This morning, at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, many New Zealanders will attend wreath-laying ceremonies at war memorials nationwide, or pause in their homes and workplaces to observe two minutes' silence in memory of those who died while serving their country in World War 1.
Around the world, similar remembrance services will take place to commemorate the signing of the armistice that ended hostilities on the Western Front in World War 1.
The 96th anniversary of Armistice Day is of particular significance this year, the centenary of the start of World War 1, and ceremonies during the next four years will be especially poignant as the world builds up to centennial commemorations of the end of the Great War.
Today is also an opportunity to remember those who fought, were injured and died for their country in other conflicts.
It is a time to reflect on the enormous costs - personal, social and economic - of war.
Armistice Day also offers the opportunity to celebrate peace, and to consider the positive actions made by individuals, groups and governments to seek unity, to redress past grievances, and provide stability and hope for the future.
It seems a timely coincidence that Germans should also be currently marking the fall of the Berlin Wall 25 years ago, which preceded reunification, and heralded the end of the Cold War.
Sadly, however, the reality of war is still omnipresent throughout the world today, 100 years after ''the war to end all wars'' began.
Many nations are grappling with issues of national security related to terrorism threats involving the self-proclaimed Islamic State, as its long tentacles draw in fighters from other nations including New Zealand, and it advances its reach in Syria and Iraq.
On the ground in many countries, people are living in war zones, in danger, in fear, injured, sick, bereaved, traumatised, hungry and often homeless.
The number of refugees, asylum-seekers and internally displaced people worldwide now totals more than 50 million people.
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres said earlier this year the world was witnessing ''the immense costs of not ending wars, of failing to resolve or prevent conflict''.
He said: ''Peace is today dangerously in deficit. Humanitarians can help as a palliative, but political solutions are vitally needed.
Without this, the alarming levels of conflict and the mass suffering that is reflected in these figures will continue.''
This week, amid festivities in Berlin, former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, instrumental in ending the Cold War, had similarly strong words.
He warned ''the world is on the brink of a new Cold War. Some say that has already begun''.
He was referring most recently to the tensions over the Ukraine crisis, but was also highly critical of the West's actions since the collapse of the former Soviet Union in 1991, including in the former Yugoslavia, Iraq, Libya and Syria.
He was also critical of the United Nations Security Council's role and its inaction, and Europe's lack of leadership.
He summed up the situation with: ''To put it metaphorically, a blister has now turned into a bloody, festering wound.''
He is not the only one to question the United Nations' efficacy.
Action by the council, supposedly the ''powerhouse'' of the UN, whose purposes are peacekeeping, diplomacy, development and human rights, has been stymied by disagreements between East and West factions.
If consensus cannot be reached there, meaningful action on the ground is impossible or partisan, which can create more problems than it solves.
As the world commemorates significant anniversaries, the message of peace and unity is one that nations must strive for.
War is a drastic solution which leaves permanent scars. It should never be undertaken lightly, and not until all other efforts have been exhausted.
Heeding history's lessons, and engaging in communication, consideration, compromise, and caution without immediate recourse to violence, are surely the best way we can remember and honour the fallen.
