Conference ending World War I. The decree, ending the state of war was signed yesterday.”

Finally, these great nations could breathe a sigh of relief and begin to look to the future once again.