The Christmas Truce
One of the oddest yet most compelling episodes in World War I happened on Christmas Day in 1914.
The war had been going on for a few months, and neither side had made much progress (as was the case for most of the war, actually). Germans on one side were hunkered in their trenches; not far away were English and British hunkered down in their trenches. War doesn't usually recognize holidays such as Christmas.
But early on Christmas morning, a group of German soldiers left their guns in their trenches and walked across the no-man's land in between the trenches and said, "Merry Christmas" in both English and French. The startled French and British soldiers thought it a trick and kept their weapons aimed at the unarmed Germans. Finally convinced of the Germans' sincerity, the British and French climbed out of their own trenches and greeted their enemies of the day before. The men exchanged cigarettes and food and even played a game of soccer. They sang songs and shared drinks. They made merry on Christmas Day.
The war continued the next day, of course, and the better part of four years after that. Millions died at the hands of terrifying new weapons. Many lessons were learned (and notlearned). The following Christmas, no such truce presented itself. That pattern continued throughout the war.
But on that one day in 1914, the holiday spirit overcame political prejudices and brought men in uniform together in the spirit of the holiday.
The truce began on Christmas Eve, December 24, 1914, when German troops began decorating the area around their trenches in the region of Ypres, Belgium, for Christmas. They began by placing candles on trees, then continued the celebration by singing Christmas carols, most notably Stille Nacht (Silent Night). The British troops in the trenches across from them responded by singing English carols.
The two sides continued by shouting Christmas greetings to each other. Soon thereafter, there were calls for visits across the "No Man's Land" where small gifts were exchanged — whisky, jam, cigars, chocolate, and the like. The artillery in the region fell silent that night. The truce also allowed a breathing spell where recently-fallen soldiers could be brought back behind their lines by burial parties. Proper burials took place as soldiers from both sides mourned the dead together and paid their respects. At one funeral in No Man's Land, soldiers from both sides gathered and read a passage from the 23rd Psalm: T
The truce spread to other areas of the lines, and there are many stories of football matches between the opposing forces. The film Joyeux Noël suggests that letters sent home from both British and German soldiers related that the score was 3-2 in favour of the Germans.