A Deconstruction of Sabbaton's Christmas Truce
The War That Never Ends
Most wars in Humans history were fought for a few months, and then everyone went home. Even conquering empires would normally have campaigns that last a few months, and then they would consolidate. Because if you do not consolidate, you can lose everything you gained, really easily.
And one thing every - single - army did, other than the Mongols, was avoid fighting in winter. Fighting in winter was a disaster, as Operation Barbarossa proved, once again.
This is one of the reasons why WWI was called the Great War, not just because of it's size, but persistence.
December 1914 is when everyone realized what kind of war they were fighting. This was not a war they had fought before. This was not a war when the soldiers would be back by Christmas. The general staff on all sides had to completely rethink the war. They had to think in terms of years, and not days, or even months, but YEARS.
Silence (meaning I)
One thing most civilians do not understand is that most of war is not fighting. About 0.1% of war is fighting, 90% is waiting around. The rest is logistics.
It doesn't matter how many soldiers you have, it doesn't matter how many soldiers you have in theatre, it doesn't matter how many soldiers you have in the corps, it depends on how many soldiers you have on the battlefield.
You want soldiers, in place, before they are needed.
When you are fighting, you are engaged. Every part of you is dedicated to keeping you alive. When you are waiting, you have to fight complacency, you have to not jump at every sound, and every rustling of the bushes. It is wearying.
Christmas happened during a lull in battle.
Silence (meaning II)
The start, or most famous story, about the Christmas Truce is that the Germans started singing Silent Night.
Silent Night was originally written in German, but quickly translated to English, and quickly became a Christmas staple. The music is the same between both versions. The Germans were singing, and the English joined in. Both sides of the greatest war in Human history singing the same song on Christmas.
