By Daisy Alvarez
In the spirit of the holiday season, it’s time for some wholesome history. Once upon a time, British soldiers, hidden behind trenches, overheard German soldiers in their own trenches, singing carols and patriotic songs. ‘What in the world?’, British troops must’ve thought. ‘Why it’s Christmas Eve!’ they realized. Peeking over, what they witnessed blew their mind; lanterns and small fig trees lined and decorated German trenches.
‘Why we want to be a part of the celebration too’,
completely disregarding the fact one small detail; they’re in the middle of a war. British men started conversing with the Germans through shouts to settle a temporary truce. The following day, Christmas day, both sides met on the middle ground between both trenches, deemed “no man’s land,” to exchange gifts, take photos, and play soccer. They also took the time to bury the dead and repair their trenches. As awesome as this sounds, not everyone was happy about the truce nor was this a common occurrence throughout battles. Some were worried it would undermine their fighting spirit and in fact, commanding officers actively tried to prevent any other truces from happening. Despite the rarity of this event, there were instances where both sides paused on the fighting to repair damaged trenches and gather the fallen. Today, we recognize this historic event as the Christmas Truce. This event will forever mark a moment of peace between two opposing sides during The Great War.
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