Battle of the Carols: 1914

Kairos Journal has posted a brief account of the Christmas Eve "truce" observed by German and British (Scots!) troops during World War, in 1914: "Christian Against Christian?"  It's a moving account, raising all sorts of questions to this reader. (I liked the line about the battle of the carols.)

I was particularly drawn to this posting because earlier this week I watched Joyeux Noël, a 2005 film about this incident. The movie (PG-13, though originally R, because of a very brief sex scene) corresponds with the Kairos posting, generally, aside from the appearance of the two singers/lovers and the inclusion of French troops. (I don't know whether the French were involved or not.) There are other ficitonalized portions, of course. But the basic story line is there.

Having celebrated Christmas together, and joined in common burial services for the dead after Christmas eve, the soldiers on both sides were reluctant to resume hostilities. Who, indeed, were they fighting for in that the dreadful and tragic conflict?

Comments

[Rev Dave]

An incredibly moving musical telling of the Christmas truce story is done by John McCutcheon. The mp3 can be found here:

http://www.citizensedproject.org/trenches.mp3

Lyrics can be found at:
http://www.worldwar1.com/sfcitt.htm

I simply cannot listen to this without weeping.

[Bobby Winters]

I am sniffing as I write this. Thanks!

[GL]

Rev. Dave,

Thank you. I just listened to the mp3 while I read the lyrics. I teared up as well.

Merry Christmas and a Blessed New Year.

[Isamashii Yuubi]

I first heard about this on Snopes.com a while back and reading the story there moved me to tears. It's good to see that more light is being shed on this wonderful story and that more people know about it (especially those of us in the younger generations who only heard about WWI through history texts in school).

Expectant Advent, Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year to ya'll!

ps: Ya'll can call me Isa if you'd like, it sure is a lot easier to type.

[Ethan Cordray]

Linked version for easy right-clicky saving:

Christmas in the Trenches

[dl]

ahh. Lovely. I too teared up on that one.
I think this Christmas eve, here in Balad Iraq, I'll stroll to the wire under the guard tower and let a carol fly....
Now in all seriousness, I've saved the MP3 and wish you all a blessed Advent, a merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Rest assured mine will be grand. I'll be home on the 30th.

[L. Korossy]

The first World War was fought for national honor. The soldiers on each side fought for their dignity, homelands, and God. Award and commemorative medals struck in Hungary read simply: "Pro Deo et Patria." What could be more noble than this?
Yes, the war was avoidable; yes, the casualties were terrible; yes, it was a tragedy. But those soldiers, after recognizing their common humanity and faith, returned to fighting for a reason. It is a crime and an insult against them to oversimplify and downplay their very real reasons for their ultimate sacrifices.

[GL]

DL,

I sent via email a link to the lyrics and to the mp3 to a number of folks I know and suggested it was good for us to remember those in Afganistan and Iraq this Christmas as we listened to a song about those brave soldiers, now almost all of whom are dead, who served their countries nearly a century ago. Thank you for serving your country so far from your family and home this Christmas. May God bless you and grant you a safe final week in Iraq and a safe journey back to your family.

Merry Christmas and a Blessed New Year from a grateful fellow countryman.

[Bill R]

DL, I add my thanks and hopes for you (and for our country) as well. May all of us who have a Christmas this year filled with cheer remember with gratitude those who have made it possible!

[BA]

LK: I have no doubt that the people in the trenches took the view you ascribe to them, just as I have no doubt that many of the men who fought the the War between the States did so for honor, country, and freedom.

However, in the case of both the Great War and the War between the States, many of the men who prosecuted the war from flyover level were utterly cynical. (That is even more true of World War I, as Europe had been slowly distancing itself from its Christian past for over a century, a project that had picked up steam in the forty or fifty years before 1914). The cynicism even allowed them to lie about the progress of the war in order to convince the homefront populace that the war was still worth fighting.

In short, World War I was a culmination of an attitude on the part of Europe that colonialism, technological progress, decent manners, and sound statecraft could do in the (then) present age what religion, family, and honor had done in the past eras.

Unfortunately, few seem to have taken in the lessons inherent in the failures of those times.