The year 1914 is etched in world history as one of the darkest years ever as it marked the start of 1st World War. The war was fought between the Central Powers Germany – Austria-Hungary, Italy and the Ottoman Empire on one side and the Allied powers comprising Russia, Britain and France on the other. In the month of December 1914, the war entered into a new phase: an extended siege fought along static trenches stretching along a 750 km (466 mile) front in Belgium and France. Soldiers killed each other ruthlessly, their humanity long abandoned. However, that Christmas brought an unanticipated change, a story to warm hearts for generations to come.
On Christmas eve Allied troops fighting in Belgium and France started to hear voices coming from across no-man’s land; German soldiers were singing Christmas carols like “Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht” (“Silent Night, Holy Night”). Allied troops applauded and cheered, shouting out for more. Soldiers on both sides began to sing in unison, trading verses in alternating languages. At certain points the Allied soldiers even heard brass bands joining the Germans in their joyous singing.
At midnight, voices were heard from across trenches shouting “We No Shoot”. The spirit of Christmas had captured the souls of every soldier and both sides agreed to cease fire on the day of Christmas. Slowly, the soldiers started to come out from their trenches and exchange gifts and greetings. The highlight of this truce was a football match played between the Germans and the Allies. The troops celebrated that Christmas together, an unfortunately isolated and short respite in a war raging furious and unabated. The fraternization resulted in the higher authorities ordering court martials for those who were friendly with the enemy as they feared that camaraderie between opposing sides would result in the soldiers boycotting the war.
That Christmas truce showed people rays of sunlight in the thunderstorm of war, and gave them the hope that beneath the brutal clash of weapons, the soldiers’ essential humanity endured.
