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Christmas Truce In 1914 Essay

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The Christmas Truce of 1914 The Christmas of Truce of 1914 was an event that took place during World War 1, when German and British troops celebrated Christmas together. On this day thousands of British, Belgian, and French soldiers put down their rifles, stepped out of their trenches and spent Christmas mingling with German enemies along the Western front. This moment in history has been seen as a kind of miracle, a rare moment of peace just a few months into war. Pope Benedict had originally called for a “Christmas Truce,” an idea that was officially rejected, but trenches was enough to motivate the troops to initiate the true. About 100,000 people are believed to have participated in the legendary truce. The truce was believed to …show more content…

In many places firing continued and in at least two of the attempted Truces soldiers were shot by opposing forces and of course it was only a truce, not peace. Hostilities returned in some places later that day and in others not until after New Year’s Day. As the War resumed, it wreaked such destruction and devastation that some soldiers became hardened to the brutality of the war. While there were occasional moments of peace throughout the rest of World War 1, they never again came on the scale of the Christmas Truce in 1914. The story of the Christmas Truce was not an example of chivalry in the depths of war but rather a tale of subversion. Enemy troops were so close that they could hear each other voices and even smell their cooking. The General Sir Horace Smith-Dorrien believed this proximity posed “the greatest danger” to the soldiers and told the Divisional Commanders to prohibit any friendly intercourse with the enemy. Still a century later the truce has been remembered as a testament to the power of hope and humanity in a truly dark hour of history. And though the Christmas Truce may have been a one-off in the conflict, the fact that it remains so widely commemorated speaks to the fact that at its heart it symbolizes a very human desire for peace, no matter what the circumstances

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