Forgotten History - Friday, December 23, 2005   
       "Little known facts and overlooked history"   

Christmas Truce   
   

It was totally unexpected; troops who had been killing each   
since September, embraced and danced, sung songs and stopped   
the madness of WWI. The truce was observed by the British   
and German troops in the southern part of Ypres Salient in   
Belgium.   

German soldiers, as was their custom on Christmas, began to   
decorate Christmas trees with lit candles. The British were   
surprised and closely watched the actions of the Germans.   
Next they heard Christmas songs being sung. The Germans   
called out to the British. They called "Tommy" while the   
British replied "Fritz". The German soldiers invited the   
British over and one British soldier said:   

"We got into a conversation with the Germans who were   
anxious to arrange a truce during Christmas. A scout named   
F. Murker went out and met a German Patrol and was given   
a glass of whisky and some cigars, and a message was sent   
back saying that if we didn't fire at them they would not   
fire at us."   

-
The guns of war became silent and soon the troops met;   
letters were exchanged, and a football match occurred. They   
danced together and for a moment sanity had replaced the   
madness. Regular people had disobeyed their politicians and   
commanders. In many sectors the truce lasted until midnight,   
but in other places it went to New Year.   

The commanders, those leaders of hell, were visibly upset.   
How dare they, those commoners, replace our world of war   
with the understanding of peace? British Commander-in-Chief,   
Sir John French issued these orders:   

"I issued immediate orders to prevent any recurrence of   
such conduct, and called the commanders to strict account."   

Artists, who always understand the depravity of war, reacted   
differently. Arthur Conan Doyle said this was "one human   
episode amid all the atrocities which have strained the   
memory of war."   



It was a beautiful moment, which would never happen again.   
The war would drag on and on until the best of Europe's   
young men lay dead. We became involved with this senseless   
war several years later and our young men died needlessly   
on the battlefields of Europe.   

The brutality of war defined the 20th century as millions   
died in a further gruesome war twenty years later. The   
politicians made sure that would happen with their treaties.   
The debacle, which the world finds still finds itself in the   
Middle East, was also a product of that war. War solves no   
fundamental problem, and with the exception of World War II,   
creates no solutions. Peace on earth and goodwill to men   
should be more than just a slogan, but a way of life.   

What part of "thou shalt not kill do they not understand"   
you may ask? Now we are in a new century and god is used to   
justify more madness. Is their hope? I say yes but we have   
to look at the soldiers of Christmas who back in 1914   
offered a glimmer of hope. It is up to us.   

Sources Martin Gilbert: The History of the First World War

right, I'm an old hippie and we used to say what if they gave a war and nobody came?
was why I was suprised that this actually happened, if only for a few hours or days, I think it was supposed to happen. and I remember that the conditions were set up for a replay after WW1, so the past influences the future. cheers, alysia