Christmas Truce, 1914. When World War 1 began in summer of 1914, most generals, politicians and diplomats believed the war would be over by Christmas of that year. This was not the case. The war raged on until the late summer of 1918. However, the war did end for many on the western front, for a day, on Christmas 1914. In the days leading up to the holiday, weather conditions were appalling. Thick sleet and snow turned the destroyed, battle scared land into a muddy sink trap, hundreds of miles wide. Combat was limited. As soldiers on both sides fought a new war against the cold, they began to receive presents from home from friends, family and each other. Officers received liquor and cakes from high command, grunts received chocolate, cigarettes, clothes, pictures and whatever else from home. On Christmas eve, singing came from Germans trenches, and cries wishing the enemy a merry Christmas cut through the night. The snow and sleet stopped. The ground became frozen and solid. The clouds parted. The moon lit the battlefield. Guns stopped. Men slept peacefully on both sides. The next morning, British lookouts sound an alarm. Enemies in sight. But they are unarmed, and don't appear to be coordinated. They're just walking around no man's land, or sitting on the tops of their trenches eating food, smoking, or just talking. The British send out a scout, and the Christmas truce begins. Thousands walk out unarmed into no man's land to celebrate Christmas. Some played soccer, some enjoyed a drink, some just talked, all exchanged gifts and buried the dead. This was not the case everywhere though. In one instance a British private shot one of the celebrating Germans in the head from his trench while everyone else was enjoying the truce. He was stopped by his comrades but it basically ended the truce early for those couple troops. Many British and German high commanders believed this to be treasonous and ordered the traitors killed, but there were so many, so there was really no way of doing this without destroying their own armies. The truce did end though when artillery units began to open up again. It is the only time in WW1 when mass armies saw each other as friends.
