The Christmas Truce of 1914

By Paul J. Magnarella

Although World War I ranks as one of the most horrific in history, causing about 40 million casualties and up to 20 million military and civilian deaths, it also included a famous and spontaneous peaceful interlude inscribed in chronicles as the unofficial Christmas Truce of 1914.

World War I The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, by a Bosnian Serb in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914, plunged much of Europe into war. The Entente Powers of France, Russia and Britain stood against the Central Powers of the Austro-Hungarian, German, and Ottoman Empires. In mid-September, the German, British and French commands ordered their armies to entrench along a 475 mile Western Front that extended from the North Sea to the Swiss frontier. Four years of brutal, stalemated trench warfare followed. Most trenches were about seven feet deep and six feet wide topped by a parapet of sandbags. From there barbed wire entanglements extended into No-Man’s land. In many places the No-Man’s Land separating German and British front-line trenches was only 30 to 70 yards wide.

The elements were sometimes more debilitating than the enemy. Standing in the mud and water for days often resulted in feet becoming gangrenous. Excessive exposure to wet and cold caused nephritis, which affected the kidneys. The accumulated rubbish, urine, and excreta in the trenches negatively impacted on health. Food scraps and decaying corpses attracted huge numbers of disease-carrying rats. The unwashed men attracted lice that covered their bodies with bite marks and caused “trench fever.” Artillery bursts caused some men to experience shell shock.

Periodically, the aristocratic generals (safely lodged in the rear) ordered the mostly lower class men in the trenches to make suicidal frontal assaults on enemy trenches. Machine guns and rapid fire rifles simply mowed down attacking men in No-Man’s Land, where their bodies often remained for weeks in a decaying state. The generals never devised a sensible plan to break the cruel stalemate that trench warfare became.

On Christmas Eve the weather cleared. Rain gave way to a clear cold that froze the mud and water, making movement easier and boots and clothing drier. Having received gift packages from home, the men of both sides were in a festive mood. That evening, along the front-line, German troops sang Christmas carols. Many erected candle-lit Christmas trees on their parapets and called out season’s greetings to their enemies opposite them.

Many Entente troops responded with applause, holiday wishes, and songs of their own. Concerned, one British battalion command informed Brigade Headquarters: “Germans have illuminated their trenches, are singing songs, and are wishing us a Happy Xmas. Compliments are being exchanged, but [I] am nevertheless taking all military precautions...”

Then, an amazing series of events occurred. Along parts of the British, French and Belgian lines, men from both sides went out into No-Man’s Land unarmed to meet, shake hands and fraternize. The First Battalion Royal Irish Rifles reported Germans calling out: “If you Englishmen come out and talk to us, we won’t fire.”

Scotsmen in Flanders, the 2nd Queen’s Battalion near La Chapelle d’Armentieres, and the 2nd Battalion Royal Welch Fusiliers also reported Germans singing Stille Nacht [Silent Night] and extending invitations to meet in No Man’s Land.

Christmas Day
On the morning of 25 December, the 2nd Battalion Devons reported seeing the Germans hoist a board with the words “You no fight, we no fight.” Opposite the 2nd Battalion Border Regiment, the process began with a German officer emerging from his trench waving a white flag. The 2nd Battalion Wiltshires reported men on both sides waving to each other, and then going out into No-Man’s Land to meet unarmed. After initial greetings both sides agreed to bury their dead comrades who had been laying in No-Man’s Land for weeks. Some Germans and British worked together in burial parties; a British soldier described a joint funeral service as “a sight one will never forget!” Members of the British Rifle Brigade gave the Germans wooden crosses to mark their graves.

The opposing sides exchanged food, drink, cigarettes, photographs, addresses and sincere wishes for peace. A British officer found the scene “absolutely astounding!” The troops found each other to be quite likeable. Many men felt compelled to write home about their experience. A London Rifles Brigade officer: “They [Germans] were really magnificent in the whole thing....I now have a very different opinion of the Germans.” A Scots Guard: “Some of them are very nice fellows and did not show any hatred, which makes me think they are forced to fight.”

Once No-Man’s Land had been cleared of corpses, some men found areas suitable for soccer games with improvised balls. In places, British and Germans ate Christmas dinner together, sharing whatever they had. They entertained each other with singing and instrumental music.

How It Ended
Many who participated in an informal truce hoped to continue it until New Year’s Day or beyond. But the High Commands sternly objected. A German army order dated threatened that fraternization with the enemy would be punished as high treason. A British order warned that “Officers and NCOs allowing [fraternization] would be brought before a court martial.”

In late December the High Commands ordered artillery bombardments along the front. They did the same in following years to ensure that the 1914 Christmas truce would not be repeated. Despite these measures, a few friendly encounters did occur, but on a much smaller scale than in 1914.

Soldiers Express Themselves
The Christmas truce touched the men deeply as evidenced in their letters and diaries. Various British soldiers wrote the following: “The most wonderful day on record!” “The most extraordinary celebration of Christmas any of us will ever experience!” “This experience has been the most practical demonstration I have seen of Peace on earth and goodwill towards men.” German troops wrote: “The way we spend Christmas in the trenches sounds almost like a fairy tale.” “It was a Christmas celebration in keeping with the command ‘Peace on earth’ and a memory which will stay with us always.” “Probably the most extraordinary event of the whole year—a soldier’s truce without any higher sanction by officers or generals.”

Speaking in the House of Commons in 1930, Sir H. Kingsley Wood, a former major who had served at the front in 1914 stated: “If we had been left to ourselves there would never have been another shot fired. …it was only the fact that we were being controlled by others that made it necessary for us to start trying to shoot one another again.”

Today, the Christmas Truce of 1914 is regarded as evidence of men’s natural desire for peace and friendship, even in the context of a brutal and senseless conflict. However, the 1914 Christmas Truce is not unique in history. During the early 19th century Peninsula War, British and French soldiers at times visited each other, shared rations and played cards. Periodically during the 1854-56 Crimean War French, British and Russian troops gathered around the same fire to smoke and drink together.

In the American Civil War (1861-65) Yankees and Rebels traded coffee and tobacco and peacefully fished from opposite sides of the same rivers. Throughout history, it has been rare for men fighting at close quarters not to extend friendly gestures and establish informal truces with their enemies.

Paul J. Magnarella is Director of Peace and Justice Studies, Warren Wilson College.

This commentary was distributed by PeaceVoice, a program of the Oregon Peace Institute.

Let It Snow...

Thursday morning dawned clear but by lunch we were hearing the dire warnings of incoming snow. Thursday night it began to snow, and snow, and snow. Friday morning, students began to worry whether they would be able to get off campus. The snow had started accumulating and the roads were turning to ice. As I sat in the kitchen on my dorm on campus making tea, one of my friends ran in and tossed her key to me while quickly retreating out the door explaining that she needed to leave to beat the snow and I would just have to transfer her fish and her guinea pig, which I had agreed to take care of for break, myself. I had just enough time to wish her luck on her journey before she was gone. By noon, all the campus shuttles to the airport had been cancelled for safety reasons and all of Asheville’s taxis had stopped running. Pretty much everyone left on campus was stuck there at least for the night. At 7:00 Friday night, I was just finished baking vegan chocolate peanut butter balls when I peeked outside to discover that close to a foot of snow had fallen. Knowing that at least one of my friends had not made it off campus, I wrapped up a couple of the warm cookies, put on my boots, coat, gloves and hat, and headed out into the still falling snow.

Through the snow, I could just make out a six-foot tall snowperson gracing courtyard as I walked to the Wellness dorm. Once inside, I began to strip off layers before climbing the stairs to my friend’s room. When I know she invited me inside where I discovered not only her, but three other friends. After a brief discussion of some activities we could do that night, we went down into the common room to make some hot chocolate before heading back up to her room to cuddle together and watch It’s a Wonderful Life. Two hours, and a few tears later, my friends offered to walk me back to my room.

We all bundled up again and headed out into the snow. Almost immediately we all stopped, and after a few moments of joy declared that nothing is as beautiful as Warren Wilson in the snow (except maybe Warren Wilson in the spring). Unable to stand the idea of going back inside, we decided to take a walk. As we walked, we heard cheers coming from a nearby hill, one of the steepest on campus, and it did not take long to figure out that it was a group of people with improvised sleds. We climbed the hill, slipping on the snow and ice, dodging a couple of students as they came down, and finally made it to the top. There we found about fifteen people, a mix of foreign students and at least one person from each year, with a variety of boxes, tub lids, and other items which they we zooming down the hill on screaming the whole way. We laughed as we watched a couple of students set off down the hill, hitting a snow bank and doing a 360 before continuing down. After half and hour of fun, and a couple of trips down the hill, we realized it was getting close to 11:00 and we needed to go to bed. As we gingerly walked down the hill, we ran into one of the biology professors carrying his guitar and with him his wife. They had been singing and playing guitar on one of the pastures before realizing how late it was.

When I got home, I collapsed into bed and fell into a deep sleep. When I woke up in the morning, it was still snowing and it became apparent that no one would be leaving Saturday either. Cars littered the sides of Warren Wilson Road. The only vehicle that seemed to be able to get traction was a huge tractor, driven by a student, which was working to clear the roads of snow. It wasn’t until Sunday that the roads were clear enough for the shuttles to start running again and for students to drive home. Finally, on Monday morning, the campus was as quiet as it usually is during the first week of winter break. I headed down to recycling where I am working half the week for the next two weeks to start digging out our trash pick up trucks. Smiling, I picked up a snow shovel and started winter break for real.

Victoria

Aaah

Another Semester Has Come and Gone

Aaah. The semester has unfolded as usual. December has come and another glorious semester is coming to a conclusion. Each semester is different and precious in its own way. Every semester, students are challenged with new and invigorating classes, off-the-wall service projects that help improve the life of someone else and work crews that may be a repeat from the semester before or a new one in order to explore a variety of jobs before graduation. Students work from sun up to sundown, writing lab reports, conducting research, serving food in the cafeteria, tutoring elementary school children, volunteering at food banks, tending to the cows and working with prospective students that we encourage to come to our school. When the semester unwinds to a slow and gradual stop, we can look back at the laughter, the tears, the enjoyments and the fond memories.

As for me, I rose every morning before eight. Shutting off my alarm clock and ridding myself of its siren-like blare, I would rub the sleep from my eyes and go about my day. After falling asleep twice in the bathroom, I would pull myself together and start my day. The mornings would open with a run to Gladfelter where I would receive a smiling welcome from the student serving food. I would then receive my gleaming bagel, rounder than any circle that any mathematician could ever draw. Then I would load up on cream cheese and gulp down a tall glass of skim milk.

The morning would then lead to classes where we had Socratic discussions and contemplated the eccentricities and complexities of this great world. Then it was off to Cowpie for lunch to see what food chocked full of life force vegetarian goodness the students had whipped together that day. The afternoon consisted of glorious hours in the Admission Office. There were of course the data entries, the appointment scheduling and the tours. But what I really loved was the mailing. Peeling the labels and placing them ever so delicately on the brochure. Stuffing envelopes with beautiful radiant green booklets, knowing that an excited prospective student would receive them. The sense of accomplishment that crosses the mind after having just finished taping 312 brochures. The wonderful feeling of diligence.

As the semester reaches the final stretch, I know I can speak for many when I say that another semester at Warren Wilson truly builds character. It would be a lie to say that it is not stressful. There’s homework, demanding jobs and service obligations. Time management is crucial. But when you stop and think about it, the days we spend balancing our life on this lovely campus with its majestic mountains, really are the best times of our lives.

Sarah