The armistice that came into effect at 11am on 11 November 1918 was prearranged to come into effect at that time. A German delegation had been engaged in negotiations with French and British representatives in order to find agreeable ceasefire terms. The negotiations took place over three days from 8 November to 11 November when an agreement for an armistice was reached at 5am. This provided enough time for the terms of the armistice to be communicated to the representatives respective governments and more importantly to every German and Entente serving on the Western Front so that all soldiers knew that the fighting was to end and a ceasefire come into effect at 11am in order to avoid accidental breaches of the ceasefire that would jeopardise the fragile peace agreement.