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Started By
Message
On this day, in 1914, enemies met in No Man’s Land, and hell became heaven for a bit
Posted on 12/25/22 at 9:29 pm
Posted on 12/25/22 at 9:29 pm
I think about this every year. If they could put aside their guns and bombs, surely we can put aside our differences, if only for a bit. Merry Christmas all
Christmas Truce of 1914 wiki
Short Video on the Christmas Truce
Christmas in the trenches -John McCutcheon
The initial bloody battles of the summer and fall had stagnated to a stalemate of sorts, And the hastily dug trenches on either side of no man’s land had become a gory sort of home for the men on the front lines. Still adapting to this new war, the generals behind the lines were slow to abandon the ingrained strategies of bygone battles and sent soldiering sons to the slaughter in the storm of steel.
In frozen holes they cowered and clung, teeth a chatter, as winter set in and trenches of blood-stained mud became an icy mausoleum for many. And yet even in that icy hellscape, the magic of Christmas somehow found its way into the hearts of men, and for Christmas, a mutual Truce was declared.
Christmas Trees were raised in places where shells had razed the forests. Garlad was hung instead of barbed wire. And instead of poison death drifting across No Man's Land, the sound of Christmas songs, in German, French and English, danced in the air.
Men on either side, who had scant hours before been engaged in ending life, were now celebrating it. Christmas came the same to Germans as it did to Frenchmen, Brits and Scots. Though the tongues may have been foreign, the tunes were not. And in that brief respite from hell, they exchanged volleys of song instead of bullets.
In an extraordinary show of courage, a soldier unarmed but for a truce flag walked into the killing field, not knowing if his foolhardiness would be rewarded with the crack of rifles. Instead he found a similarly brave handshake marching to greet him, and wishing a Merry Christmas.
And then, the trenches erupted. The fear and hate was banished as men from both sides flooded no man's land and celebrated Christmas in their own way. They traded cards and shared small gifts. Tobacco, alcohol, candy, cards and pictures from home. In some places a friendly game of football was played, illuminated by flarelight usually used to aid artillery fire.
Soldiers saw standing next to them, not monsters, not beasts as the propaganda would have them believe, but men and boys the same as them. Serving their country. Doing their "duty". Missing wives and sweethearts and children back home. Cold, cramped and tired. But they shared their humanity that Christmas, bound by cultural ties that knew no borders or nationalities, but "Peace and Good will towards men."
And as suddenly as that peace and good will had stolen upon No Man's Land, Christmas ended, and with it the truce. They rushed back to their respective trenches once more as the cannons belched their screaming death into that starry sky, and The War returned.
But it was said that those who experienced that wonderous event were changed somehow. That no longer was the enemy down their barrel some faceless butcher, but Friedrich from Munich, who liked French chocolate and whose little Ingrid was turning 5 in the spring. Or Thomas from Birmingham, who liked Irish whisky and blonde girls with pretty voices. They were men thrust into the same horrid situation, sitting in the trench they were only by the providence of their place of birth.
It was said that the soldiers there hesitated to shoot thereafter, or missed on purpose. Correspondences were sent across the lines to check on the condition of "the lad who played the fife so well", "that German fiddler", or "the one who sang so well". Regiments were shifted because soldiers were reluctant to engage those they had met in shared brotherhood that Christmas.
There was no widespread truce the following Christmas, or any thereafter. The commanding officers would not risk something which might show the humanity of the enemy or inhibit the slaughter when the time came. But for that one brief time, in late December of 1914, peace reigned, and those men found that on either end of the rifle, they were not so different.
Raise a glass to the ones you hold dear,
The ones who aren’t near,
And the ones who aren’t here.
May the season find you and yours well.
Christmas Truce of 1914 wiki
Short Video on the Christmas Truce
Christmas in the trenches -John McCutcheon
The initial bloody battles of the summer and fall had stagnated to a stalemate of sorts, And the hastily dug trenches on either side of no man’s land had become a gory sort of home for the men on the front lines. Still adapting to this new war, the generals behind the lines were slow to abandon the ingrained strategies of bygone battles and sent soldiering sons to the slaughter in the storm of steel.
In frozen holes they cowered and clung, teeth a chatter, as winter set in and trenches of blood-stained mud became an icy mausoleum for many. And yet even in that icy hellscape, the magic of Christmas somehow found its way into the hearts of men, and for Christmas, a mutual Truce was declared.
Christmas Trees were raised in places where shells had razed the forests. Garlad was hung instead of barbed wire. And instead of poison death drifting across No Man's Land, the sound of Christmas songs, in German, French and English, danced in the air.
Men on either side, who had scant hours before been engaged in ending life, were now celebrating it. Christmas came the same to Germans as it did to Frenchmen, Brits and Scots. Though the tongues may have been foreign, the tunes were not. And in that brief respite from hell, they exchanged volleys of song instead of bullets.
In an extraordinary show of courage, a soldier unarmed but for a truce flag walked into the killing field, not knowing if his foolhardiness would be rewarded with the crack of rifles. Instead he found a similarly brave handshake marching to greet him, and wishing a Merry Christmas.
And then, the trenches erupted. The fear and hate was banished as men from both sides flooded no man's land and celebrated Christmas in their own way. They traded cards and shared small gifts. Tobacco, alcohol, candy, cards and pictures from home. In some places a friendly game of football was played, illuminated by flarelight usually used to aid artillery fire.
Soldiers saw standing next to them, not monsters, not beasts as the propaganda would have them believe, but men and boys the same as them. Serving their country. Doing their "duty". Missing wives and sweethearts and children back home. Cold, cramped and tired. But they shared their humanity that Christmas, bound by cultural ties that knew no borders or nationalities, but "Peace and Good will towards men."
And as suddenly as that peace and good will had stolen upon No Man's Land, Christmas ended, and with it the truce. They rushed back to their respective trenches once more as the cannons belched their screaming death into that starry sky, and The War returned.
But it was said that those who experienced that wonderous event were changed somehow. That no longer was the enemy down their barrel some faceless butcher, but Friedrich from Munich, who liked French chocolate and whose little Ingrid was turning 5 in the spring. Or Thomas from Birmingham, who liked Irish whisky and blonde girls with pretty voices. They were men thrust into the same horrid situation, sitting in the trench they were only by the providence of their place of birth.
It was said that the soldiers there hesitated to shoot thereafter, or missed on purpose. Correspondences were sent across the lines to check on the condition of "the lad who played the fife so well", "that German fiddler", or "the one who sang so well". Regiments were shifted because soldiers were reluctant to engage those they had met in shared brotherhood that Christmas.
There was no widespread truce the following Christmas, or any thereafter. The commanding officers would not risk something which might show the humanity of the enemy or inhibit the slaughter when the time came. But for that one brief time, in late December of 1914, peace reigned, and those men found that on either end of the rifle, they were not so different.
Raise a glass to the ones you hold dear,
The ones who aren’t near,
And the ones who aren’t here.
May the season find you and yours well.
This post was edited on 12/25/22 at 9:32 pm
Posted on 12/25/22 at 9:41 pm to fr33manator
Appreciate your annual reminder of this event. I think of it often. Particularly in these days of sharp partisan divide.
Posted on 12/25/22 at 9:41 pm to fr33manator
History doesn't repeat itself but it rhymes.
Reminds me of the tragic silliness of Ukraine and Russia butchering each other despite being a people who share just about everything.
Reminds me of the tragic silliness of Ukraine and Russia butchering each other despite being a people who share just about everything.
This post was edited on 12/25/22 at 9:42 pm
Posted on 12/25/22 at 9:43 pm to BoudinChicot
quote:
History doesn't repeat itself but it rhymes.
So does Star Wars. And JarJar is the key to it all.
Posted on 12/25/22 at 9:44 pm to fr33manator
Stirring and heartwarming, yet also sad and sobering. Really just an incredible moment of humanity.
Posted on 12/25/22 at 9:46 pm to BoudinChicot
quote:
History doesn't repeat itself but it rhymes.
Indeed.
Don’t worry, I won’t make y’all suffer through a poem about it.
But I do have one
But that song is awesome.
Belleau Wood is a good one as well
This post was edited on 12/25/22 at 9:49 pm
Posted on 12/25/22 at 9:47 pm to BeachTiger2018
(no message)
This post was edited on 12/25/22 at 9:48 pm
Posted on 12/25/22 at 10:05 pm to Richard Grayson
Posted on 12/25/22 at 11:01 pm to fr33manator
C on Z downvoted this…
Posted on 12/25/22 at 11:03 pm to fr33manator
I believe the French and some German units ended up calling bullshite on this madness and revolted and damn near ended the war at one point
Posted on 12/25/22 at 11:08 pm to TutHillTiger
quote:
I believe the French and some German units ended up calling bullshite on this madness and revolted and damn near ended the war at one point
That’s the story. They refused to fight the very men they had celebrated Christmas with and ended up having to be moved somewhere else.
I’ll try to find some more about that
Posted on 12/25/22 at 11:23 pm to fr33manator
My grandfather was in the trenches of Verdun on Christmas 1917. They had a cease fire and he traded a few items with sone German soldiers.
The item which I now have is a pewter matchbox holder with a Kaiser helmet stamped into it.
The item which I now have is a pewter matchbox holder with a Kaiser helmet stamped into it.
Posted on 12/26/22 at 7:14 am to Eli Goldfinger
quote:
My grandfather was in the trenches of Verdun on Christmas 1917. They had a cease fire and he traded a few items with sone German soldiers.
That is really cool. I know there was never another general Christmas ceasefire again, but had heard rumors that there were some spontaneous ones years after. I’d love to hear more about this
quote:
The item which I now have is a pewter matchbox holder with a Kaiser helmet stamped into it.
Can you post a picture? I’d love to see it
Posted on 12/26/22 at 7:28 am to fr33manator
One of the more fascinating events in warfare for me are the truces between the opposing sides. You see these little informal truces all the time in the Civil War - both in winter quarters and on active campaign. Union and Confederate soldiers would come into the no-man's-land between the armies to shoot the shite or trade goods.
Posted on 12/26/22 at 7:47 am to BoudinChicot
quote:
Reminds me of the tragic silliness of Ukraine and Russia butchering each other despite being a people who share just about everything.
Outsiders can't tell a Hutu from a Tutsi.
Sadly, Rwandans were able to tell the difference all too well.
Posted on 12/26/22 at 7:47 am to fr33manator
The soccer game they played lasted 14 hours
It ended in a 0-0 tie
It ended in a 0-0 tie
Posted on 12/26/22 at 8:06 am to TutHillTiger
quote:
I believe the French and some German units ended up calling bull shite on this madness and revolted and damn near ended the war at one point
World would have been a much better place in the 20th century if the leaders had listened.
Posted on 12/26/22 at 8:12 am to TutHillTiger
quote:
I believe the French and some German units ended up calling bullshite on this madness and revolted and damn near ended the war at one point
French soldiers revolted a few times in 2016 onward.
The war was supposed to be over by Christmas 2014, when it started.
Posted on 12/26/22 at 10:01 am to RogerTheShrubber
I think it was supposed to be over even well before that
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