Christmas Truce of 1914
- Sam Jarovy
- Jan 18, 2018
- 8 min read
Back in late-2014, I scrolled through my YouTube feed, hoping for some great, entertaining video that I can watch to escape this boring day I was living in. Then I saw the video with the title: "Christmas Truce of 1914, World War I - Christmas is for Sharing" . I clicked on it, and hoped for something interesting. I mean, it was an advert by Sainsbury, what can I get from this?
Then, I saw these scenes:
Scenes of British and German soldiers approaching each other...
Scenes of British and German soldiers standing together taking pictures...
Scenes of British and German soldiers playing football...
More scenes of British and German soldiers playing football...
Scenes of British soldiers laughing...
Scenes of German (and one British) soldiers laughing...
Even more scenes of British and German soldiers playing football...
The video portrays an actual event in World War One, called the Christmas Truce of 1914. It was a series of widespread but unofficial ceasefires along the Western Front (roughly France-Germany/Belgium border) and a brief celebration of Christmas "with gestures of goodwill and humanity between the enemies". In weeks leading to Christmas, French, German, and British soldiers crossed trenches to exchange seasonal greetings and talk. In some areas, troops entered the no man's land to exchange for food and souvenirs. In some areas, there were joint burial ceremonies, prisoner swaps, and in some meetings, carol singing. Many ceasefires included football games, which gave the event the most memorable images. In some cases, fighting still happened, while in others the sides settled on little more than arrangements to recover bodies. As quoted from a random historian from a History.com video, "Every soldier knew that the enemy were sharing the same misery as they were."
How did this event happen, and why don't we see it often in the later years of the Great War and even in World War Two?
December 1914 was in the early stages of the Great War, only five months in. Hostilities had entered somewhat of a lull as leadership on both sides reconsidered their strategies following the stalemate of the Race to the Sea and the indecisive result of the First Battle of Ypres.
It should be noted that the Christmas truce may not have been all that spontaneous. Small armistices were happening daily; armies having meals at the same time was a daily ceasefire; and patrols ignored their enemies, adapting the "live and let live" behavior. After the Autumns battles with most of them ended in an indecisive state, the armies waited out for the winter.
At this point, the real enemy for all was the weather. High waters in the Flanders flooded the trenches, troops had to hang their food supplies in the dugout rooms, while they had a hard time sleeping next to the water. During that winter, there was lots of rain and floods. The mud was also a problem to the army, pulling men down like quicksand.
The truce actually slowly started way before Christmas. In fact, three weeks before Christmas, Pope Benedict XV suggested a temporary hiatus of the war for the celebration of Christmas. He asked "that the guns may fall silent at least upon the night the angels sang." The Open Christmas Letter addressed "To the Women of Germany and Austria" and signed by 101 British women suffragists. The women wrote, "The Christmas message sounds like mockery to a world at war, but those of us who wished and still wish for peace may surely offer a solemn greeting to such of you who feel as we do." The warring countries refused to create any official cease-fire.
On the British side, Field Marshall Sir John French noticed troop's attitude towards the enemy. He then ordered attacks in late-December (which led to great British losses), while also ordered no tolerance for any unofficial armistice. Another British general, Sir Horace Smith-Darren instructed commanders to prohibit any friendly intercourse with the enemy via any means. His reason was that when troops in close proximity with each other, they delve themselves into a live and let live mentality. Once they're in the mentality, it is difficult to pull them out of it. It is the greatest danger to morale on the battlefield, because it makes the soldiers fight ineffectively. To compensate this, the Brits received gifts from Princess Mary, which was cigarettes, tobacco, a Christmas card, and sweets. Their family sent plum puddings and a thousand cigarettes.
On the German side, they held a high morale within the troops. After all, they were winning. However, the men were experiencing hardship during winter—it was their first holiday away from home. To boost morale, commanders shipped thousands of presents to the battlefields. Every soldiers received a gift from the Kaiser, which was cigar boxes and a pipe. They also received personal gifts from their family, mainly chocolate, salami, and cognac. Interestingly enough, Adolf Hitler, then a young corporal, was an opponent of the truce.
The British and German side also received winter clothings from their family. It should be taken into account that these gifts were a nuisance to the troops: they didn't have space to put it anywhere. Who has space for a thousand of cigarettes?
On December 11, a week before Christmas, some soldiers engaged in conversation shouting, and the two sides ended up meeting halfway between the trenches, shook hands, and traded cigarettes from the Brits for cheese from the Germans. This lasted for half an hour before the men returned to the trenches and shoot again. Two Brits reportedly died, while the numbers were unknown for the Germans.
Christmas Eve came the real gifts for the soldiers. The rain stopped. The trenches dried. The countryside was snowed, giving the environment a 'nice vibe' that dwindled gunfire. In some sectors, gunfire stopped completely. The Germans could be heard singing hymns and seen putting Christmas trees on parapets. The Brits heard carol, and at first competed in caroling to drown out the German side. However they ended up singing in harmony. A couple British men shouted greetings to the Germans (as a joke), but some even stepped out to talk. Gradual exchange in communication and meetings took place between the troops. The battalion officers were unsure what to do, however they still maintained battle order.
Peace did not happen everywhere, however. A British regiment responded to German carols...with machine guns. Some unarmed soldiers were gunned down trying to broker this holiday armistice. But in most sectors, ceasefires were held. It was mainly between the Germans and the Brits, the French and Belgians were less reluctant. After all, the truce was happening on their soil, occupied by Germans. There were agreements to bury the dead, and there weren't a lot of fraternization. Well, except if you exclude that moment when the Bavarians held fire from a French Christmas mass, or when the two sides paused for a French soloist opera singer to make his performance.
On Christmas, the day dawned bright and the sky was clear. The field was white from the snow that fell on them the night before. Within the trenches, church services were held, Christmas dinners were taken in shattered buildings, but something in particular happened. The Brits saw the Germans walking in the no man's land, and this caused some Brits to come out of the trenches. The both sides saw corpses of their fallen men, and they decided to hold a joint service as they buried them in common graves. Then, there was souvenirs exchange. The men traded British beef for uniform buttons, chocolate cakes for barrels of beer, hats for hats. One German barber even gave out haircuts. The most memorable part of the truce was there were football games between the troops. In one game, it was written that the Germans won by 3-2. After all, despite being enemies with each other, these soldiers shared a lot of common. They lived in the same fields, suffered under the same rain, and were equally sick of the war.
However, not all activities was for goodwill. A few used the opportunity to survey enemy trenches, while others repaired dugouts. For some, fraternization appeared false. A Brit was spotted flashing a hidden dagger, while another feared poisoned cigarettes from the Germans. A few of Bavarian officers feared fraternization would lead to dishonor. It was the same officers and soldiers that didn't attend Christmas service the night before. One of the officer was Hitler. From professor Stanley Weintraub, author of Silent Night: The Story of the World War I Christmas Truce: "Baptized a Catholic, he had turned against Christianity. He rejected the idea of going out there to mingle. He hated the British and he didn’t believe in Christmas."
In other areas, fighting still occurred and as the night fell, the men retreated back into their trenches.
Friendly spirit remained on December 26, but the troops gradually resumed trench cautions. The atmosphere stayed relaxed, while the news of the truce reached to higher levels. Soldiers who took part in the truce were requested with "disciplinary action", but none was taken. Commanders insisted to restart the war afterwards. Some officers saluted at each other and fired revolvers in the air, signaling the resume of the war. In some areas, the friendly mood until New Year's Eve, but the officers would not allow it anymore. German snipers ordered to break cease fire, and the French ordered artillery barrage. I quote from one of the videos I watched on the subject: "...letting the machinery of war roll over human connections of the frontline troops."
On New Year's Eve, there were some singing and shouting, but no truce.
Though many cheered and cherished the Christmas truce as a joyful and peaceful moment in the middle of the Great War, the sentiment was not shared by everyone. French troops were skeptical and scornful at the truce taking place on their soil, while women was reportedly spitting at British troops for taking part in the armistice.
There was no hope for truce being maintained. The situation returned to the fire and fury as it was before. On Christmas 1915, all of the soldiers were fighting with poison gas against each other. British officers ordered a 24-hour artillery barrage. Machine guns drowned out Christmas carols. Zeppelins bombarded London. The war had become increasingly bitter after devastating human losses suffered during the battles of the Somme and Verdun. The Christmas truce then was nothing but a mere faded memory of the past.
Discussion Questions:
Are there any lessons we can take from this brief moment of harmony to apply in diplomatic efforts today—and if so, are they also applicable to interpersonal situations?
I think what we can learn from the truce is that the soldiers actually understood each other. Like what I've written, "Every soldier knew that the enemy were sharing the same misery as they were." They were able to come to each other and forget about all the rivalries that their higher ups had, and share the happiness and wholesomeness to each other.
Personally, I think that in every diplomatic efforts, both parties need to find a common ground to work with, just like in a debate. Both parties need to establish some kind of trust between each other and also giving both empathy and sympathy. Only this way that both sides can gain understanding for each other, and thus is able to come to a better compromise.
However, nothing and no one is perfect, and most compromises are win-lose situations. Sometimes, one party has a bad intent behind their agreements, and the other side finds it hard to give them sympathy, but in my opinion, we can still persuade that party to give up their intentions and do something better for the society as a whole.
As for interpersonal situations, yes we can definitely use empathy and sympathy to resolve problems. It really is a very effective way to come to a good conclusion, whether it be a happy or a sad ending.
Since the blog is already at 2000+ words, I shall stop here.
Good stuff that I used to research:
A Sign Of Friendship In The Midst Of War I THE CHRISTMAS TRUCE 1914 by The Great War (I have to recommend this channel, it is great)
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