The Christmas Truce
January 3, 2007
Christmas during wartime is an unusual experience. Unlike normal times, one can find it hard when we know that so many of our youth are sacrificing their lives for their country. If anything, the wish for peace and brotherhood rings much truer than in normal times.
The Christmas Truce
When soldiers decided to put down their weapons and play soccer in no man’s land
Bill Quigley – December 22, 2006
(This piece was originally published on the Fire Alarm website in 2001 and has become an annual tradition on that site)
Christmas during wartime is an unusual experience. Unlike normal times, one can find it hard when we know that so many of our youth are sacrificing their lives for their country. If anything, the wish for peace and brotherhood rings much truer than in normal times.
For those who found themselves in 1914 fighting on the western front in the conflict that would eventually be called World War I, the combatants found a way to bring the normal feelings of coming together and celebrating the season. On Christmas day, in a spontaneous gesture, both sides across most of the front laid down their arms and met to have a few hours of merriment despite the grim conditions.
Nobody had expected that the war between the major European nations, sparked the previous summer after the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand, would have lasted into the holiday season. Conventional wisdom at the time said that the soldiers would be home in a matter of months once they earned a quick victory. Unfortunately for all concerned, the technology of war had overpowered the tactics of the past. What resulted was by the fall a bloody stalemate had settled over France. Both sides were forced to create a large network of trenches that ran through France and Belgium as they dug in and fought the enemy.
Frustration and despair must have been among the feelings that soldiers on both sides were feeling while fulfilling their duties for their country. Leaving home expecting a short but exciting adventure in the Army, these young men found themselves trying to keep warm and alive while fighting a war that many never knew why it was being fought and questioned why there were still fighting it at all.
As the holiday season fell across the front, both sides tried to make their trenches as merry as possible, decorating what were essentially mud holes with trees and decorations sent from home. As the sun set on Christmas Eve, the men on both sides decided that for one night they would set aside their differences to enjoy a few hours of peace.
The first overtures came during the night as the German troops started to sing carols to the British and French soldiers. Eventually, both sides began to trade off songs and shouted messages of holiday wishes to each other. By the time dawn came over the desolated front, both sides decided to do more than just sing.
First in small groups and eventually in large mobs, both sides left the trenches to meet in “no-man’s land,” where the ground was scared by artillery and dead from both sides laid untouched. At first, it was an opportunity in many places to agree to a cease fire in order to remove the dead, but it soon was clear that the men were just as willing to put aside their differences in order to celebrate the day of peace. So, they shared their rations, cigarettes and whatever they had in order to make it seem as normal of a Christmas day as possible.
One of the common threads among the men on both sides of the line was the love of soccer. So, it was inevitable that where a ball was available, you had the soldiers playing a little footy among each other. Knowing the history of the sport, we have to assume that the Germans won every game down along the front that day.
All of this Christmas cheer got back to the officers on both sides, who were shocked that their men would rather hang out with their enemy rather than try and kill them. Of course, the officers found themselves far away from the lines, living in comfort as they schemed to figure out the tactic that would bring an end to the war. Needless to say, the orders went out to tell the soldiers to get return to their trenches and get back to the business of killing each other.
Officers on both sides made sure that this sort of thing never happened again. In many sectors of the front, soldiers the following year, soldiers were ordered to keep a slow rate of gunfire on the enemies during the holiday season. By that point, though, attitudes had changed on both sides, as the war became a bitter ordeal.
The story of the truce doesn’t get too much play in the US, since it can be seen as bad form to celebrate Christmas with your enemy. The story, though, shows that its possible for all of us should put aside our conflicts with each other and enjoy a day of peace here on earth.
From all of us at The Fire Alarm, we wish you all the happiest and healthiest holiday and hopes for a peaceful new year.
Published on The Fire Alarm
December 22, 2006
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