FAMOUS EVENTS ON CHRISTMAS: THE WORLD WAR I TRUCE
(Message by Tanny Keng)
1. Famous Events On Christmas
a) While Christmas is traditionally viewed as a time for family gatherings, gift giving and church services, the holiday has also coincided with some of history's most crucial events. The “most wonderful time of the year” has been interrupted by legendary battles, coronations of kings and scientific breakthroughs, and it even helped inspire one of the most famous wartime truces on record.
b) Here is one of them.
2. The World War I Truce (1914)
a) The year 1914 saw the Christmas spirit manifest itself in the most unlikely of places-a World War I battlefield. Starting on the evening of December 24, scores of German, British and French troops in Belgium laid down their arms and initiated a spontaneous holiday ceasefire. The truce was reportedly instigated by the Germans, who decorated their trenches with Christmas trees and candles and began singing carols like “Silent Night.” British troops responded with their own rendition of “The First Noel,” and the weary combatants eventually ventured into “no man’s land” — the treacherous, bombed-out space that separated the trenches—to greet one another and shake hands.
b) According to accounts from the men involved, the soldiers shared cigarettes and pulls of whiskey, and some exchanged Christmas presents with men they had been shooting at only hours before. Taking advantage of the brief lull in combat, some Scottish, English and German troops even played a pick-up game of soccer on the frozen battlefield. The truce was not sanctioned by the officers on either side, and eventually the men were called back to their respective trenches to resume fighting. Later attempts at holiday meetings were mostly forbidden, but as the war dragged on the “Christmas Truce” would stand as a remarkable example of shared humanity and brotherhood on the battlefield.
The End ...
1. Famous Events On Christmas a) While Christmas is traditionally viewed as a time for family gatherings, gift giving and church services, the holiday has also coincided with some of history's most crucial events. The “most wonderful time of the year” has been interrupted by legendary battles, coronations of kings and scientific breakthroughs, and it even helped inspire one of the most famous wartime truces on record.
b) Here is one of them.
2. The World War I Truce (1914)
a) The year 1914 saw the Christmas spirit manifest itself in the most unlikely of places-a World War I battlefield. Starting on the evening of December 24, scores of German, British and French troops in Belgium laid down their arms and initiated a spontaneous holiday ceasefire. The truce was reportedly instigated by the Germans, who decorated their trenches with Christmas trees and candles and began singing carols like “Silent Night.” British troops responded with their own rendition of “The First Noel,” and the weary combatants eventually ventured into “no man’s land” — the treacherous, bombed-out space that separated the trenches—to greet one another and shake hands.
b) According to accounts from the men involved, the soldiers shared cigarettes and pulls of whiskey, and some exchanged Christmas presents with men they had been shooting at only hours before. Taking advantage of the brief lull in combat, some Scottish, English and German troops even played a pick-up game of soccer on the frozen battlefield. The truce was not sanctioned by the officers on either side, and eventually the men were called back to their respective trenches to resume fighting. Later attempts at holiday meetings were mostly forbidden, but as the war dragged on the “Christmas Truce” would stand as a remarkable example of shared humanity and brotherhood on the battlefield.
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