The Real History of the Christmas Truce of 1914
Вставка
- Опубліковано 8 вер 2024
- It's one of the most iconic images of the First World War - a football match between British and German soldiers in No Man's Land on Christmas Day in 1914. But did it really happen?
On Christmas Eve that year many sectors of the Western Front in France and Belgium fell silent. Troops from all sides put down their weapons and sang carols, exchanged gifts and buried their fallen comrades. The following day the truce continued in many, but not all areas, and troops gathered in crowds between the lines. There may even have been a bit of a kickabout, but probably not a football match.
This full History Hit TV documentary 'The Christmas Truce' features historians Peter Hart, Robin Schäfer and Taff Gillingham.
Discover the past on History Hit with ad-free exclusive podcasts and documentaries released weekly presented by world renowned historians Dan Snow, Suzannah Lipscomb, Lucy Worsely, Mary Beard and more. Watch, listen and read history wherever you are, whenever you want it. Available on all devices: Apple TV, Amazon Prime Video, Android TV, Samsung Smart TV, Roku, Xbox, Chromecast, and iOs & Android.
We're offering a special discount to History Hit for our subscribers, get 50% off your first 3 months with code UA-cam: www.access.hist...
#historyhit #firstworldwar #christmastruce
One of my great-grandfathers was present for the Christmas Truce, and told me how wonderful it was. That great-grandfather fought for Germany in WWI.
Very Nice
Scum
@@leonardhpls6 - 🐀
I haven't time to watch the movie again, but I need to know if they started fighting and killing eachother after the truce?
@@brucedoyle4055 That they did!
Watching a documentary about the Xmas Truce right around Xmas has become very fast a Xmas tradition. Cheers!
"Pvt. Elmer. Did you learn anything about the enemy while you were celebrating Christmas with him?"
"Yes commander. I learned that he doesn't want to sleep in feces or get his head blown off any more than i do."
My Grandfather was at the Somme and got gassed.. He after convalescence went back and ended up in "Wipers" Ypres where he said he saw more friends die from drowning in mud than enemy fire.. My father was a senior anti aircraft gunner in WW2 and he always said it was 30 days of boredom followed by 30 mins of sheer terror.. Apart from Crete he would leave the room if ever a Stuka JU87 came on screen in a film before the wail he could not cope with that sound until the end of his life, I think we would call that ptsd nowadays.
Thanks for taking the time to write that. I have one relative DoW from Gallipoli (buried on Malta) and another at Bailleul in July 1916 in the Aussie attacks. My grandad was with the Kiwi armoured brigade in Italy, and thankfully he came home. He said it was like going camping in winter with bad food and once a week someone would try to kill you. Never bought a German or Japanese car in his life.
@Dave-kw7jq - thanks for sharing that 🙏 .. my Grandad was in the 8th Army, North Africa but he never ever spoke about what happened & we were told as kids to never ever ask him about the War ..
they would be turning in their graves now at the state of the UK & what it has become ..
all those brave souls who sacrificed so much for our freedom must NEVER be forgotten, no matter how much “other people” try to eradicate the history, culture & heritage of Great Britain 🇬🇧
Bless him.❤
@@MixedRaceAndProud1690 sure he was 😂 bullshiting kid
@@leonardhpls6 - Eh ?? .. what you on about poppet ??
Sad to say, in the wake of the events of the Christmas Truce, there was a crackdown by the military higher ups of both forces. British High Command, for one, feared that similar incidents could undermine morale and erode the antagonism between German and British troops to the point where soldiers would hesitate firing on each other. Steps were taken to try and ensure it would not happen again. And thus the war kept going for another three and a half years. Unfortunately, the Christmas Truce was a phenomenon that flared up spontaneously and then vanished as quickly as it arrived. I can't even begin to describe how sad it is to think how the regular trooper must have felt after having experienced the Christmas Truce and then been forced to shoot that very same people again. Just disheartening.
Germans could have just gone home. Hard to care about them when they are invading foreign countries while committing war crimes …and don’t blame it on the Brits or western allies for prolonging the war, blame Germany. Hope every German there that day paid the price for their crimes. Not all of us are cowards like you.
“I was NEVER offside “
Capt E Blackadder
Superb.
"Look, I'm as British as Queen Victoria!!"
"So your father's German, you're half German and you married a German!?"
"Both sides advanced further during one Christmas piss-up than they managed in the next two and a half years of war!"
BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM
BOOM BOOM BOOM
BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM
BOOM BOOM BOOM
German guns, Baldrick
Blackadder Goes Forth is one of my favourite sitcoms. Not historically accurate, but very funny and ultimately extremely poignant at the end. Definitely some of Ben Elton's best work.
And today we're all brothers
Tonight we're all friends
A moment of peace in a war that never ends
Today we're all brothers we drink and unite
Now that Christmas has arrived and the snow turns the ground white
Hear carols from the trenches, we sing O Holy Night
Our guns laid to rest among snowflakes
A Christmas in the trenches, a Christmas on the front far from home
Few sensible soldiers were willing to allow enemy soldiers a view of their trench systems and wire. Besides which, numerous soldiers were killed on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day 1914 (the Grenadier Guards, for example, were involved in fairly heavy fighting) and many men were shot by watchful snipers, for whom an idiot standing on his parapet and trying to contact the enemy was an easy target.
Ninety-eight British soldiers died on Christmas Eve 1914, many of them falling victim to such snipers. A further seventy-nine men died in France and Belgium on Christmas Day, several of them in areas where fraternisation was taking place.
The fighting the Grenadiers were involved in is described in their War Diary in the National Archives. As one of their soldiers wrote in a letter home:
“Perhaps you read of the conversation on Christmas Day. It is all lies. The sniping went on just the same; in fact, our Captain was wounded, so don’t believe what you see in the papers.”
The 2nd Battalion of the Monmouthshires was holding the line in the Douve-St. Yves-LeGheer sector on Christmas Morning.
However, the diary of Lieutenant Frederick Brown records the tragic death of Sergeant Frank Collins. Sergeant Collins had been tasked to deliver a gift of cigarettes to Germans in the opposing trenches.
Lieutenant Brown described Collins’ death: “German soldiers beckoned him over and Collins got out and walked halfway towards them, in turn beckoning someone to come and take the gift.
“However, they called out ‘prisoner’ and immediately Collins edged back the way he had come. Suddenly a shot rang out and the poor Sgt staggered back into the trench, shot through the chest.
“I can still hear his cries, ‘Oh God, they have shot me’, and he died immediately.”
Yes, in a few areas some soldiers were naive enough to attempt to fraternise with the enemy, but it was by no means universal. Overall, a shameful and embarrasing event that's been well over-hyped and exaggerated for political reasons and stirring up anti-authoritarian sentiment.
Sabaton... Awesome... 🤘🏽🤘🏽ua-cam.com/video/HPdHkHslFIU/v-deo.html
@@robertstallard7836 ua-cam.com/video/B5on4WK1MpA/v-deo.html
A brother from the Sabaton army
As a former professional soldier I can completely understand how this happened, it’s an attitude unique to the armed forces
And still the wars go on!
Very interesting. Thank you.
If we can play a football game on Christmas day in no man's land, then we can achieve anything.
I bet England lost on penalties.
Bahahaha
🤣😂🤣
✌🏻🇦🇺🌏🤘🏻
Nah, not if there was a Gerrard or Dudek there. 🤣
LoL
Lol yeah 😂
I smell Christmas in the air from October when the clocks go back. It makes me feel like they did, always has. Wish life wasn't so hard for most on Earth. Love Christmas..
Don't the clocks go back in Autumn ?
My grandfathers battalion (5the Cameronians) crossed the line and swapped souvenirs with a Saxon regiment, photos were taken and appeared in the press, and I have some in a scrap book. The men agreed a draw should be declared and that they should all go home. My best wishes to our friends in Germany.
By the way they were not all professionals in 1914 , the 5the were territorials. And they were an excellent battalion. Your “expert” should know better. The territorials were asked to serve overseas and they did.
This was fascinating and so well delivered. Would it be possible to produce an episode about the Hundred Days Offensive that ended the 1st world war?
My dad was WW2 Navy…there were never before or since, men and women like them. The finest and indeed the greatest. I love this newly discovered channel, and I love this post…God Bless.
My great uncle was a Pvt in the 1st Bn Highland Light Inf and was killed on Dec 19, 1914 in what I've been told was a German counter-attack against a captured German position. I'll never know the details or if the truce even touched that particular battlefield but I like to think that if they weren't able to bring him back and bury him right away, maybe they brought him home during the truce.
Having served in the British army from late 88 to early 98, I think that the Christmas Truce had nothing to do with man's humanity to man, but rather a simple understanding.
The people on the lines have more in common with the men who they are trying to kill, and who in turn are trying to kill them, than they do with those far removed from the front who are giving them their orders.
It is a real shame that over the years since 1914 we've gotten so much better at deomonizing the enemy, and yet there are always those that serve who remember that those they fight are just people much like themselves, and will take whatever steps are neccessary to breathe a little touch of civility into the worst of situations, often at great risk to themselves.
Thank you for your service. I’m not British but you defended your country
I used to scoff about war reenactment, but over time, I've developed an appreciation for the tradition aspect of it. Most people who cooperate in shared imagination are children, but that doesn't mean everyone can't or shouldn't. It's one of those things that enough people will always find fascinating.
Informative and very moving. Thank you for such a fantastic video.
Hard disagree with the cynics at the end. "Live and let life" was not unique to the Christmas Truce, it was practiced throughout the war across the Western Front. People wanted to live, they had nothing to gain from the war
Let the politicians go fight the wars they start..we can all afford those kind of losses.
it's hard to say "I stood upon the parapet" without sounding like you're starting a Gilbert and Sullivan song 43:00
I have enjoyed this re-upload. :)
Why fight and give your life for a country that treats you as shit while you defend it?
A brief moment of humanity in the midst of creeping death.
I couldn't agree more. If we all could act like they did. Maybe the most inspirational moment in history. Greetings from Canada
I cant think that anything that exemplies the insanity and the sheer senseless wast of war
One day in time, one moment in history. It never happened before or since. When the soldier on the ground showed more heart and kinship than their generals, kings, politicians and common folk. One last happy time before the screaming hell would begin.
Few sensible soldiers were willing to allow enemy soldiers a view of their trench systems and wire. Besides which, numerous soldiers were killed on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day (the Grenadier Guards, for example, were involved in fairly heavy fighting) and many men were shot by watchful snipers, for whom an idiot standing on his parapet and trying to contact the enemy was an easy target.
Ninety-eight British soldiers died on Christmas Eve 1914, many of them falling victim to such snipers. A further seventy-nine men died in France and Belgium on Christmas Day, several of them in areas where fraternisation was taking place.
The fighting the Grenadiers were involved in is described in their War Diary in the National Archives. As one of their soldiers wrote in a letter home:
“Perhaps you read of the conversation on Christmas Day. It is all lies. The sniping went on just the same; in fact, our Captain was wounded, so don’t believe what you see in the papers.”
The 2nd Battalion of the Monmouthshires was holding the line in the Douve-St. Yves-LeGheer sector on Christmas Morning.
However, the diary of Lieutenant Frederick Brown records the tragic death of Sergeant Frank Collins. Sergeant Collins had been tasked to deliver a gift of cigarettes to Germans in the opposing trenches.
Lieutenant Brown described Collins’ death: “German soldiers beckoned him over and Collins got out and walked halfway towards them, in turn beckoning someone to come and take the gift.
“However, they called out ‘prisoner’ and immediately Collins edged back the way he had come. Suddenly a shot rang out and the poor Sgt staggered back into the trench, shot through the chest.
“I can still hear his cries, ‘Oh God, they have shot me’, and he died immediately.”
Yes, in a few areas some soldiers were naive enough to attempt to fraternise with the enemy, but it was by no means universal. Overall, a shameful and embarrasing event that's been well over-hyped and exaggerated for political reasons and stirring up anti-authoritarian sentiment.
Id like to think that they actually did kick a ball around. I've heard an interview with a guy who said that a can was kicked around where he was ypres I think. It comes up far too often though to not have actually happened.
Its sad really, had it not been for politics and war, these men could have easily been friends, and never known suffering, just shows underneath it all, we are all human.
I watched this 1st time around.. Well worth a repeat! ⭐👍
Then I can recommend the movie "Joyeux Noel", if you haven't seen it....
Sometimes fact is stranger if not more beautiful than fiction. This 1914 Christmas proves, in reality, we are all the same the world over... Good will and love to all this 2023 Christmas.... Huzzah!! 😊
Someone brought a ball to the war thinking “Just in case” 😂😂
Another excellent video & thank you for sharing 🙏
Well done...Taff and Peter had just the right stuff for this one...Albert died young but it really hadn't been so long since his widow, and all the cultural ties, ruled the land...English and Germans were akin to cousins at the time..the Celtic Fringe less so...
I think there was, at the time, a large number of Indian soldiers somewhere on the line...any reports from them on the Truce??
This channel is a treat...
A wonderful historical coverage video about unique beloved occasion unique history events during wartime between enmity authorities...it was proven there were not enmity amongst populations, but there were enmity against authorities ...thank you( history Hit) channel for sharing
One day in the midst of the horror and slaughter, something like a miracle occurred. Maybe never again, but it was there.
Few sensible soldiers were willing to allow enemy soldiers a view of their trench systems and wire. Besides which, numerous soldiers were killed on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day (the Grenadier Guards, for example, were involved in fairly heavy fighting) and many men were shot by watchful snipers, for whom an idiot standing on his parapet and trying to contact the enemy was an easy target.
Ninety-eight British soldiers died on Christmas Eve 1914, many of them falling victim to such snipers. A further seventy-nine men died in France and Belgium on Christmas Day, several of them in areas where fraternisation was taking place.
The fighting the Grenadiers were involved in is described in their War Diary in the National Archives. As one of their soldiers wrote in a letter home:
“Perhaps you read of the conversation on Christmas Day. It is all lies. The sniping went on just the same; in fact, our Captain was wounded, so don’t believe what you see in the papers.”
The 2nd Battalion of the Monmouthshires was holding the line in the Douve-St. Yves-LeGheer sector on Christmas Morning.
However, the diary of Lieutenant Frederick Brown records the tragic death of Sergeant Frank Collins. Sergeant Collins had been tasked to deliver a gift of cigarettes to Germans in the opposing trenches.
Lieutenant Brown described Collins’ death: “German soldiers beckoned him over and Collins got out and walked halfway towards them, in turn beckoning someone to come and take the gift.
“However, they called out ‘prisoner’ and immediately Collins edged back the way he had come. Suddenly a shot rang out and the poor Sgt staggered back into the trench, shot through the chest.
“I can still hear his cries, ‘Oh God, they have shot me’, and he died immediately.”
Yes, in a few areas some soldiers were naive enough to attempt to fraternise with the enemy, but it was by no means universal. Overall, a shameful and embarrasing event that's been well over-hyped and exaggerated for political reasons and stirring up anti-authoritarian sentiment.
I love this story! Humanity conquered war!... for a little while, anyway. I disagree with some of what is said here. It wasn't just for a bit of respite; the two sides genuinely wanted to celebrate Christmas.
Doubt we will ever see this again in history.
More proof that sometimes the Peace of Christ is ever present and told these enemy soldiers they were brothers.
Grow up.
@@NewChannel-wi7vj Jesus! These trolls never stop with dumbass replies! 😂
Is that the same Christ who let the war happen, in the first place..?
@@Lassisvulgaris The question is why did man allow the war to happen in the 1st place? Free Will mate.
@@TheRiverPirate13 There is no free will. The consesquences are normally too severe. That is why no true believer will leave the faith, despite "free will". An eternity in Hell (not that small place outside Trondheim in Norway). is too detering, to risk....
Very interesting
Amazing. God bless you all x
Love your work, HH 👍
We need to see a documentary about the eastern front Christmas truces! Russians, Germans and Austro-Hungarians also had fraternisation and truces, at Easter as well as Christmas
The older English gentleman's testimony made me feel uncomfortable with his delivery. I can understand being passionate about a topic but he is so enthusiastic about his delivery of the facts that I feel like it detracts from the horrific nature of the war.
I disagree, for me I felt it added to my mind imagery of the horror of what these men went through all because of despots and politics.
I think it illustrates the insanity of it all.
1:40 people in general and historians specifically show great disrespect to the Flemish army by statements such as the ‘Germans swept through!’
They were no chocolate soldiers and put up a brave and spirited fight against the German war machine.
Respect.
My maternal grandfather BEF 2nd London Rgt, was show such chivilray by german troops on several occasions, one time led tohim winning themilitary medal, while his own army treated him with such bastadry, Field Punishment No.1, one several occasions. (eg one time getting his ambulance back late to the depot)… the friendlshic between enemies during this ‘total war’ was surprising. so not surprised that among common soldiers they would have had the christmas truce and foot ball match.
Thanks!
The whole story is in my English NCERT book honey dew chapter 1:- the best Christmas present in the world by Michael Morpugo
What is the movie that portrayed the Christmas truce with singing and sharing food and wine between the troops. I would like to watch it again
Joyeux Noel
I watch this and then think of the song of Snoopy and the Red Baron
46:50 - I think like a barbarian so therefore you do too (self referral)
48:12 - Those people! Those people! (self referral)
I wonder if these guys see what they are showing?
Well said, i was hoping to see this comment. Far too often modern historians project their own values and emotions and psychology onto the past. Just because THEY would only enact a truce for purely selfish and practical reasons doesn’t mean everyone did. To suggest there was no humanity behind it and there was no genuine Christian sentiment that motivated these (Christian) men is absurd.
No no! It was all for selfish reasons and material concerns, no deeper emotions or religious motivations I’m sure!
(Despite the fact several of the letters they quoted literally say they felt a religious motivation)
I’m sure it was a mix of course, but I hate this reductionist modern lens we’re view everything through.
That was very enlightening...Thank you!
I like youzall analysis. The Truth, and the Lies. The Truth may hurt but it's the Lies that kill you.
It's Human Nature , Sooner or Later You'll get Tired of Killing . Of Seeing the Bewilderment in the Eyes of the Dieing . 🐯🤠
Too bad Esperanto didn’t take off enough for the troops to actually converse with each other.
6:12 WAY TOO CLEAN
There have been similar truces in other wars, as described by Somerset Gough-Calthorpe who served in Crimea in 1855. He described British and Russian sentries fraternising and smoking together.
"1st Russian soldier: ‘Englise bono!’
1st English soldier: ‘Ruskie bono!’
2nd Russian soldier: ‘Francis bono!’
2nd English soldier: ‘Bono!’
3rd Russian soldier: ‘Oslem no bono!’
3rd English soldier: ‘Ah, ah! Turk no bono!’
1st Russian soldier: ‘Oslem!’ making a face, and spitting on the ground, to show his contempt."
1st English soldier: 'Turk ;' pretending to run away, as if frightened, upon which all the party go into roars of laughter, and then, after shaking hands, they retire to their respect beats."
Gough-Calthorpe goes on to mention Russian sentries bringing British soldiers gifts of firewood. (Gough-Calthorpe, S. G. "Letters from Headquarters, or, The Realities of the War in the Crimea, by an Officer on the Staff." London: John Murray, 1858)
I dont really have time to watch, all i need to know is if they same group of people who made the truce started fighting eachother again after it ended?
pipes of peace - paul mc cartney
the video clip depicts this day.
such a great xmas time song too.!
check it out 😉😄
🤘🏻🇦🇺🌏✌🏻
..but the *few that First stood up in *Complete {trust} did do so with an Unblemished Goodwill 🙏💖☮️🕊️
dads uncle Frank didn't get back to Manchester
Once the game ended, they asked each other for a re-match. only the english soldiers agreed, as the scottish, welsh and irish didn't care, so the alloted re-match was the 1966 world cup final.
nice fan fiction.
Big men angered each other, and little men went to kill each other under the name for their countries.
What is the tittle of this movie? Can somebody please reply to me?😅
Was there a similar truce in subsequent war years for Christmas?
Definitely not.
Few sensible soldiers were willing to allow enemy soldiers a view of their trench systems and wire. Besides which, numerous soldiers were killed on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day 1914 (the Grenadier Guards, for example, were involved in fairly heavy fighting) and many men were shot by watchful snipers, for whom an idiot standing on his parapet and trying to contact the enemy was an easy target.
Ninety-eight British soldiers died on Christmas Eve 1914, many of them falling victim to such snipers. A further seventy-nine men died in France and Belgium on Christmas Day, several of them in areas where fraternisation was taking place.
The fighting the Grenadiers were involved in is described in their War Diary in the National Archives. As one of their soldiers wrote in a letter home:
“Perhaps you read of the conversation on Christmas Day. It is all lies. The sniping went on just the same; in fact, our Captain was wounded, so don’t believe what you see in the papers.”
The 2nd Battalion of the Monmouthshires was holding the line in the Douve-St. Yves-LeGheer sector on Christmas Morning.
However, the diary of Lieutenant Frederick Brown records the tragic death of Sergeant Frank Collins. Sergeant Collins had been tasked to deliver a gift of cigarettes to Germans in the opposing trenches.
Lieutenant Brown described Collins’ death: “German soldiers beckoned him over and Collins got out and walked halfway towards them, in turn beckoning someone to come and take the gift.
“However, they called out ‘prisoner’ and immediately Collins edged back the way he had come. Suddenly a shot rang out and the poor Sgt staggered back into the trench, shot through the chest.
“I can still hear his cries, ‘Oh God, they have shot me’, and he died immediately.”
Yes, in a few areas some soldiers were naive enough to attempt to fraternise with the enemy, but it was by no means universal. Overall, a shameful and embarrasing event that's been well over-hyped and exaggerated for political reasons and stirring up anti-authoritarian sentiment.
I got halfway through before the video got removed. Thanks for keeping me safe, algorithmic censorship!😮💨
Ditto, but try again.
Like most wars people die at the expense of the rich
Any truth in the rumour that a certain runner named Adolf saw some of this fraternisation and reported back to command
Adolf Hitler dance with British troops in No Man's Land, I thought he was an opponent of the truce.
No one knows for sure, he was against it for tactical reasons, he believed in the cause and didn’t want to waste opportunities by having truces, but he may have also joined in with the crowd.
No more brother wars
A great thought! but realistically with so many shell craters, how would that be possible.
There were not shell craters in every area, often there were relatively open fields
One clean moment in a dirty war.
I don't the French ever had a "mighty empire".
The British people ancestry was of German origin.
If you are going to illustrate shaving in a trench, at least show how you hold an open razor.
If both Armies would have thought the WWI could have ended that day. Just say this is stupid and go home.
I would've liked that option in jungle and streets of El Salvador, yet 'bad paper' (BCD or DD) would destroy your future prospects.
Soldiers followed orders ...
People with weak minds.
REPEAT
🥹🥹😭😭❤️❤️
The British and French started the WWI which led to WWII.
and you just started on breast milk
Russia shares a lot of blame too. They were the first major power to escalate a Balkan conflict into a continental war, they had no real business meddling in Balkan affairs, but they sought to gain a rail way through Romania and Serbia, and Russia wanted to look strong as a protector of Slavic peoples, which was her traditional role but she had failed to do so in 1909 when Bosnia was fully annexed and she didn’t intervene in the Balkan wars, Nicholas II foolishly listened to his warmongering advisors who insisted Russia had to step in to save face.
Throughout the July crisis the French ambassador in Russia was constantly urging them to go to war, something not lost on the Germans…..French mobilisation orders also went out several hours before the German ones did. There was much political scheming on Britain’s part too….every nation shares blame and that included Germany and Austria Hungary but they are often unfairly and inaccurately portrayed as the main aggressors, this is not the case
So!@@paulmcdonough1093
British trying to make them look innocent.