Christmas Truce of 1914

Many of us know what happened during WW1 and how the war was a clash of old and new technology. Knowing that Christmas is coming up it’s time to share a story of what happened on Christmas Eve in 1914.

It was a cold Christmas eve night filled with sleet, the Germans had been fighting the French and the British for several months now, both sides were tired and scared, as silence fell upon the battlefield. Faint voices could be heard from the German trench line, which the British recognized as singing! “Silent Night Holy Night” was being sung by the German soldiers, tempting the British to sing along. One British soldier wanted to see if the Germans were peaceful during the singing so, he popped his head out of the trench waving his hand in the air. The Germans soon recognized that it was a ceasefire. They followed the same actions, and both sides decided to exit the trench onto no man’s land, where the soldiers began to approach each other, shaking hands, showing them family pictures, playing soccer, exchanging gifts, laughing with each other, and going to each other’s sides to recover their fallen team mates. Even in the midst of one of history’s deadliest wars, there was still peace. After wards, both sides returned to their trenches and had to prepare to start firing at each other the morning after.

The Christmas Truce of 1914 happened because of the lack of a commanding force on each side. Sadly, the Truce never happened the following years, but established certain rules such as not fireing at the enemy if seen working out or recovering bodies. After the truce, both sides had made attempts the following year during Easter and Christmas, some even rushing onto no man’s land quickly to exchange souvenirs.

The Christmas truce has a memorial in Saint-Yves, Comines-Warneton, Belgium. The sign reads “1914 – The Jkaki Chum’s Christmas Truce – 1999 – 85 years – lest we forget”