Christmas truce

This December marks the centennial of the famous ceasefire along the Western Front during World War I. On Christmas Eve, 1914, along the four-hundred-mile frontline, enemy soldiers spontaneously emerged from their trenches, arms laid aside, to celebrate Christ’s birth together. They sang carols, exchanged gifts (jams and candies, cigarettes, newspapers), kicked around a soccer ball,…

It remains a part of popular culture in Britain, so why don't people in France talk about the Christmas Truce of 1914?

Credit to @all_thats_interesting : On Christmas Eve in 1914, German and British soldiers located on the Western Front agreed to a truce, suspending combat until after the holiday. Together, they sang Christmas carols, shared food and cigarettes, and played football in No Man's Land. Most importantly, it provided both sides with time to collect deceased soldiers from the field and bury them as a gesture of kindness and civility.⁠ ⁠ Read more about the Christmas Truce of World War 1

"Dearest mother, I have seen one of the most extraordinary sights..." So begins a letter from a WWI soldier in 1914 who witnessed the 2-day Christmas Truce. The letter just published confirms a Christmas Day football match 100 years ago today, between warring sides, England and Germany, as seen through the eyes of a soldier for the first time.

Christmas Truce 1914 WWI http://maaikezijm.com/2013/12/24/kerstavond-1914/

12 Days of Christmas Songs: The Quiet Universality of ‘Silent Night’ - The Atlantic

During the first Christmas Day of the First World War, something magical happened as German and British soldiers struck up a spontaneous truce in Flanders Fields.

England v Germany; The Christmas Truce, 1914

. The Christmas truce during World War I has become legendary, especially among those who long for peace, even in the midst of war. This phenomenon has most recently been portrayed cinematically in…

The Christmas Truce of 1914

Respected German historian Robin Schaefer has found and translated a trove of around two dozen contemporary truce accounts, giving an insight into the perspective of the 'enemy'.

Was it really all peaceful on the Western Front on Christmas 1914? We examine the myths behind the Christmas Truce. Discover your history.

'Dearest mother, I have seen one of the most extraordinary sights...'

This is a statue by Andy Edwards entitled “All Together Now” which for the next few days will be on display in St Luke’s, Liverpool’s famous “bombed out church”. The figures are about to shake hands standing over a football which relates to the time that British and German soldiers paused, apparently to play football on Christmas Day 1914. The hands do not quite meet which allows one to place a hand between them, joining the act of all too brief sanity on that day. The figures will leave…

Christmas 1914, during World War One was by far the strangest Christmas everyone who lived through it had ever known.