Word War I Christmas Truce 

Word War I Christmas Truce 

On December 24, 1914, soldiers from both sides engaged in a truce for the Christmas holiday.

As World War I reached a quick stalemate within its first few months, troops on the Western Front settled in for trench warfare. These trenches ran in a continuous line “from the North Sea to the Swiss frontier” with France. In some places, enemy combatants occupied trenches that were only 30 yards apart, which allowed them to communicate with one another.

As early as December 7, 1914, a young soldier named Charles de Gaulle was concerned with what he considered inappropriate “fraternal” behavior and blamed the comradery on the lengthy stalemate. As the first Christmas of World War I approached, British suffragists and Pope Benedict XV begged for a day of peace.

Pope Benedict XV pleaded for a truce, asking “that the guns may fall silent at least upon the night the angels sang.” Though the warring nations’ leaders rejected the idea, the troops in the trenches felt differently.

Though a few small truces occurred throughout the month, the first large one came on December 24, 1914, near Ypres, Belgium. As German troops decorated their trenches with candles and Christmas trees, they sang joyful carols. The British troops, in their own trenches just yards away, began singing their own carols.

And according to one soldier, “First the Germans would sing one of their carols and then we would sing one of ours, until when we started up ‘O Come, All Ye Faithful’ the Germans immediately joined in singing the same hymn to the Latin words Adeste Fideles. And I thought, well, this is really a most extraordinary thing ­– two nations both singing the same carol in the middle of a war.”

According to some accounts, on Christmas morning some German soldiers left their trenches and crossed “No Man’s Land.” As they arrived at the British trenches, they called out “Merry Christmas” in the native tongues of their enemies. The Allied troops first thought it might have been a trick, but when they noticed the Germans were unarmed, left their trenches and shook hands with them.

Soon, men from both sides began crossing “No Man’s Land” to exchange gifts of food, tobacco, chocolate, newspapers, alcohol, and small souvenirs such as buttons and hats. In many parts of the front, artillery fell silent and the field was filled with singing and friendly chats. The break in fighting was also used to recover dead and wounded, who were honored at joint services. Many of the soldiers also took part in football (soccer) matches.

In different areas of the front, the truces lasted through Christmas Day, while others lasted through New Year’s Day. Yet, in other areas, the fighting continued with no truce.

Over the next year, officers on both sides warned against any further truces by threat of disciplinary action. While a few sparse truces were held in 1915, it was nothing compared to the truce of 1914, which involved some 100,000 British and German troops. Decades later, in 2008, a memorial was unveiled honoring the brief peaceful interlude during one of the world’s bloodiest wars.

Click here to see photos from the truce.

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