“The Christmas Truce of 1914”
by Tom Streissguth.
Abdo Publishing, Minneapolis, 2016, 112 pages, Grades 6-9.
In the summer of 1914, Europe reaches a high state of economic security and social confidence. The philosophical movement known as the Enlightenment initiated 200 years earlier appears to be accurate. Mankind will make good decisions based on the inherent goodness in human nature. Old fashioned ideas, such as the need for redemption and original sin are just that: old fashioned. History is continually showing the benevolent nature of man. Until it doesn’t.
Tom Streissguth tells the grim story of the outbreak of World War I in this outstanding work of nonfiction. While concentrating on the entire conflict, he details the numerous truces worked out between soldiers on the opposing sides in December 1914. The title of this well-written book is “The Christmas Truce of 1914.”
On June 28, 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife, Sophie, are assassinated in Sarajevo. Now part of the independent nation of Bosnia, Sarajevo was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1914. Since the assassin is from Serbia, Austria declares war on the smaller country. This sets off the system of entangled alliances whereby countries pledge to declare war on any country attacking their allies. All the major countries of Europe are involved in these entangled alliances. A domino effect happens as countries declare war to protect their allies. By August 1914, World War I breaks out with all its fury.
The slaughter in the opening battles of the war is unimaginable. Military leaders on both sides order frontal assaults. But the day of Napoleonic charges are over and the machine gun becomes the Grim Reaper. By Christmas, 1914, all the armies are hunkered down in 7-foot deep trenches that extend 500 miles from the North Sea to Switzerland.
After months of carnage, something unusual and holy occurs. The soldiers stop fighting on Christmas Eve. The German armies begin singing Christmas carols such as Stille Nacht and the British soldiers then sing the same song, Silent Night, in English. On Christmas Day, the soldiers call a truce and begin burying the dead found in the space between the trenches known as “No Man’s Land.” Before long, a soccer ball is kicked onto the field and soldiers from both sides begin playing a match. Soon the soldiers are trading chocolate, cigarettes and Christmas goodies and laughing with each other.
The high commands of each side are appalled by this attitude. If this keeps up, the soldiers will soon refuse to shoot each other. Within several days, the armies are commanded to begin bombarding the other side again. With this, the “Give Peace a Chance” idea ends. The war will continue for almost four more years. It will become even more horrible when poison gas is used by the German army. Lest the British and French think they are innocent, they start using poison gas assaults on the Germans and Austrians.
This horror continues until Nov. 11, 1918. Knowing the war will be over at 11 a.m., both sides engage in furious bombardments and frontal attacks during the final four hours of the war. To put it mildly, the Great War, as it will be known, puts an end to the naïve, dangerous and stupid idea of the Enlightenment that mankind does not need a Savior and will always choose the good.
However, this book demonstrates that by turning to loving friendship, mankind can move past hatred and open itself up to healing. I highly recommend Tom Streissguth’s book, “The Christmas Truce of 1914.”
