Christmas day truce 1914

The Christmas Truce 

When some German Soldiers  and British soldiers laid down their arms in the heat of the first world war on the 25 of December 1914 to Celebrate the birth of the New born King  JESUS. 

They exchanged gifts, took photographs, played football, did common community services and singing carol's and patriotic songs together.

    Photo Credit Kevin Jairaj   

The Christmas truce on the Western front

At 2am on Christmas morning  men of the British expeditionary force (BEF) heard  German troops in the trenches opposite them played carols and patriotic songs aloud 

The British responded by singing carols of their own,.The sides continued by shouting Christmas greetings to each other ,messages  shouted between both trenches 

,behold its CHRISTMAS ! !and there was a temporary ceasefire between the German soldiers and the British troops up and down the western front in the first year of the first world war

The Christmas Truce has become one of the most famous and mythologised events of the First World War. 

But what was the significance ?                 Why did it not lead to the end of the war ? What was its legacy ?  Why did it never happen again after 1914 ?

   Statue of the Christmas truce 

   Photo credit Vision of humanity

    German and British Soldiers  Stand                   Together  On The Battle Field Near                    Ploegsteest, Belgium, During The             Christmas  Truce.  ( Photo Credit, I      mperial war  Museum) .

The following day, British and German soldiers met in no man's land and exchanged gifts, took photographs and some played impromptu games of FOOTBALL. They also buried casualties and repaired trenches and dugouts. After Boxing Day, meetings in no man's land dwindled out. 

 

    The Christmas truce when the world war        paused for Holiday. 

    Photo credit history. com

However the truce was not observed everywhere along the Western Front. Elsewhere the fighting continued and casualties did occur on Christmas Day. Some officers were unhappy at the truce and worried that it would undermine fighting spirit.

After 1914, the High Commands on both sides tried to prevent any truces on a similar scale happening again. Despite this, there were some isolated incidents of soldiers holding brief truces later in the war, and not only at Christmas.

  

Princes Mary tobacco gift box  . photo credit Army museum

The princes Mary gift box an embossed brass that contained variety of Items such as tobacco, chocolate and greeting cards giving as Christmas gift to those servings at Christmas in 1914.

But what's the significance of the Christmas truce? Why did it not lead to the end of the war? What was its legacy?   Why did it never happen again?