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Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht
Since earlier this year we have been acknowledging the centennial of the
First World War and hopefully reflecting on its impact on our lives. Starting
with the assassination of Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand on June 28th
until the anniversary of Armistice Day in 2018, we as a world community should
remember the events that make up the “War to end All Wars.” This story is of
one of those events, that if it had come out of Hollywood would have been
dismissed as so much fantasy. However, it did happen and it has been well
documented. On Christmas Eve, December of 1914 something miraculous occurred
all along the Western Front.
The indelible image that people identify most with World War One is
trench warfare. Trenches were an unintentional
outcome of 19th century tactics running headlong into the
industrialized warfare of machineguns, rapid-firing rifles, barbed wire, and
quick-laying artillery. Poison gas, tanks, and airpower would later be used
with the intention of breaking this stalemate. Nonetheless, trenches were the
reality for the duration of WWI.
As the Germans raced through the Low Countries intent on capturing Paris,
their attack was blunted by Allied counter-attacks during the early fall of
1914 as well as the tremendous failure of their logistics train keeping up with
their operational needs. Finally, opposing sides dug in with the intention of
quickly renewing military operations, the space between the opposing sides
became known as “No Man’s Land.” In some cases, a distance less than the length
of a soccer field separated antagonists. By Armistice Day in 1918, trenches
stretched unbroken from the North Sea to the border of Switzerland, a distance
of some 440 miles.
By December the cheerful youths and boastful jingoes of 1914’s summer had
been transfo6rmed into weathered and worn veterans of Germany’s thwarted
attempt at conquering France in a fortnight. The Kaiser himself had guaranteed
his soldaten that they would be home before the leaves turned their autumn
hues. Much the same on the other side of the English Channel, members of the
British Expeditionary Force, or BEF, that had helped the French halt the German
juggernaut had also been assured that they would be home before Christmas.
Neither prediction came true as both sides dug deep into the chalky loam of
Europe. Summer became fall, and winter followed closely behind, and no one
would be home by Christmas. But, what happened on Christmas
Eve, 1914 is a story worth remembering:
A cold, cloudless night, the moon would not appear for some time. The
soil churned up by war had turned to mud and with the winter weather the mud
froze and clung to the sentry’s brogans* as he shifted sleepily back and forth
in the vain hope of warming his feet; his puttees** seemed to soak up the
moisture in the air and froze to his woolen pants legs adding further to his
discomfort
With no moon, listening carefully, more than watching would be necessary
to detect movement in the enemy’s line. Peering over the parapet into the
darkness the sentry would cup his hands behind his ears to help hear any
telltale sounds that might betray a German probe. The Germans were so close
that he could hear murmuring voices and the enemy moving about in the trenches glowing
dimly from warming fires. “Hmm,” he thought, glancing at his watch, “it’s late,
why aren’t they singing tonight?”
The thoughts of those soldiers still awake were most certainly of home on
this cold, clear night. This was Christmas Eve, and in a few hours it would be
Christmas Day. Private Tommy Atkins# surely chuckled at the irony of being at
war on the celebration of the birth of the Prince of Peace as he continued with
his duty. Those soldiers lucky enough to be asleep were wrapped up in their
overcoats wedged into cubbyholes scratched into the side of the trench that
would hopefully protect the occupant from nearby explosions. Other, luckier
soldiers were somewhere below ground within the relative comfort of subterranean
chambers known as “Bombproofs.” While usually not as well constructed as the
Germans’, they were at least somewhat warm and dry.
As the moon began to rise, a pale, cold light crept onto the scene. Able
to see more of their sectors, sentries peered through the gloom. Suddenly, the
sentry saw movement in the German trenches! Quickly and quietly he alerted his
fellow soldiers.
Rousted from their sleep, some soldiers feared the worst – that the
Germans would stage an attack on Christmas morning of all times! Canvas covers
were pulled off machineguns as the gunners settled in behind them, stiff
fingers adjusting the sights. Assistant gunners checked to see that the belts
of ammunition could feed properly.
Some men surely said a silent prayer that they would be spared this night
as they snapped bayonets into place and checked in the darkness for boxes of extra
ammunition and hand grenades. Sergeants and corporals moved about, checking the
line. Stretcher bearers moved to designated places in the trench line that
would allow them to remain out of the way but close enough to move the inevitable
wounded to the relative safety of the aid stations located in support trenches a
few dozen yards to the rear. Commanders and subalterns peeked up over the
trench to see if this was an attack or merely a diversion as they fingered the
cold brass of their flare pistols, ready to send a flare skyward to alert the
rest of the line. But for now they would wait.
As men at war tend to do, soldiers on both sides would frequently sing
wistful ballads or popular tunes to help assuage their homesickness. British troops
would also often sing “God Save the King”
and be answered with Germany’s unofficial national anthem, "Heil dir im Siegerkranz," “Hail the victor's crown,” which ironically was sung to the same
tune as the British national anthem. Many British soldiers thought the Germans
were mocking them and their King when they first heard the German song. But, as
Christmas drew closer, English voices would often join the German singing
Christmas carols. “Stille Nacht” was
especially favored. As the carols wafted over the broken land, they were just
as likely to be accompanied by a British harmonica as a German accordion. There
was even a case of a brass band accompanying one impromptu sing-a-long. But on
this night - the holiest of nights, something else was stirring.
There! Movement in the enemy trenches!
Shapes began to appear over the trenches again - odd, man-like shapes,
but they had small pinpoints of light adorning them. One after another, they
appeared in the darkness. Christmas trees? What on earth were the Hun#*
doing? The German trenches were now
adorned with the tannenbaum Kaiser Wilhelm had ordered sent to the frontlines
along with chocolates, tobacco, schnapps and other treats. The British soldiers
stared at the spectacle unsure of what they should do.
Shortly, a German soldier lifted himself up on level ground and walked
haltingly towards the British lines. Then another lifted himself over the
parapet, then another, leaving their weapons behind, their hands empty except
for maybe a tin of tobacco, a flask or some other offering.
In these days of poor communications between the frontlines and the
commanders safely ensconced in the rear, local commanders had the painful
decision to make to be the first to draw blood on Christmas or to trust that
their enemy was truly interested in at least a short respite from the life and
death reality of the trenches. Certainly most of the combatants were hoping for
a reprieve from fighting.
It wasn’t just soldiers who wanted a Christmas Truce during
this first year of the war, Pope Benedict XV begged for an official truce
between Germany and Britain, and asked “that the guns may fall silent at least
upon the night the angels sang”. However, both sides rejected the pope’s
attempt at peace.
Eventually, someone from the British lines set his rifle aside
walked through the tangle of barbed wire and joined the growing number of
Germans in the middle of No Man’s Land.
What happened next was a truce brokered neither by diplomats nor
generals, but rather captains and sergeants who decided that, at least for this
day, no one would die. This spontaneous eruption of peace occurred all along
the Western Front. Junior leaders arranged the details of their truce and at
first, each side sought out their dead that had lain where they had fallen
during previous battles. The bodies were moved to areas behind the trenches
where Germans and British working side-by-side buried each other’s comrades with
respect and honor. After completing their grisly task, a soccer ball appeared,
an impromptu game was formed, and the British and Germans fought a different
kind of battle.
Like his cousin the Kaiser, the King of England had also directed that
special gifts be sent to the front lines along with thousands of hand-knitted
socks, gloves and hats. British tobacco was traded for German chocolates. Bully
beef was swapped for German rations and all along soldiers showed off pictures
of their families back home. Anyone who spoke the other language was pressed
into translation duties, but even without that there was no mistaking the
loneliness that each man shared. One lonely German talked about his
English-born wife and children and pressed a hastily written letter into a
British hand in the hope that it would get to his family. British soldiers who
had worked in Germany before the war asked about favorite bars and restaurants,
or arranged for a reunion with their newfound German friends once this current
“dustup” concluded.
Drinks were shared and even old friendships renewed. A German who had been
a barber in London before the war even gave haircuts and shaves to previous
customers. Undoubtedly fueled by British Port or German Schnapps, Christmas
carols were sung, English and German voices joining together. Nonetheless, there
were some soldiers who refused to participate in the festivities, preferring to
remain in their respective trench line. It is said that a certain Austrian-born
corporal refused to associate with his British enemies. Corporal Adolph Hitler
sat in his bunker fuming at what he believed was treasonous behavior by his
fellow Germans.
All too soon morning came and with it orders to renew the fighting. With
the growing light of day the soldiers bade farewell and parted company, some
wearing bits of the others’ uniform, others shaking their heads and wondering
if what they had just experienced had been real or just a wonderful dream. Soon
enough the business of war intruded upon the only peace that the Western Front
would know until the guns finally fell silent some four years later.
No one really knows where or how this truce originated or by whom, it is
agreed upon that many of the calls for a truce came from the Germans with the
area around Ypres, Belgium most frequently mentioned. Some reports also
mentioned signs that appeared over some trenches saying, “If you don’t shoot we
won’t shoot.”
Some units had been meeting in No Man’s Land over the course of the
month, French Poilus## surprisingly
had arranged a truce to recover their dead and wounded and a yuletide peace was
initiated. Spontaneous occurrences all along the Western Front were recorded. As
far as anyone knows this sort of thing has not been repeated since that cold
December evening 100 years ago this month. Commanders on both sides were
apoplectic when they heard what was going on. Threats of mass courts-martial
and execution emanated from headquarters and were sent down to the lowest
echelons, but in those days of spotty and inefficient communications these
threats arrived too late to be of any consequence.
In order to avoid a recurrence of this event, British high command was
willing to levy a heavy punishment upon anyone who attempted to broker a similar
peace the following year and the German General Staff was also prepared to mete
out stiff punishments should it happen again. They needn’t have worried. Although
there were a few attempts to repeat the Christmas Truce, the New Year ushered
in a level of total war to European battlegrounds that helped grind out the
humanity shared in 1914 from both sides.
Nothing like this temporary peace occurred on the Eastern Front. The vast
cultural differences between Germany and Russia created a gulf that would not
be crossed. Only over the contested European soil where it was likely that
soldiers on both sides prayed to the same God in the same manner or had worked
with or for each other during peacetime was a negotiated truce by combatants
made possible.
Later, after the embarrassment of common soldiers being able to find
common ground with their enemy, military training included not-so-subtle efforts
to dehumanize the enemy, thus avoiding familiarity that might lead to a
recurrence a truce during future battles. By emphasizing the differences
between the two sides and portraying the enemy as somehow less human than
themselves, armies went about the business of killing without pause. To
reinforce this sentiment even in the “neutral” United States, propaganda portrayed
Germans as an evil and rapacious animal. By blaming them for atrocities real
and imagined it helped reinforce the belief that they were indeed “Huns.”
Ironically, in modern times, nations that had been enemies during the two
world wars have become allies. Similar belief systems have usurped nationalism
so that even traditional European enemies have joined forces with their former
enemies to fight the common foe of religious extremism, narco-terrorism, and
non-state-sponsored terrorism. Such is the case of the modern battlefield.
Based on the nature of modern warfare, a grassroots truce like the
Christmas Truce of 1914 is unlikely to ever be repeated. The cultural, ethnic,
and religious differences between modern antagonists are so vast that this possibility
is almost nonexistent. Even relationships between some regional allies have
become dysfunctional because of “Green on Blue” attacks throughout the Middle
East. Distrust and dislike for other cultures has even trumped the old adage,
“the enemy of my enemy is my friend.” Therefore, this instance of Peace on
Earth and Good Will towards All Men will likely remain a singular event in
modern history.
* Brogans: a
coarse, stout leather shoe reaching to the ankle
** Puttees: a
long narrow piece of cloth wound tightly and spirally around the leg, and
serving to provide both support and protection
# Tommy
Atkins: Slang name for the common soldier in the British Army
#* Hun:
Derogatory name used to describe German soldiers
## Poilu: Slang name for a French soldier, especially the
front-line soldiers of WWI
