In today’s world where it seems as though bitterness and anger rent out space in every corner of social media, where resentment and hatred find their way into everyday life at no end, and when peace and joy are often difficult to obtain, it may behoove people to take a moment to quiet their hearts this Christmas season and be grateful for a story that took place 110 years ago.
While many think the world today is at its worst, it isn’t any different than it was in 1914 when World War I was in its infancy.
World War I, also known as The Great War, started in 1914 after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria. His murder initiated a war that began in Europe and spread across the globe and lasted until 1918. During the four-year conflict, the Central Powers of Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire fought against the Allied Powers of Great Britain, France, Russia, Italy, Romania, Canada, Japan and the United States.
In a war filled with many atrocities, there stood the singular moment of Christmas Eve, Dec. 24, 1914, the moment that has since become known as The Christmas Truce.
On that evening the spirit and peace of Christmas won out.
The Great War had raged on for several months, and fighting between Germany and Great Britain had become particularly ugly.
On a dark Christmas Eve, the two enemies met in a large open field in Belgium, neither willing to concede an inch to their hated foe. Trenches were dug, foxholes were built, and thousands of soldiers readied themselves for the ongoing and lengthy confrontation that would most certainly claim more lives, leaving more children at home without their fathers.
However, on this holy night, Christmas would have its say — at least for a moment — quelling the fighting and hatred and instead giving way to one of the most unimaginable yet beautiful Christmas stories on record.
According to the memoires of British machine-gunner Bruce Bairnsfather, the 1st Battalion of the Royal Warwickshire Regiment was spending Christmas Eve in Bois de Ploegsteert, hunkering down in a trench hoping to keep warm and stay alive to see another sunrise.
Cold, wet and covered in mud, misery hung in the air.
Surprisingly, at around 10 p.m., it wasn’t the sound of artillery or the shouts of commands that the British troops heard emanating from the German side, but instead the sound of singing.
Bairnsfather said he and his British compatriots were incredulous at first, noting across the field and through the darkness came this cascade of song.
Singing breaks out in the trenches on Christmas Eve
The Germans sang Christmas carols. In the darkness some of the British soldiers began to sing back.
The music was halted by a person shouting from the German lines. The voice was from an enemy soldier, speaking in broken English and yelling, “Come over here.”
A British sergeant responded, “You come halfway. I come halfway.”
Amazingly, the two soldiers who had fought so hard to eliminate the other bravely met one another in No Man’s Land in the middle of that field.
What happened next could be called a Christmas miracle, as one by one enemy soldiers began crawling nervously out of their trenches to meet in barbed-wire-filled No Man’s Land, which had only moments ago been filled with ammunition, streaking bullets meant to end life.
This time, instead of gunfire, soldiers were greeted with handshakes and words of kindness. Once again, the sound of Christmas carols rang out over the dank and destitute land.
Those who were once feared foes now began sharing tobacco and wine and even laughter.
Guns and hatred had been replaced by gifts and respect.
Somehow, the thought of the true meaning of Christmas and a spirit of peace had overcome all the men who had just moments earlier been fighting to the death.
Amazingly, impromptu ceasefires across the Western Front were reported, some lasting for several days. In the midst of the bloodiest and deadliest conflict known to mankind up until that time, the peace of Christmas had overcome the hatred, and at least for a short time, the world was as one.
There are many stories and diary recordings of these rare and meaningful events.
Infantrymen who were set to charge into ruined homes, ready to get into conflict with the enemy, were now sharing laughs and stories with their enemy.
Many talked of it taking on a dream-like state, such was the almost effortless way enemies began pouring out into the fields to share with one another on what had become one of the most unimaginable Christmas Eve celebrations on record.
There were reports of candlelight vigils and British soldiers setting up makeshift barbershops and charging Germans a few cigarettes each for a haircut. Other accounts described enemy soldiers helping to collect the enemy’s dead, of which there was plenty, or tending to wounded soldiers on the other side.
As the night gave way to Christmas Day, the soldiers found a soccer ball, and a game that was already universally beloved became another way for these enemies to find a common interest.
Christmas joy and goodwill were now on full display, proving that at least for a period of time, love could conquer evil, bringing mortal enemies together to share on a day that garnered so much respect and love it could stop a war dead in its tracks.
A Time Magazine story estimated that as many as 100,000 people took part in the Christmas celebration.
One rifleman said of the shared moment, “Today we have peace. Tomorrow, you fight for your country. I fight for mine. Good luck.”
His words were accurate because the Christmas Truce would end quickly and the war would return to the battlefield, where the conflict would ultimately claim roughly 15 million lives.
But on Christmas Eve 1914, this strange ceasefire to honor Christmas reminded everyone wars are fought not by evil forces, but by human beings.
Today, a memorial stands in England’s National Memorial Arboretum commemorating the Christmas Truce. On the 100th anniversary of the Christmas Truce in 2014, the English and German national soccer teams staged a friendly match in England in remembrance of the soldiers’ impromptu soccer games in 1914. England won 1-0, but just as important, it was remembering those who had fought and given their lives during the war.
Bairnsfather summed up the bizarre moment: “Looking back on it all, I wouldn’t have missed that unique and weird Christmas Day for anything.”
