By Aaron Shepard <AS@AARONSHEP.COM>
Copyright (c) 2001, 2003 by Aaron Shepard. May be freely copied and
shared for any noncommercial purpose, but please do not omit any text,
including this notice.
ABOUT THE STORY: The Christmas Truce of 1914 is one of the most
remarkable incidents of World War I and perhaps of all military
history. Starting in some places on Christmas Eve and in others on
Christmas Day, the truce covered as much as two- thirds of the
British-German front, with thousands of soldiers taking part. Perhaps
most remarkably, it grew out of no single initiative but sprang up in
each place spontaneously and independently.
Nearly everything described here is drawn from first-hand accounts in
letters and diaries of the time. Britishisms include using "Nowell"
instead of "Noel," and "football" instead of "soccer." Visit my home
page at http://www.aaronshep.com to learn more about the story, get a
copy in Web format, find a reader's theater script version, read more
stories, or contact the author.
-- Aaron
_________________________________________________
Christmas Day, 1914
My dear sister Janet,
It is 2:00 in the morning and most of our men are asleep in their
dugouts -- yet I could not sleep myself before writing to you of the
wonderful events of Christmas Eve. In truth, what happened seems
almost like a fairy tale, and if I hadn't been through it myself, I
would scarce believe it. Just imagine: While you and the family sang
carols before the fire there in London, I did the same with enemy
soldiers here on the battlefields of France!
As I wrote before, there has been little serious fighting of late. The
first battles of the war left so many dead that both sides have held
back until replacements could come from home. So we have mostly stayed
in our trenches and waited.
But what a terrible waiting it has been! Knowing that any moment an
artillery shell might land and explode beside us in the trench,
killing or maiming several men. And in daylight not daring to lift our
heads above ground, for fear of a sniper's bullet.
And the rain -- it has fallen almost daily. Of course, it collects
right in our trenches, where we must bail it out with pots and pans.
And with the rain has come mud -- a good foot or more deep. It
splatters and cakes everything, and constantly sucks at our boots. One
new recruit got his feet stuck in it, and then his hands too when he
tried to get out -- just like in that American story of the tar baby!
Through all this, we couldn't help feeling curious about the German
soldiers across the way. After all, they faced the same dangers we
did, and slogged about in the same muck. What's more, their first
trench was only 50 yards from ours. Between us lay No Man's Land,
bordered on both sides by barbed wire -- yet they were close enough we
sometimes heard their voices.
Of course, we hated them when they killed our friends. But other
times, we joked about them and almost felt we had something in common.
And now it seems they felt the same.
Just yesterday morning -- Christmas Eve Day -- we had our first good
freeze. Cold as we were, we welcomed it, because at least the mud
froze solid. Everything was tinged white with frost, while a bright
sun shone over all. Perfect Christmas weather.
During the day, there was little shelling or rifle fire from either
side. And as darkness fell on our Christmas Eve, the shooting stopped
entirely. Our first complete silence in months! We hoped it might
promise a peaceful holiday, but we didn't count on it. We'd been told
the Germans might attack and try to catch us off guard.
I went to the dugout to rest, and lying on my cot, I must have drifted
asleep. All at once my friend John was shaking me awake, saying, "Come
and see! See what the Germans are doing!" I grabbed my rifle, stumbled
out into the trench, and stuck my head cautiously above the sandbags.
I never hope to see a stranger and more lovely sight. Clusters of tiny
lights were shining all along the German line, left and right as far
as the eye could see.
"What is it?" I asked in bewilderment, and John answered, "Christmas
trees!"
And so it was. The Germans had placed Christmas trees in front of
their trenches, lit by candle or lantern like beacons of good will.
And then we heard their voices raised in song.
"Stille nacht, heilige nacht...."
This carol may not yet be familiar to us in Britain, but John knew it
and translated: "Silent night, holy night." I've never heard one
lovelier -- or more meaningful, in that quiet, clear night, its dark
softened by a first-quarter moon.
When the song finished, the men in our trenches applauded. Yes,
British soldiers applauding Germans! Then one of our own men started
singing, and we all joined in.
"The first Nowell, the angel did say...."
In truth, we sounded not nearly as good as the Germans, with their
fine harmonies. But they responded with enthusiastic applause of their
own and then began another.
"O Tannenbaum, o Tannenbaum...."
Then we replied.
"O come all ye faithful...."
But this time they joined in, singing the same words in Latin.
"Adeste fideles...."
British and German harmonizing across No Man's Land! I would have
thought nothing could be more amazing -- but what came next was more
so.
"English, come over!" we heard one of them shout. "You no shoot, we no
shoot."
There in the trenches, we looked at each other in bewilderment. Then
one of us shouted jokingly, "You come over here."
To our astonishment, we saw two figures rise from the trench, climb
over their barbed wire, and advance unprotected across No Man's Land.
One of them called, "Send officer to talk."
I saw one of our men lift his rifle to the ready, and no doubt others
did the same -- but our captain called out, "Hold your fire." Then he
climbed out and went to meet the Germans halfway. We heard them
talking, and a few minutes later, the captain came back with a German
cigar in his mouth!
"We've agreed there will be no shooting before midnight tomorrow," he
announced. "But sentries are to remain on duty, and the rest of you,
stay alert."
Across the way, we could make out groups of two or three men starting
out of trenches and coming toward us. Then some of us were climbing
out too, and in minutes more, there we were in No Man's Land, over a
hundred soldiers and officers of each side, shaking hands with men
we'd been trying to kill just hours earlier!
Before long a bonfire was built, and around it we mingled -- British
khaki and German grey. I must say, the Germans were the better
dressed, with fresh uniforms for the holiday.
Only a couple of our men knew German, but more of the Germans knew
English. I asked one of them why that was.
"Because many have worked in England!" he said. "Before all this, I
was a waiter at the Hotel Cecil. Perhaps I waited on your table!"
"Perhaps you did!" I said, laughing.
He told me he had a girlfriend in London and that the war had
interrupted their plans for marriage. I told him, "Don't worry. We'll
have you beat by Easter, then you can come back and marry the girl."
He laughed at that. Then he asked if I'd send her a postcard he'd give
me later, and I promised I would.
Another German had been a porter at Victoria Station. He showed me a
picture of his family back in Munich. His eldest sister was so lovely,
I said I should like to meet her someday. He beamed and said he would
like that very much and gave me his family's address.
Even those who could not converse could still exchange gifts -- our
cigarettes for their cigars, our tea for their coffee, our corned beef
for their sausage. Badges and buttons from uniforms changed owners,
and one of our lads walked off with the infamous spiked helmet! I
myself traded a jackknife for a leather equipment belt -- a fine
souvenir to show when I get home.
Newspapers too changed hands, and the Germans howled with laughter at
ours. They assured us that France was finished and Russia nearly
beaten too. We told them that was nonsense, and one of them said,
"Well, you believe your newspapers and we'll believe ours."
Clearly they are lied to -- yet after meeting these men, I wonder how
truthful our own newspapers have been. These are not the "savage
barbarians" we've read so much about. They are men with homes and
families, hopes and fears, principles and, yes, love of country. In
other words, men like ourselves. Why are we led to believe otherwise?
As it grew late, a few more songs were traded around the fire, and
then all joined in for -- I am not lying to you -- "Auld Lang Syne."
Then we parted with promises to meet again tomorrow, and even some
talk of a football match.
I was just starting back to the trenches when an older German clutched
my arm. "My God," he said, "why cannot we have peace and all go home?"
I told him gently, "That you must ask your emperor."
He looked at me then, searchingly. "Perhaps, my friend. But also we
must ask our hearts."
And so, dear sister, tell me, has there ever been such a Christmas Eve
in all history? And what does it all mean, this impossible befriending
of enemies?
For the fighting here, of course, it means regrettably little. Decent
fellows those soldiers may be, but they follow orders and we do the
same. Besides, we are here to stop their army and send it home, and
never could we shirk that duty.
Still, one cannot help imagine what would happen if the spirit shown
here were caught by the nations of the world. Of course, disputes must
always arise. But what if our leaders were to offer well wishes in
place of warnings? Songs in place of slurs? Presents in place of
reprisals? Would not all war end at once?
All nations say they want peace. Yet on this Christmas morning, I
wonder if we want it quite enough.
Your loving brother,
Tom
***
Informed Comment - Jan 14, 2007
http://www.juancole.com/
"Sleeping through the Revolution":
Martin Luther King on the Evils of War
by Juan Cole
Here are some excerpts on war from Martin Luther King, Jr., "Remaining
Awake Through A Great Revolution. [Quotes from King are indented in single
quotes. Other comments are Cole's - NYTransfer]
'I want to say one other challenge that we face is simply that we must
find an alternative to war and bloodshed. Anyone who feels, and there
are still a lot of people who feel that way, that war can solve the
social problems facing mankind is sleeping through a great revolution. '
Dr. King was not saying that war cannot solve military problems, you will
note. He was saying that it cannot solve social problems. He would have
scoffed at the Neoconservative idea that you can spread democracy by war or
can improve peoples' economy by war. He thought that the mid twentieth
century was witnessing a revolution in human affairs that made war
increasingly unacceptable. He probably had in mind nuclear weapons, the use
of which normal people consider too horrible to contemplate. He may also
have been thinking of Gandhi's attempt to use non-violent non-cooperation
in India to expel the British without resorting to guerrilla war.
President Kennedy said on one occasion, "Mankind must put an end to war
or war will put an end to mankind." The world must hear this. I pray to
God that America will hear this before it is too late, because today
we're fighting a war. I am convinced that it is one of the most unjust
wars that has ever been fought in the history of the world. Our
involvement in the war in Vietnam has torn up the Geneva Accord. '
Dr. King recognized that all wars involve the commission of war crimes.
Just as no battle plan survives contact with the enemy, no commitment to
principles like the Geneva Conventions survives actual warfare in populated
areas. The only way to stop war crimes, he is implying, is to stop war.
' It has strengthened the military-industrial complex; it has
strengthened the forces of reaction in our nation. '
The United States is a peculiarly war-like country. In the last a little
over a century it has sent troops into other countries 100 times. That is
once a year! It is also the industrialized democracy with the greatest gap
between the wealthy and the poor, where enormous corporations that make
money off war have disproportionate influence on government through
lobbying and campaign donations and graft. Is there a connection between
these two statements? Dr. King seems to have thought so.
' It has put us against the self-determination of a vast majority of the
Vietnamese people, and put us in the position of protecting a corrupt
regime that is stacked against the poor. It has played havoc with our
domestic destinies. This day we are spending five hundred thousand
dollars to kill every Vietcong soldier. Every time we kill one we spend
about five hundred thousand dollars while we spend only fifty-three
dollars a year for every person characterized as poverty-stricken in the
so-called poverty program, which is not even a good skirmish against
poverty. '
As the destruction of New Orleans and the failure of the Bush
administration to rebuild it while spending $2 billion a week on the war in
Iraq demonstrate, some things never change.
And here is the rest of the passage I have excerpted. Try substituting
"Iraq" for "Vietnam":
' Not only that, it has put us in a position of appearing to the world
as an arrogant nation. And here we are ten thousand miles away from home
fighting for the so-called freedom of the Vietnamese people when we have
not even put our own house in order. And we force young black men and
young white men to fight and kill in brutal solidarity. Yet when they
come back home that can't hardly live on the same block together. The
judgment of God is upon us today. And we could go right down the line
and see that something must be done--and something must be done quickly.
We have alienated ourselves from other nations so we end up morally and
politically isolated in the world. There is not a single major ally of
the United States of America that would dare send a troop to Vietnam,
and so the only friends that we have now are a few client-nations like
Taiwan, Thailand, South Korea, and a few others.
' This is where we are. "Mankind must put an end to war or war will put an
end to mankind," and the best way to start is to put an end to war in
Vietnam, because if it continues, we will inevitably come to the point
of confronting China which could lead the whole world to nuclear
annihilation.
' It is no longer a choice, my friends, between violence and nonviolence.
It is either nonviolence or nonexistence. And the alternative to
disarmament, the alternative to a greater suspension of nuclear tests,
the alternative to strengthening the United Nations and thereby
disarming the whole world, may well be a civilization plunged into the
abyss of annihilation, and our earthly habitat would be transformed into
an inferno that even the mind of Dante could not imagine. '
While we are busy chasing through the deserts of western Iraq after Sunni
Arab Iraqis who don't want us in their country, the important challenges
facing the world are going unadressed. In particular, global warming will
require substantial resources, which we won't have if we borrow $400
billion a year to pay for an Iraq War that seems to mainly produce burned
out cars. The Inferno of which Dr. King warned might indeed be hotter than
Dante could have imagined.
There are so many revolutions through which we are sleeping.
posted by Juan @ 1/15/2007 06:34:00 AM 0 comments
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