German and British soldiers meet in no man's land during the unofficial 1914

Christmas truce.

World War I was one of the most brutal and horrific in history. Between when the war began in the

summer of 1914 and when it finally came to an end in 1918, the total number of civilian and military

casualties was over 37 million. Industrial advancements allowed for new forms of weaponry that lead

to untold devastation on Europe’s battlefields which became known as “No Man’s Land”. However,

5 months into the war a most unusual and heartwarming event unfolded on the night of Christmas

Eve in the middle of one of those shell-blasted wastelands.

The beginning of the war saw the German army push through Belgium and into France. As they advanced toward Paris,

the French capital, they were met by Allied French and British forces along the Marne River in September, 1914. The

combined Allied armies managed to turn back the Germans at what became known as the “Miracle of the Marne” but

fighting soon turned into a stalemate, setting the stage for four years of trench warfare along the Western Front.

Over the next few months, both

sides dug into 6-8 foot deep fortified

trenches that stretched on for miles.

Neither side was willing to give

ground and attempts by both to “go

over the top” and advance were ended

quickly in waves of machine-gun fire

and heavy shelling.

By late December, both sides had

been living in cold, mud-filled

trenches for months. A sudden, hard

frost, however, left a dusting of ice

and snow across the front. Both sides

were close enough to hear their

enemies’ shouts or smell their cooked

breakfast wafting through the barbed-

wire fencing. So it was on the night of

Christmas Eve when some German

soldiers began to sing “Silent Night,”

the British responded with a chorus of

“The First Noel”. When British and

French troops peered over top, they saw candle-light flickering off small Christmas trees German soldiers placed atop their

trenches. There were shouts back-and-forth of a Christmas truce and from the Germans in fractured English, “You no fight,

we no fight!”

At dawn’s first light on Christmas Day, some German soldiers slowly emerged from their trenches and approached the

Allied line across no-man’s-land, calling out “Merry Christmas”. Nervously and with their fingers on their rifle-triggers,

some brave English soldiers came out as well to shake hands and exchange food and holiday greetings. The spontaneous

truce allowed some soldiers to finally bury the dead, who had been left unreachable in the battlefield. Others exchanged

gifts of chocolate, tobacco, and cognac. In a few places, soldiers dropped their rifles and began an impromptu game of

soccer in between shell-craters and barbed-wire.

The truce didn’t last forever, of course. Generals didn’t like it and commanded their troops to return to the trenches or

fire on the enemy. However, most soldiers would only fire into the air. The next year, a few units again arranged Christmas

ceasefires with their opponents, but the truces were not nearly as widespread as in 1914. Strongly worded orders from the

high commands of both sides prohibited any fraternization with the enemy.

However, for those few precious moments on December 25, 1914, there was peace on Earth and good will towards men

in places that had only recently seen death and devastation. It moved the Wall Street Journal to report: “What appears from

the winter fog and misery is a Christmas story, a fine Christmas story that is, in truth, the most faded and tattered of

adjectives: inspiring.”

Source: Image courtesy and content adapted from Wikimedia Commons

Name __________________________________

Directions: After reading the story, answer the following questions in complete sentences.

1. What do you think inspired the soldiers to declare a truce?

2. What made a truce so unlikely in December, 1914?

3. For the most part, only British and German troops took part in the truce. Why do you think French soldiers were

more reluctant to participate?

4. Why do you think higher-rank generals disapproved of the truce?

5. Do you envision a similar truce taking place in any wars or fighting taking place today? Explain why or why not.

6. Today, much of what we know about the truce comes from soldiers postcards home. In the space below design your

own postcard and then write a short message home, imagining that you took part in the 1914 Christmas truce.

Post Card

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Place Stamp here

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A Common Core-aligned reading and worksheet for the holidays!

Additional Ideas: A great song to play along with this lesson is Garth Brooks’

“Belleau Wood” which tells the story of this truce. A great article about the last

survivor of the truce telling history in 2004 can be found here: http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2004/dec/19/christmas.lornamartin

Name ____Answer Key_____

Directions: After reading the story, answer the following questions in complete sentences.

1. What do you think inspired the soldiers to declare a truce?

The long, monotonous days of sitting in a trench waiting for the enemy to attack left a lot of time to think.

Also, being so close to the enemy allowed them to talk to each other and offer the possibility of a truce.

2. What made a truce so unlikely in December, 1914?

A truce was unlikely because the fighting was so vicious on both sides. The war was seeing higher death totals

than either side imagined.

3. For the most part, only British and German troops took part in the truce. Why do you think French soldiers were

more reluctant to participate?

There are far fewer reports of French participation. This is most likely because the Germans were occupying

parts of France and thus the French soldiers were particularly hostile to them. There was also a long-

standing feud between France and Germany since the Franco-Prussian War in the 1870’s.

4. Why do you think higher-rank generals disapproved of the truce?

High ranking generals most likely disapproved of the truce because they saw it as an opportunity to take

advantage of the enemy. Most were also under intense pressure for a victory due to the long stalemate that

the war had fallen into.

5. What do you think you would have done if you were in a trench? Would you participate? Explain.

Open to many possible student opinions. Most will likely reference current wars between Christian and non-

Christian groups as a reason why this sort of truce would be unlikely.

6. Today, much of what we know about the truce comes from soldiers postcards home. In the space below design your

own postcard and then write a short message home, imagining that you took part in the 1914 Christmas truce.

Post Card

© Students of History - http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Students-Of-History/

Place Stamp here Students should write a

brief account that

references things they

read about in the article

and their knowledge of

World War I.