chernoznamentsy-deactivated2020:

There was no demonstration of any kind, nobody said a word, everybody just slumped away. […] It was one of the flattest moments of our lives, we just couldn’t comprehend it. We had that sort of feeling as though we’d been kicked out of a job. To some of us it was practically the only life we’d known. […] There was no cheering, no singing – we were drained of all emotion. We were too far gone, too exhausted to enjoy it. All things come to an end, and even a drama can go on too long. It didn’t end with a whimper, but something very much like one.

– British WW1 veterans being interviewd about the end of the war, They Shall Not Grow Old