The True Story of the WWI Christmas Truce

The First World War had a moment of peace that was stunning, warm, and destined only to happen once. It was “the war to end all wars,” late in the evening on December 24th, 1914. No Christmas Eve ceasefire had been agreed upon, yet when British troops heard German troops singing carols and saw lanterns with small decorated trees positioned along their trenches, a spontaneous truce unfolded on its own. 

The First World War

It can be hard to appreciate how miserable trench warfare was during World War I. Soldiers were huddled in continually flooded dirt pits. Never-ending exposure to cold, wet, and dirt meant an endless barrage of frostbite and trench foot that claimed toes and feet and led to severe infections. The war had begun just six months before, and many of the 60 million soldiers had been told when they started, “It will be over by Christmas.” But this attitude was naive, as the war would continue for four more years. 

It would be the bloodiest conflict in human history up to that point. Though the war was relatively “new,” both sides were already demoralized, with significant losses. Packed together in sometimes freezing conditions, opposing soldiers were often only 30 meters (100 ft) apart. Pope Benedict XV, who had taken office that September, labeled this conflict as “the suicide of civilized Europe” and appealed to both sides for a Christmas truce, which the leaders of all nations involved roundly ignored.

Battle Fatigue

This “industrialized” warfare was still new, and there was much separation and segmentation between combat areas. This meant that different parts of the front functioned independently of each other. This independent nature meant spontaneous truces were not totally uncommon, particularly between British and German units. Small breaks in fighting were seen as early as November 1914. Sometimes, it was just a truce for clearing the dead; other times, rations would be collected and redistributed amongst malnourished soldiers on both sides. One unique aspect of 1914’s Christmas truce is how many records we have of the event through first-hand accounts, including memoirs and correspondence. 

British machine gunner Bruce Bairnsfather started the holiday shivering in the mud. Fighting in Bois de Ploegsteert, Belgium, he crouched in a meter-deep by meter-wide (3ft x 3ft) trench. Sleep deprived, perpetually damp, and in constant fear, Bairnsfather wrote, “Here I was, in this horrible clay cavity…miles and miles from home. Cold, wet through, and covered with mud. [There didn’t] seem the slightest chance of leaving – except in an ambulance.” Then, at about 10 pm, Bairnsfather noticed, “Away across the field, among the dark shadows beyond, I could hear the murmur of voices.” The Germans were singing Christmas carols and a number of the British soldiers began to sing back.

The Christmas Truce

The Germans began the night with carols and small decorated fir trees at the edge of their trenches adorned with small candles. At first, British troops fired towards the enemy, but the Germans continued singing. Eventually, the firing stopped, and the Germans called out to the English, inviting them to join. Amazingly, it wasn’t even confined to that particular battlefield: French, German, Belgian, and British troops began participating in this impromptu ceasefire across the Western Front. It’s unknown exactly how many soldiers participated in this spontaneous and unofficial holiday get-together. These ceasefires were haphazard and unauthorized, but it is believed that as many as 100,000 took part. 

On Christmas day, the enemies met in no man’s land. Gifts of pies, wine, tobacco, chocolates, newspapers, and whatever else they had on hand were exchanged. Photos were taken, many of which survive to this day. More practical matters were also tended to. British soldiers got haircuts from German barbers. Casualties were buried. Trenches and dugouts were repaired. 

Most famously, a spontaneous game of football (soccer) broke out. Some claimed the ball appeared from the British side, others the German side. Some reports say that no formal game was played, instead that it was merely a gigantic mass of weary men playing what one soldier described as a “kickabout.” Others recalled that caps and jackets were set up as goalposts and that the Germans allegedly won the match 3-2. Some accounts suggest these unofficial truces remained in effect for days, petering out after Boxing Day (December 26th).

A Fleeting Moment

This informal Christmas truce was not observed everywhere along the Western Front. British Private Percy Huggins was relaxing with the enemy when he was shot and killed by a sniper, setting off more bloodshed.

There were high command officers on both sides unhappy with the truce. They worried it might undermine the soldier’s “fighting spirit.” Leaders of both forces took steps to ensure it wouldn’t happen again. The separate commands common at the start of the war became more centralized over the next four years. WWI also became much more violent and bloody, meaning there was much less empathy to be spared as the war dragged on. In the end, at least 15 million lives would be lost in the conflict, and for the rest of the First World War, no other spontaneous Christmas truces appear to have occurred. This fleeting and special event might have passed into myth if not for the numerous photos and stories memorializing that unusual moment of peace.