In December of 2019, Gun Owners of California posted the Christmas Truce of 1914, which describes an amazing event along the Western Front during the clashing of World War I factions: we felt the piece was especially relevant because at that time, it was difficult to imagine when our country had been more polarized.
And that was before 2020, when our nation faced the extraordinary strain that came with COVID, and the violent unrest that plagued many of America’s urban areas.
No matter the year, however, there is much to learn from the Christmas Truce of World War 1, because amidst the haze of gunfire, there was an incredible silencing as songs of joy and a spirit of benevolence pierced the night instead of bullets. Soldiers stopped fighting and took time to wish Merry Christmas to wartime adversaries.
As we emerge from an election season that was rife with conflict, and into a new year that is abounding in possibilities, GOC encourages a call to civility and respect in our discord. The examples set by both British and German soldiers a century ago are indeed, examples for all of us.
We pray Christmas and 2025 will be a time of peace, reflection and blessing for all.
THE CHRISTMAS TRUCE OF 1914
During World War I, on and around Christmas Day 1914, the sounds of rifles firing and shells exploding faded in a number of places along the Western Front in favor of holiday celebrations in the trenches and gestures of goodwill between enemies.
On December 7, 1914, Pope Benedict XV suggested a temporary hiatus of the war for the celebration of Christmas. The warring countries refused to create any official cease-fire, but on Christmas the soldiers in the trenches declared their own unofficial truce.
Starting on Christmas Eve, many German and British troops sang Christmas carols to each other across the lines, and at certain points the Allied soldiers even heard brass bands joining the Germans in their joyous singing.
At the first light of dawn on Christmas Day, some German soldiers emerged from their trenches and approached the Allied lines across no-man’s-land, calling out “Merry Christmas” in their enemies’ native tongues. At first, the Allied soldiers feared it was a trick, but seeing the Germans unarmed they climbed out of their trenches and shook hands with the enemy soldiers. The men exchanged presents of cigarettes and plum puddings and sang carols and songs. There was even a documented case of soldiers from opposing sides playing a good-natured game of soccer.
Some soldiers used this short-lived ceasefire for a more somber task: the retrieval of the bodies of fellow combatants who had fallen within the no-man’s land between the lines.
The so-called Christmas Truce of 1914 came only five months after the outbreak of war in Europe and was one of the last examples of the outdated notion of chivalry between enemies in warfare. It was never repeated—future attempts at holiday ceasefires were quashed by officers’ threats of disciplinary action—but it served as heartening proof, however brief, that beneath the brutal clash of weapons, the soldiers’ essential humanity endured.
During World War I, the soldiers on the Western Front did not expect to celebrate on the battlefield, but even a world war could not destroy the Christmas spirit.
History.com (2009; Christmas Truce of 1914)
http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-i/christmas-truce-of-1914
Publisher: A+E Networks
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