Remembering the Christmas Truce

"But now, for the first time, I see you are a man like me. I thought of your hand-grenades, of your bayonet, of your rifle; now I see your wife and your face and our fellowship. Forgive me, comrade. We always see it too late. Why do they never tell us that you are poor devils like us, that your mothers are just as anxious as ours, and that we have the same fear of death, and the same dying and the same agony--Forgive me, comrade; how could you be my enemy?"

- Erich Maria Remarque, All Quiet on the Western Front

December 1914.

After five brutal and relentless months into the Great War, casualties on both sides were mounting every day with the deadly introduction of modern weapons of destruction. December approached and heavy rain and snow settled in, the trenches and dugouts were miserable this time of the year.  It should be over by now, home by Christmas, that's what everyone thought. 

As the evening before Christmas approached the Western Front, the deafening thunderstorm of shells and cacophony of rifle cracks dimmed and slowly made way for faint glimmers of music and peace. Lanterns and trees can be seen dotting the trenches on both sides. Among other remarks being exchanged between the former enemies, Silent Night could be heard from both sides in their respective native languages. A temporary and unofficial ceasefire was declared for the next day and a simple live and let live system was devised, in essence, "you don't shoot me, I won't shoot you."

As morning broke the following day, German soldiers emerged from their trenches only about 300 yards away from the Allies. without their weapons, it was clear that they were not out for vengeance, but for peace and reflection. Allied soldiers soon joined them around no-man's-land, where they exchanged presents as well as polite greetings with each other. Photographs such as the one above were taken, as they sang songs and carols. Both sides also joined in a friendly game of football, with the Germans winning 2-1. Although for the next three years that the war lasted, there was never again a Christmas Truce. Despite so, it serves as heartening proof, that however brief, beneath the brutal clash of weapons, the soldiers' humanity endures.

Perhaps looking back on it more than 100 years later, we can raise a question regarding this temporary ceasefire. Why is it that in peacetime, friends become enemies? And why is it that in wartime, enemies become friends?