WRFH/Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM - History Off Script: The Christmas Truce of 1914

Episode Date: December 8, 2025

World War I was one of the most violent wars in history, but amidst the bloodshed something miraculous happened. On Christmas day soldiers came together not as mortal enemies, but brothers. This is the story of the Christmas Truce of 1914, one of history'

That's how history can often feel, mechanical, one event after the other, but what's in the fine print? What happens if we peel back the layers? What kind of hidden dramas may unfold? It's time we went beyond the textbook. This is history off script. Here's your host, James Jocke. Over by Christmas was the cry that reign across Britain as her young men shipped off to fight in World War I. They could never have known that four years of hell awaited them. How could they? A century of European conflicts demonstrated short, decisive wars won by a handful of engagements.

Nothing could have prepared them for the brutal war of attrition that would tear Europe apart. But amidst bleak displays that have kept. doubt on our own humanity. A single event stands out as a beacon of hope. This is the story of the Christmas truce of 1914. The Christmas truce was not a single event. It was a series of spontaneous interactions between enemy soldiers, as an event that few would believe if had not been recorded by the men who experienced it.

For, who could believe that moral enemy, could come together as friends. Here are some of their stories. Along one portion of the front line, British soldiers awoke to hear German carols drifting across the barren waste between the trenches. They retaliated by sending back a volley of their own carols. Soon, a full battle was taking place.

But the ammunition was not bullets. It was Sons. Then, along the German side, the Sons turned to a confused shouting. Suddenly the British heard one German shout, Come over here. A British sergeant responded, You come halfway,

I come halfway. What happened next was miraculous. Soldiers began to crawl out of their trenches and make their way through the hellish landscape. Where men had killed each other a day before, they now shook hands, exchanged kind greetings, and shared songs, cigars, and booze.

A British soldier later called, Here they were. The actual practical soldiers of the German army. There was not an atom of hate on either side. Elsewhere on the front line, similar experiences were occurring. In one spot, the Germans were caroling when one shouted to the British, asking whether they would share a bottle of booze.

One British soldier recalled, what happened next? Later on in the day, they came towards us, and our chaps went out to meet them. I shook hands with some of them, and they gave us cigarettes and cigars. We did not fire that day, and everything was so quiet. It seemed like a dream. Another British soldier described it quite differently. Here we were laughing and chatting to men whom only a few hours before we were trying to kill.

Across the front line, soldiers fraternized, exchanging cigars, drinks, and greetings. They helped bury each other's dead. One British soldier even gave haircuts to Germans for the price of a couple cigars. In some places, games of soccer broke out. But not all enjoyed the Christmas truce. In the German trenches, one soldier sulked alone, scolding his fellow men.

Such a thing should not happen in wartime. Have you no German senses of honor left? His name was Adolf Hitler. Military leaders on both sides were also frustrated by the truce. They worried that such socialization would destroy the ability of their troops to kill the enemy. Taking action, they strictly forbade the fraternization of enemy soldiers, and the truce came to a swiftness. end. Nothing like it would ever occur again. Yet even as the soldiers returned to their trenches, the feelings of camaraderie persisted as one German spoke. Today we have peace.

Tomorrow you fight for your country. I fight for mine. Good luck. In the years that followed, the horrors of the war began to set in, and feelings of affection disappeared between opposing sides. Cruelty reigned where camaraderie had resided. So at odds is this moment of civility in a war of suffering that it is often omitted from the narrative of the First World War.

This is a mistake, and we should never forget this strange moment when Christmas brought enemies together as brothers. This has been history off script with your host James Jawsky on Radio Free Hillsdale

101.7 FM. Have a Merry Christmas.