Some people thought the First World War should’ve been won by Christmastime. Except it wasn’t. There shouldn’t have been many casualties. Except there were. The Napoleonic Wars, the last huge conflict in Europe had 3.5 million casualties throughout Europe over the course of 12 years. In less than half a year there were more than a million casualties just on the Western Front. Following the First Battle of the Marne in September 1914, the border between France and Germany was lined with impassable trenches and dotted with machine gun nests and snipers. WWI had many unexpected events. Usually unexpectedly bad. But a couple of times something unexpectedly good happened, like during the Christmas of 1914.
A note on casualty numbers: multiple sources differ in their numbers and definitions of casualties. I tried with my best to find the most consistent numbers. Just know that the numbers are big.
Frank Richards, a British war veteran, gives the following account:
“The German Company-Commander asked Buffalo Bill if he would accept a couple of barrels of beer and assured him that they would not make his men drunk. They had plenty of it in the brewery. He accepted the offer with thanks and a couple of their men rolled the barrels over and we took them into our trench. The German officer sent one of his men back to the trench, who had appeared shortly after carrying a tray with bottles and glasses on it. Officers of both sides clinked glasses and drank to one another’s health. Buffalo Bill had presented them with a plum pudding just before. The officers came to an understanding that the unofficial truce would end at midnight. At dusk, we went back to our respective trenches.”
All along the front there were numerous instances where Triple Entente and Central Alliance forces would stop fighting on Christmas. There was singing. There was drinking. There was trading of souvenirs and cigarettes. There were even games of soccer played across no man’s land where people were gunned down days before.
That was the last Christmas Truce of the war. High-ranking military officers found out about this and made sure that something like it never happened again. Europe and other parts of the world would continue in conflict until 1917. In the end there would be around 59 million more military casualties. Governments fell. Disease spread. WWI as a whole sucked. A lot. And that is what makes the Christmas Truce all the more special. Men trained to kill decided to have peace. They even met with one another and remarked upon the crappy situation that they were in. Sometimes people can still act human even in a terrible war.
Hopkins can be a rough place. Everyone wants success and very often there isn’t enough to go around. People fight to beat the curve. People compete to get research positions. People even fight in line at events to get free stuff. Hopkins is nowhere near as bad as the Western Front in WWI, but it’s the closest comparison I’ve got. If the Christmas Truce of 1914 can happen then maybe we can have more compassion. Don’t screw with other people’s studying. Try to help others out. And please don’t fight in line to get free stuff. Good luck on a new semester.
Bruce Bairnsfather, a British soldier on the Western Front, wrote on this affair, “Looking back on it all, I wouldn’t have missed that unique and weird Christmas Day for anything.”
