E. Scott Cracraft - The Christmas Tree

This year is the 100th anniversary of the beginning of the First World War. By December, 1914, long before the U.S. became involved in WWI, the "War to End All Wars" and the "War to Make the World Safe for Democracy" had become a ghastly bloodbath as well as a stalemate.

The war had only started that previous August and everyone was expecting a very short war and was sure that all the troops would be home by Christmas. Little did these soldiers know that "The Great War" would last over four years and turn out to be one of the deadliest wars in history and one that would cause major changes in the world of the 20th Century.

On Christmas, 2014, soldiers on both the British and German sides declared a "Christmas Truce." Such informal truces, such as those declared while soldiers were eating or for trade, were not uncommon in an era when war was a still considered at least something of a "gentleman's game." For instance, during the American Civil War, Union and Confederate troops traded with each other. The South grew tobacco but could not get coffee because of the Union blockade. The Union troops wanted tobacco and the Confederates wanted coffee.

The WWI ceasefire happened spontaneously among the enlisted soldiers and NCOs and involved at least 100,000 British and German soldiers in the trenches across the Western Front. Most were young men who were homesick at Christmas. As one might imagine, the generals and other high-ranking officers did not at all like the idea.

The soldiers had been through heavy fighting. They had suffered machine gun fire and artillery shells. They also suffered from the cold and from disease and injury brought on by the wet and unsanitary conditions in the trenches and the vermin that multiplied there. Between the trenches, in "No Man's Land," there were the unburied bodies of the fallen.

The story is well-known and sometimes has the ring of legend. On Christmas Eve, German soldiers lit candles in the trenches and put some on Christmas trees, an old German custom. Then, they began singing Christmas carols. The British responded by singing back to the Germans. Soon, they were yelling "Merry Christmas" at each other. Afterwards, soldiers from both sides were venturing out of the trenches, over the barbed wire, and into "No Man's Land."

The Germans and the British shook hands and shared food items, alcoholic beverages, and cigarettes. Even the sergeants participated. Some traded buttons and even pieces of military equipment. Each side allowed the other to claim their unburied comrades and either buried them on the spot or took them back behind their own lines for internment. The highlights of that Christmas Day were the soccer matches between German and British soldiers. In fact, a soccer ball has become one of the symbols of the Christmas Truce.

In some areas of the Western Front, the truce only lasted though Christmas Day but in other areas, it lasted through the 1915 New Year. There were similar incidents on the Eastern Front.

The military "brass" was horrified. During the truce, some shot at those participating in this "fraternization with the enemy." Afterward, strict orders were issued which promised strict punishment for any soldier participating in future events of this kind on charges of "collaborating with the enemy," a very serious military offense. Although there were future attempts during WWI, they never reached the level of the Christmas Truce of 1914.

Of course, that war did not end wars. In fact, it created conditions for future conflicts. Perhaps warfare is a part of the human condition. On the other hand, we humans can also be very good and intelligent and realize that we share a common humanity in spite of our differences. At the darkest time of the year, perhaps we can reach out to others, even our enemies. Perhaps this is the message of the Christmas Truce.

(Scott is a U.S. citizen, taxpayer, veteran, and resident of Gilford.)