1
FIGHT...FLIGHT...OR TRUCE
from the book,
Silent Night: The Story of the World War I Christmas Truce
by Stanley Weintraub, 2001
World War I (The Great War) lasted from 1914 to 1918. During the Christmas of 1914, the Western Front stretched for the North Sea down to Switzerland. The primary players in WW1 were the Russians on the Eastern Front; Germany, and Western Europe on the Western Front. It should be noted that Kaiser Wilhelm II (German) and George V of England were cousins; both the grandsons of Queen Victoria of England.
Just a couple of months prior to the outbreak of war, many of the German soldiers had lived and worked in England. Many of them worked at hotels and resorts as cooks and waiters. Others were cabbies and barbers. Some of the Germans grew up in England. They were, however, required to serve in the German army for three years, and were later called back to Germany in July, 1914 to fight in the army. German troops were told that the war would last only six weeks at best before they had conquered the Western and Eastern lands.
1
German Side
Prussians
Saxons
Bavarians
Westphalians
(The Bavarians hated the Prussians and later told the British soldiers to fire on them).
1
Western Europe Side
British (Welsh, Scots, Irish)
French
Belgian
India
Africa
1
These opposing sides in the trenches learned to be enemies. 18Who or what is your fiercest enemy right now, and how did you learn to be enemies?
AlcoholTo handle depression
My P.O.Because of my father
AngerBecause of poor decisions
DrugsBecause of anger
Myself
1
Trenches: Protection and Danger
The British were not so keen on fighting, although the French and Belgians were passionate as the fighting was on their turf. They desperately wanted to keep their lands from being taken by the Germans. Much of the Western Front area around Ypres was below sea level, kept drained by a system of pumps. As the soldiers dug trenches along the front, these often filled up with water, causing landslides and mud bogs. Soldiers learned to sleep standing up. The phrase “knee deep in water” was a reality much of the time for the Western soldiers, although the Germans had it somewhat better with more available resources and somewhat higher land to keep dry. There were cases in which men would sink into the mire requiring their buddies to pull them out. Two soldiers reportedly sunk out of sight; one of them not to be retrieved. The fortified trenches were homes to mice, rats, lice, cats, corpses, and artillery fire.
Draw a picture of your trench, which can be a saving grace much of the time. At vulnerable times, however, this trench may swallow you up when you are off your guard.
Jail
Can’t get in as much trouble
Keeps you alive
Chance to get off drugs
Friends and family
Help financially
Give you a place to live
Are there for you
The Truce Slowly Begins...
By December 4, 1914, in the II Corps, the opposing sides were becoming complacent with shooting. Neither side was firing at mealtimes, and there was little shellfire at other times. At many points along the front, there were only about 60 yards of land (2/3 of an American football field) separating the troops, along with lines of barbed wire, fields of cabbages and turnips, shell holes, and man-dug trenches. The opposing soldiers often shouted remarks back and forth across “No Man’s Land”.
By early December, brigadier generals and German commanders had issued explicit orders forbidding fraternization with the enemy. Any disobedience was grounds for court-martial.
On December 19 Germans began holding up their hands at various points along the Western Front to signal “Stop Shooting” so that they could take in some of their dead from “No Man’s Land”. Later, on Christmas Day, as opposing soldiers were helping each other bury their dead, one soldier commented that the night before there had been a great battle. Today, however, on Dec. 25, the enemies were shaking hands and smoking each others’ cigarettes. It was like a weird dream.
The Christmas Truce of 1914 was called by some a “Truce of God”
Christmas Eve
On Christmas Eve, the British noted that the Germans had stopped firing in many places along the front. Lights began dotting the trenches, which turned out to be small Christmas trees - some lit by candles and others by electric torches. Thousands of these trees had been shipped to the front from German businesses and placed in rows on the parapets of the trenches.
Christmas gifts were sent by both sides to their soldiers. Ammunition and regular food rations were held up for days so that the postal services could get the special Christmas packages to the front. It only took four days for postal service to get to the front at this early time in the war. The English received small tins of tobacco, pipes, and cigarettes, or a non-smoker’s tin of sweets, including plum puddings and chocolates. The Germans each received a large meerschaum pipe, tobacco products, bonbons, and chocolates. Shops at home were still prosperous early in the war and could easily afford to send these luxuries. It would certainly be a different story as the war progressed and tough times forced rationing.
The dark of Christmas Eve gave rise to Germans singing Christmas carols such as Stille Nacht (Silent Night) and God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen beside their lit trees. The British later joined them, singing across the battlefield. Christmas trees (tannenbaum) were very important to the German celebration of the holiday. Reportedly, the Germans in most instances, began the cease fire in most spots along the front, with the Allied forces later joining in.
Space alone
Take a shower
My mood
Christmas Day
Christmas day brought a clear, bright day that revealed that “No Man’s Land” was littered with corpses; many of them bloated, decaying, or mangled in the barbed wire. The Germans held up their hands in truce, and began walking out on the field to bury their dead. The allies later followed with men exchanging handshakes and souvenirs with the enemy. Soldiers traded tobacco, alcohol, candy, and even buttons off their uniforms. The most prized German articles were the “God be with us” belt buckles and the grand prize of the “Pickelhaube”, the spiked German helmets.
The Germans and the Allies became quite friendly with each other during their meetings. One Englishman recognized a Saxon soldier as his former barber in England who had last cut his hair that previous June. This German barber obligingly cut this English soldier’s hair on the field, although added with a half teasing/half serious remark, “I should cut your throat today, yes? Save ammunition tomorrow.” This comment shows that while some of the soldiers were hopeful that the cease-fire would lead to an early end of the war, most were well aware that the opposing sides would go on killing each other tomorrow with business as usual.
When do you need to call a truce with your enemy, and when do you need to get away from your enemy? What signals would you see approaching to choose either way?
Clearing the Field
Few Englishmen spoke German, but many of the German soldiers could at least speak some broken English. During the day, mass burials occurred, often accompanied by the 23rd Psalm, or the Lord’s Prayer spoken in German.
Once the clearing of corpses was completed in “No Man’s Land”, football (soccer) games also broke out along the front. Since there were few soccer balls to be had, soldiers improvised with stuffing their hats with straw and mud, and tying them into balls or using other such spur-of-the moment creations for balls. Yet, at the same time that these impromptu football games were going on, men could hear fierce fighting raging only 800 yards up the front.
What corpses need to be cleared out of your life so you can get better/enjoy life?
Girlfriends
Pills
My relationship with my father
Addiction for drugs
Drinking
Forgiveness in “No Man’s Land”
There were also informal truces the next day on December 26 “Boxer’s Day” and on New Year’s Day, although most commanders forbid this fraternization. The truce was never completely formally observed. There were small pockets of shooting all along the front. Also, some troops took advantage of the cease fire to reinforce their lines and to spy out the enemy line.
Some of the soldiers were too bitter over recent losses of their comrades and family members to participate in the truce. Some of these soldiers took sniper shots at the Germans as they were out on the field. Other Western troops took shots at Germans as they were singing just to keep them quiet. Others worried that if the opposing sides became too friendly with each other that they would not be as diligent to shoot each other, thus holding up progression of the war.
How does difficulty to forgive prevent you from participating in a special event, or sharing time with someone?