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A Day In 1914 When Soldiers Stopped FightingPosted by Nipun Mehta on Feb 9, 2010
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Jeremy Rifkin's The Empathic Civilization opens with this remarkable story:
The evening of December 24, 1914, Flanders. The first world war in history was entering into its fifth month. Millions of soldiers were bedded down in makeshift trenches latticed along the European countryside. In many places the opposing armies were dug in within thirty to fifty yards of each other and within shouting distance. The conditions were hellish. The bitter-cold winter air chilled to the bone. The trenches were waterlogged. Soldiers shared their quarters with rats and vermin. Lacking adequate latrines, the stench of human excrement was everywhere. The men slept upright to avoid the muck and sludge of their makeshift arrangements. Dead soldiers littered the bodies left to rot and decompose within yard of their still living comrades who were unable to collect them for burial.
As dusk fell over the battlefields, something extraordinary happened. The Germans began lighting candles on the thousands of small Christmas trees that had been sent to the front to lend some comfort to the men. The German soldiers then began to sing Christmas carols--first "Silent Night," then a stream of other songs followed. The English soldiers were stunned. One soldier, gazing in disbelief at the enemy lines, said the blazed trenches looked "like the footlights of a theater." The English soldiers responded with applause, at first tentatively, then with exuberance. They began to sing Christmas carols back to their German foes to equally robust applause.
A few men from both sides crawled out of their trenches and began to walk across the no-man's-land toward each other. Soon hundredss followed. As word spread across the front, thousands of men poured out of their trenches. They shook hands, exchanged cigarettes and cakes and talked about where they hailed from, reminisced about Christmas past, and joked about the absurdity of war.
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Comments (3)
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supun wrote ...
is this really true?
I kind of want to imagine most of the soliders going "Captain Sterling's Little Problem" and rebelling against war much past the time of christmas carols.it's an interesting story. It feels like the revolution happened that could have brought world peace to WW I, but then my mind can't find why it may have faded away. I wonder if those soliders were able to communicate the miracle back up the ladder ot their managing generals like some kind of pigeon based twitter account, if the world would be a different place.
I guess I should just appreciate that moment for what it it is right now. I know my experience of seeing the words "Silent Night" will surely change
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Somik wrote ...
Thanks for sharing this. My professor points to how the first World War would have resolved peacefully with people realizing this absurdity, until the US interfered, which led to great punishment of Germany and sowed the seeds for revenge in the second world war. What goes around, comes around.
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madhulika wrote ...
Good one ....n the lesson I learnt from this post is that Wars n Fight's are adsurd .Thank's