Jacob Poller Week 4- The Christmas Truce

 I don’t often find myself being an emotional person. It’s just who I am. But recently I found myself going down a rabbit hole that almost brought a tear to my eye. I was reading an article about the Christmas Truce of 1914. What happened was, on the evening of December 24th, 1914, German forces on the western front began putting up candles and trees on the trench parapet. The two armies then began singing carols. They originally began to sing in competition with one another, but their songs eventually came together in the carol Silent Night. Soon thereafter, officers began to leave the trenches to discuss the possibility of a truce. After an agreement was struck, soldiers began to walk into no man’s land to gather and bury their dead and rest. Christmas Eve services were held on both sides, and soldiers would often attend the other’s services. On Christmas day there are reports of gifts such as chocolate, beer, cigarettes, and even clothes being given. As well there were soldiers eating and drinking together. And a few began to play soccer with an old ball found in no man’s land. A British officer had written how strange it was to see the Germans as men and not the animals he was led to believe. But even this small ray of light was eventually covered as the fighting was needed to resume. Soldiers began to walk back to walk to their trenches and as soon as all ranks were accounted for a gun was shot off in the air to signal the start of the fighting.

    After this, these soldiers would most likely never see a truce like this again. In 1915 German forces had begun to use mustard gas making it next to impossible. As well, British generals wished this not to happen again, and so whenever Christmas came around, they would order nonstop shelling of the frontline.