A CHRISTMAS MIRACLE: The World War I Christmas truces


DATE OF HAPPENING: 12/25/1914

World War I was quite the deadly war of its time. Gasses, tanks, planes, and submarines all swept in and changed the course of war. Trenches were dug, and anyone who stepped out was almost guaranteed to get shot and killed. In the trenches, disease was rampant and many soldiers frequently caught diseases such as quintan fever, typhus fever, typhoid, the flu, malaria, and tuberculosis ran rampant in the war, and many soldiers lost their lives to the new war technology and the diseases. The British, French, Russians, and Serbs vs the Austro-Hungarians, Germans, and Ottoman Turks was a war on multiple fronts, surrounding Germany on both sides. Germany had been making some gains in France, but was checked at Marne. A deadly stalemate ensued in Ypres (now Ieper, Belgium).

Yet, during the christmas of 1914, the first year of the war, something strange happened. The previous weeks had snared both sides in the grueling reality of trench warfare, and both sides made little advances. On both sides, daily life was terrible, as soldiers were stuck in their dug holes And surrounded by the mud, as it had been raining heavily. Around the same time, Pope Benedict XV just ascended to the Papacy, and requested to the leaders of the war that "the guns may fall silent at least upon the night the angels sang." Benedict XV hoped that, if this truce were to happen, then the warring states would be more open to negotiate a peace treaty. The leaders on both sides of the war did not have much interest, though. Despite this, many of the soldiers in the trenches started to seize this opportunity for their own. Wilhelm II, the German Kaiser/Emperor, sent Christmas trees to the front to improve morale. On December 12/23, the German soldiers began to place the trees outside the trenches, and sang Christmas carols. The French and British followed suit with their own carols. There were quite the amount of Germans on the front lines who also spoke English, and a line of communication was established on both sides. The Saxons, in particular, were the most successful in establish these lines, at both sides regarded the Saxons as trustworthy. The truce was not as adopted as much between the Germans and French, and there was no equvialent truce on the German-Russian Front, as the Orthodox Russians used the Julian calendar instead of the Gregorian calendar.
christmas truce
By Christmas Eve, some of the British petty officers ordered their troops to not fire unless they were fired upon, as some sort of "live and let live" policy. This policy was adopted ad hoc on much of the British-German front, particularly in the sectors facing less battle. Despite the orders not being authorized by higher powers, the truce began to take shape. When Christmas Day finally arrived, the German soldiers emerged from their trenches, waving their arms to demonstrate their peaceful intentions. The British caught on to this, and joined them to socialize, exchange gifts, and even play games such as soccer/football. Around this time, censorship had not been imposed on letters yet, and what were once enemies trying to kill each other became eating and drinking buddies. Of course, the truce was not all rainbows and happiness. The truce also have way for both sides to reinforce their trenches and bury their dead, as they knew this peace would not last. There were still casualties, even, because this truce was not universal. There were even critical voices of this truce. A man named Adolf Hitler, who was a dispatch runner for a regimental headquarters, remarked that "Such a thing should not happen in wartime", and "Have you no German sense of honor?" After Christmas, the war resumed, though the truce continued until after New Year's Day in some areas. After this truce, British and German generals made sure to prevent any further fraternization of either sides. There were no court-martials or other punishment, though, because that would surely damage morale. There would be no more Christmas truces until the armistice of November 1918, as any further attempts were squashed.