10 Amazing Details Surrounding The 1914 Christmas Truce Of WWI

6 /10 Size Of The Truce

How many men were involved in the truce and how widespread it was are unknown.

However, there are accounts of fighting still occurring through the Christmas season in some locations, and men meeting each other to the sound of gunfire nearby.

Many of the men involved in the Christmas Truce are thought to be Saxon troops, who were easy-going and would likely have approached the British first.

The truce is believed to have taken place at least 2/3 of the British-held trenches along with southern Belgium.

5 /10 German And British Truce Only

The Christmas Truce was held only between the British and German troops on the Western Front.

On the Eastern Front, Russian troops followed the old Julian calendar in 1914, so Christmas was not until January 7th.

The French were also more sensitive to their allies, as the Germans occupied over a third of France and ruled over the citizens with an iron fist.

4 /10 German's Olive Branch

In the British-held trench lines, they noticed the Germans had placed small Christmas trees along the front of their trenches at dawn.

Men from both sides slowly headed towards no man’s land, venturing around the barbed wire that separated them. At one point, hundreds of men were soon out there shaking hands and getting along.

3 /10 Issues With Communication

Communication was also tricky between the soldiers as British troops who spoke German were hard to come by.

The saving grace ended up being German soldiers who had worked in Britain before the war, frequently in restaurants.

The men who communicate even became friends, exchanging gifts and reminiscing about their lives and jobs before the war.

2 /10 Sharing Common Interests

Football was played professionally in Britain for a quarter of a century by 1914 and since the 1890s in Germany. While few men could share memories of London, one common denominator was the love of “football” and soccer.

Due to this love, British and German soldiers soon kicked about a ball, with a match even occurring. The Germans claimed to win this match 3-2.

There is also evidence of soccer-playing played on Christmas Day, primarily with men of the same nationality and between the two sides in at least 3 or 4 locations.

1 /10 End Of The Truce And Resuming Of Fighting

The truce ended as men returned to their trenches by dusk. The men were summoned back by flares in some cases, but some had lasting peace through midnight. Singing and present exchanging occurred in more than one location.

Fighting began the next day again, but some regions had vacation through the New Year. Mutual respect was seen between the enemies, with sides bowing and saluting to one another more than once across the trenches.

While there was no further truce until the armistice in November 1918, the Christmas Truce had a lasting impact on the thousands of men who celebrated, though not all of them survived the war.

Additionally, both sides took action to prevent the truce from happening again.