In Brief: The Christmas Truce of 1914
It’s a story many of us have heard, but it’s well worth revisiting for the lessons in loving our enemies.
Sometimes, political divisions can be bitter to the point that families won’t see each other at Christmas. In light of such sad facts, a Hillsdale College senior named Aubrey Gulick thought it would be a good idea to revisit the astounding truce of 1914.
When the angels appeared to the shepherds outside Bethlehem on that night more than 2,000 years ago, they spoke of the great tidings of the incarnation and sang what has become the universal Christmas prayer of the centuries: “Peace on Earth and goodwill toward men.”
Perhaps those same Christmas angels were singing over the Western Front in 1914, when the guns fell silent.
Just five months into the war that most thought would be over by Christmas, the warring sides had realized it was going to be a long slog.
It had evolved into a stationary affair, where men shot at each other incessantly from muddy trenches and the sight of another man a mere 30 yards away was enough to open fire.
Back at home, English war posters portrayed the German enemy as an angry ape resolved to destroy innocent Englishmen, while German propaganda warned that British victory would mean an impoverished and ruined Rhineland. It was the language of total warfare; it was win or die in the minds of Europeans.
By the time Christmas came, it looked as though millions of men would spend their day knee-deep in mud, shooting at their fellow men, and fostering feelings of hate toward their faceless and nameless enemy.
She recaps numerous letters from soldiers describing how the opposing armies spent time singing, sharing cigarettes, and playing soccer together. It was so strangely unique that it may never happen again. Gulick concludes:
It was the last time a widespread truce of this magnitude would happen across the front. Another year of heavy fighting embittered both sides, and as war continued, they became unable to see the humanity of their enemies.
No one would have blamed the English night guard if he had shot the Germans who had come to his parapet at midnight on Christmas Day. But he didn’t. He was Christian enough to celebrate the coming of Christ with his enemy — even while continuing to believe in the justice of his own cause.
When we pray for divisions to cease, and for the King of Peace to reign on Earth this Christmas, let us intend for something as radically beautiful as the Christmas truce. It’s a miracle that begins with us lowering our guns long enough to see the humanity of the other side.
