You've probably heard the story of The Christmas Truce during WW1, but just in case, here it is. My notes on it underneath...
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Truce of 1914 came only five months after the outbreak of war in Europe and was one of the last examples of the outdated notion of chivalry between enemies in warfare.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.
This story pisses me off. It was on the radio a couple of days ago, and for the first time, I realized just how much I hate it. It's supposed to be such a touching story of how humanity comes through, despite war.
But then you get to the end of the story. And they all go back to normal. Do you know what normal was?
Normal was sitting in the trenches, getting frostbite and pneumonia. Normal was being terrified every moment that a shell would land in the trench and blow them to kingdom come. Normal was killing the guys they'd just played soccer with, and exchanged presents with.
And why? Because the two governments them you to.
Yes, this story does show how kindness and humanity survives despite everything.
But so does killing. And following orders even if they don't make sense.
What would have happened if both armies up and refused to fight? What if people all over the world stopped killing people for no other reason than that their government told them to do it? It isn't about rebelling against the government. It's about doing right no matter what you're told to do.
It says toward the end of the article that future attempts at holiday ceasefires were "quashed by officers' threats of disciplinary action". Why? I'm sure it was great for morale. This article says that soldiers continued to try to interact with soldiers on the other side throughout the whole war. They didn't want it to be only a one-time thing. Did those in authority worry that the soldiers would suddenly realize that the other side was not really that different, and that Germans weren't the monsters that the Allied governments wanted everyone to believe (and I'm sure vice versa...)?
It's sad how willing we are to do what we know is wrong simply because a few people say it's what needs to be done.
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.
This story pisses me off. It was on the radio a couple of days ago, and for the first time, I realized just how much I hate it. It's supposed to be such a touching story of how humanity comes through, despite war.
But then you get to the end of the story. And they all go back to normal. Do you know what normal was?
Normal was sitting in the trenches, getting frostbite and pneumonia. Normal was being terrified every moment that a shell would land in the trench and blow them to kingdom come. Normal was killing the guys they'd just played soccer with, and exchanged presents with.
And why? Because the two governments them you to.
Yes, this story does show how kindness and humanity survives despite everything.
But so does killing. And following orders even if they don't make sense.
What would have happened if both armies up and refused to fight? What if people all over the world stopped killing people for no other reason than that their government told them to do it? It isn't about rebelling against the government. It's about doing right no matter what you're told to do.
It says toward the end of the article that future attempts at holiday ceasefires were "quashed by officers' threats of disciplinary action". Why? I'm sure it was great for morale. This article says that soldiers continued to try to interact with soldiers on the other side throughout the whole war. They didn't want it to be only a one-time thing. Did those in authority worry that the soldiers would suddenly realize that the other side was not really that different, and that Germans weren't the monsters that the Allied governments wanted everyone to believe (and I'm sure vice versa...)?
It's sad how willing we are to do what we know is wrong simply because a few people say it's what needs to be done.
