{"id":9223,"date":"2014-12-24T11:00:37","date_gmt":"2014-12-24T11:00:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.genealogybank.com\/?p=9223"},"modified":"2021-04-21T11:12:30","modified_gmt":"2021-04-21T15:12:30","slug":"wwi-christmas-truce-when-the-guns-stopped-firing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wwi-christmas-truce-when-the-guns-stopped-firing.html","title":{"rendered":"WWI Christmas Truce: When the Guns Stopped Firing"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introduction<\/em><\/strong>: In this article, Gena\u00a0Philibert-Ortega tells a remarkable story: how the power of Christmas \u2013 with its hope of \u201cpeace on earth, good will to men\u201d \u2013 temporarily stopped the fighting during WWI in 1914. Gena is a genealogist and author of the book \u201cFrom the Family Kitchen.<\/span>\u201d
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

By December 1914, Germany, Britain, France, and other European nations had been fighting since August. Trenches were dug on the Western front in September and those trenches, now home to soldiers, meant a holiday that would be cold, wet, and miserable tinged with the constant threat of death. What was first thought of as a \u201cgreat adventure\u201d by many young men must have quickly turned into a harsh cold reality as the casualties rose.<\/p>\n

Then Christmas time approached, and something wonderful happened.<\/p>\n

\"Illustration:<\/a>
Illustration: the \u201cIllustrated London News\u201d depiction of the WWI Christmas Truce of 1914: \u201cBritish and German Soldiers Arm-in-Arm Exchanging Headgear: A Christmas Truce between Opposing Trenches.\u201d The subcaption reads: \u201cSaxons and Anglo-Saxons fraternising on the field of battle at the season of peace and goodwill: Officers and men from the German and British trenches meeting and greeting one another; a German officer photographing a group of foes and friends.\u201d Credit: A. C. Michael; Wikimedia Commons.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Pope Benedict Calls for Christmas Truce<\/strong><\/p>\n

In an attempt to stop the fighting for Christmas that year, Pope Benedict called on the warring nations to declare a Christmas truce. Initially, Germany was reportedly agreeable to a truce \u2013 but only if the other countries agreed.<\/p>\n

\"article<\/a>
Elkhart Daily Review (Elkhart, Indiana), 11 December 1914, page 1<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Pope\u2019s Plea Denied<\/strong><\/p>\n

But not every country was in agreement about the Christmas truce, so the discussion of a lull in the fighting ended. By mid-December 1914 the American newspapers announced that an official cease fire was not to be.<\/p>\n

The following newspaper article reported:<\/p>\n

The thundering roll of heavy guns will be the Christmas chimes of Europe. It\u2019s [sic] carols will be the cries of dying men. Across the sky toward which wise men looked for the star which guided them to a manger will dart the aircraft of hostile powers \u2013 the latest man-made engine for aiding the destruction of fellow men.<\/p>\n

Thousands may die upon battlefields on this Christmas Day when the message of \u2018Peace on earth, good will to men,\u2019 is being again repeated in other parts of the world.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"article<\/a>
Trenton Evening Times (Trenton, New Jersey), 13 December 1914, page 1<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Andrew Carnegie Comments<\/strong><\/p>\n

Interestingly enough, though America was not yet engaged in World War I, there was an American industrialist who was against a Christmas-time truce. Steel magnate Andrew Carnegie weighed in with the opinion that a truce where the fighting would end momentarily and then commence after the holidays was \u201cunchristianlike and immoral.\u201d Instead he called for supporting President Woodrow Wilson in promoting and securing a permanent peace: \u201cIt is terrible that so many widows and orphans are being made because a few men wanted war.\u201d (An interesting aside is that this newspaper article ends with the comment that Carnegie walked to the White House to see the President, but the President was out golfing.)<\/p>\n

\"article<\/a>
Elkhart Daily Review (Elkhart, Indiana), 11 December 1914, page 1<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Brief Christmas 1914 Truce<\/strong><\/p>\n

While an official truce did not occur, many WWI soldiers took matters into their own hands, setting aside their weapons and reaching out to their enemies in the spirit of the season. There were in fact mini truces all along the trenches that Christmas. While some mythology surrounds the details, there is no doubt that there was an unofficial cease fire, and soldiers from opposite sides did interact peacefully in \u201cNo Man\u2019s Land\u201d for Christmas 1914. Recollections of those involved told of gift giving, singing, kicking balls around, and other friendly interactions.<\/p>\n

\"photo<\/a>
Photo: British and German troops meeting in No-Man\u2019s Land during the WWI Christmas truce of 1914. Credit: Robson Harold B.; Wikimedia Commons.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This report from a Rhode Island newspaper announces \u201cBritish and Germans Exchange Gifts During a Christmas Truce on Firing Line.\u201d The article reports:<\/p>\n

On Christmas morning two British soldiers, after signalling truce and good-fellowship from the perilous crown of their trench, walked across to the German line with a plate of mince pies and garniture and seasonable messages… and were sent back with packets of Christmas cards \u2013 quite sentimental \u2013 wreathed with mistletoe and holly, for distribution among their fellows.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"article<\/a>
Pawtucket Times (Pawtucket, Rhode Island), 31 December 1914, page 11<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Initially American newspapers reported that an unofficial truce would be declared in the trenches so that the men could eat their Christmas dinners in peace. While those in charge were providing their fighting men with some small luxuries (reportedly the French government sent their soldiers champagne), an unofficial momentary truce was about all that these soldiers could hope for.<\/p>\n

\"article<\/a>
Times-Picayune (New Orleans, Louisiana), 26 December 1914, page 6<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Unfortunately, those fighting in World War I would see not only the Christmas of 1914 come and go with no peaceful solution to the war, but they would see three more Christmases bring fighting and lives lost \u2013 for some countries, almost wiping out an entire generation.<\/p>\n

But for a brief time, that December 1914, soldiers on both sides laid down their weapons and enjoyed a little \u201cpeace on earth,\u201d if only just for a short while.<\/p>\n

\"photo<\/a>
Photo: a cross erected in Belgium in 1999 to commemorate the WWI Christmas truce of 1914. The inscription reads: \u201c1914 \u2013 The Khaki Chum\u2019s Christmas Truce \u2013 1999 \u2013 85 Years \u2013 Lest We Forget.\u201d Credit: Redvers; Wikimedia Commons.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Various stories of the Christmas truce can be found in historical newspapers and online. A dramatic narration done by Walter Cronkite accompanied by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir tells the story of the World War I Christmas truce and can be found on YouTube here: https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=tRq–pTnlog<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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