What was special about the Christmas Truce of 1914?
On Christmas of 1914 on the Western Front, particularly the British sector, the shooting stopped. In places soldiers even emerged from the trenches to bury their dead; trade souvenirs; sometimes sing Christmas Carols; and, it is rumored, play soccer. This was dangerous business: some were killed by fire from other parts of the line. Where this happened, the informal “truce” often held for several weeks, until soldiers on one side or the other were rotated out of the line, then the war resumed, although neither side was prepared to undertake a serious offensive in January of 1915. The Christmas Truce of 1914 is often viewed as miraculous-a day when soldiers on both sides said no to war, as though the people of belligerent nations had discovered each others humanity and were one step away from going home. In fact, what is more notable about the Christmas Truce was that it took place in less than half of the line, was much more rare in 1915, and nonexistent in following years. In the cent
