Christmas 1914

Christmas has often been used by armies as a time to attack weak points in enemy lines and gain an element of surprise while others celebrate. George Washington famously moved his army across the Delaware River on Christmas night, and attacked and overran Hessian (German) positions at Trenton on the New Jersey side of the river. In 1944, the Germans launched their last major offensive of World War II on December 16, and were not driven back until the day after Christmas. Also, in 1972, Richard Nixon ordered some of the heaviest bombing of the Vietnam War against Hanoi the capital city of North Vietnam on Christmas Day.

But in 1914, something very different occurred. Europe was in the fifth month of what would become known as World War I with troops from France, England, and Russia on one side, and Germany and the Ottoman Empire on the other. In August the Germans had made an initial thrust toward Paris and had come within a few miles of it, but had gradually been driven back. The British and French had then attempted to force the Germans out of France altogether, but found that they could not take key positions in the German line. Nearly everyone had thought the war would be over by Christmas, but as the trenches got deeper, so did the soldier’s convictions that the war would go on much, much longer.

The weeks leading up to Christmas had been particularly frustrating. The weather, which was much like we have been experiencing here in the Northwest, caused men’s guns to jam, it was cold, and no long term advances had been made by the British or the Germans. However, something astonishing happened on Christmas Eve. Historian Martin Gilbert writes, “There was in sections of the front line, a moment of peaceable behavior.” German and British patrols ran in into each and wished each other a merry Christmas. Songs were heard being sung in German, French and English. This brought more men out of the trenches. As Gilbert writes, “That Christmas Day, fraternization between the Germans and their enemies took place almost everywhere in the British No-Man’s Land, and at some places in the French and Belgian lines.” If the singing or the patrols did not bring a truce, direct messages were sent between the commanders on the line, which asked for the fighting to stop temporarily.

The two armies agreed that the bodies that littered the field between the lines were to be buried. In one point in the line, the armies decided to hold a joint church service at one of the burials.Solders walked over to each other’s trenches to see what they looked like. A game of soccer also took place. One British solider would write later, “There was not an atom of hate on either side that day;” Sapper J. Davey, another British solider, wrote, “Most peculiar Christmas I’ve ever spent and ever likely to.” He continued, “One could hardly believe the happenings.” The men traded hats, buttons and even gave each their addresses and promised to visit as soon as the war was over.

However, all of this sudden interaction created a problem. Neither the German, French or British high commands had approved or even thought that such a thing would take place. In some sections of the lines, commanders ordered men to attack even though it was Christmas. French and British officers scrambled to get men back in the fighting and the high command ordered all the friendly activities to stop.

In the coming days after Christmas, those units who had refused to fight were transferred to other parts of the line. The German commanders went as far as to move some men all the way to the Eastern front, and French officers who had promoted the truce were demoted. In December of the next year, the British army commanders ordered a steady shelling of the German lines to prevent a truce from happening again.

The war would continue until 1918, when Germany agreed to a negotiated peace settlement. Today, the story of the truce continues to be held up by many as an example of man’s goodness even in the worst of conditions. A wonderful French film, Joyeux Noe,l tells this story and details what happened at one spot in the trench lines. There are also a few books on the subject. I found Martin Gilbert’s general history of the war the most interesting source.

It’s important to remember that even in the focused hostility of war, human spirit and common tradition transcends hatred and predigest.