THROUGH
MOUNTAIN MISTS
Early Settlers of
Their
Descendants...Their Stories...Their Achievements
Lifting the
Mists of History on Their Way of Life
By: Ethelene Dyer Jones
The Christmas
Truce of 1914
On Christmas Day soccer games
were
organized and enemy soldiers laughed and sported as they engaged in the
games. I heard the story of how
enemies
during the Great War, which we call World War I, the “war to end all
wars,” had
a truce on Christmas Day, 1914.
It had been five months since
the war began
in
Were the signs a ruse to ensnare
the allies
in yet another German trap? The weather was cold. In the trenches both
allied
soldiers and the German troops experienced all the dread of war.
Christmas
season seemed to maximize their loneliness, deprivation, separation
from
families, the bitter cold and discomfort of a severe winter, the fear
of war
with its mortar shells, and, even worse, face-to-face confrontation
with the
enemy bringing mortal wounds at any time with bayonet or gunfire. Add
to that
the monotony of field rations as visions of sugarplums and the
Christmas feasts
they had enjoyed back home came to mind again and again.
“You no fight, we no fight!”?
Daresome,
indeed. Had the allied forces the courage to venture forth to see if
the
Germans actually meant to declare a truce or if it was a dirty war
trick to get
the allied forces into a position for good aim.
Some from warring factions met,
bayonets at
rest. They shook hands, and shared gifts they had received in care
packages
from home, miraculously delivered by Christmas Eve.
Throughout the German
battlefield, the
strains of “Silent Night” sounded with lyrics in the language of the
soldiers.
The tune was familiar, having been used throughout most of the churches
in
In language native to soldiers
on every
side, the words were raised to the stars that twinkled in the cold
December sky
as the chorus of the music echoed along the trenches. It was a “Stille
Nacht,”
a night of wonder when enemies celebrated the birth of the Prince of
Peace.
Guns were silent. The men slept more peacefully in their trenches that
Christmas Eve night, drawing their field blankets about them in an
effort to
find some creature comfort from the biting cold.
On Christmas Day soccer games
were
organized and enemy soldiers laughed and sported as they engaged in the
games.
Officers on both sides could
hardly contain
their consternation. They had not ordered cessation of hostilities. The
soldiers had managed it on their own. One French general, still
suspecting the
move to be a trap set by the Germans, ordered explosives laid just in
case it
was a trick. Another fear of the allied officers was that such action
on the
part of enemy troops would damper plans to defeat the enemy. After all,
what
soldiers would want to fight and kill those with whom they had enjoyed
Christmas?
After that unique Christmas
truce in 1914,
hostilities continued for almost four years with
A historical commentator has
written of
that Great War, “the war to end all wars”:
“It was more than a war between
nations. It
was a war between what was and what was to be. The ‘old world’ was
dying, and
the new world had yet to be born. People of all classes and nations saw
it as a
great cleansing fire that would accelerate this battle and lead to a
better
world. But, when it was over, more than men had died in the mud of the
battlefields. The naive dream of progress, along with the innocence of
the
pre-war world, faith in God, and hope in the future all died in the
trenches of
During a time of truce on a
German
battlefield at Christmas time, 1914, the strains of “Silent Night”
lifted
through the cold of wintertime to become a sacred moment of shared
beliefs and
mutual yearnings for peace on earth among men of good will.
[Note:
The news of this event was published on January 9, 1915 in The
Illustrated London News under the headline “Saxons and
Anglo-Saxons Fraternize on Battlefield.” The article had pictures of
smiling
soldiers from both sides engaged in greetings and friendly games.]
c2005 by
Ethelene Dyer
Jones; published Dec. 8, 2005 in The Union Sentinel, Blairsville,
GA.
Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
[Ethelene Dyer
Jones is a retired educator,
freelance writer, poet, and historian. She may be reached at
e-mail edj0513@windstream.net;
phone 478-453-8751; or mail 1708 Cedarwood Road, Milledgeville, GA
31061-2411.]
Updated August 6,
2009
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