One of the most intriguing Christmas stories you will ever here is about the World War I 'Christmas Truce' of 1914. I know I'm showing more weirdness but yet I'm not. If you study art history you can't help but like history and it's something my grandfather first told me about years ago. It was only five months into the war and nobody yet understood industrialized or total war so a few leaders suggested a Christmas truce, the generals refused. On Christmas Eve some German soldiers began decorating their trenches with candles and trees and, generals be damned, the truce was born. The two sides sang carols together, exchanged gifts, and one group even played soccer in the no mans land between the trenches. The truce, mostly between German and British troops in Belgium, was never recognized by higher ups and the first official histories of the war ignored it completely. It never happened as far as they were concerned.
"O ye who read this truthful rime From Flanders, kneel and say:
God speed the time when every day
Shall be as Christmas Day."
From "A Carol from Flanders" by Frederick Niven
Snoopy vs. The Red Baron
link
"O ye who read this truthful rime From Flanders, kneel and say:
God speed the time when every day
Shall be as Christmas Day."
From "A Carol from Flanders" by Frederick Niven
Snoopy vs. The Red Baron
link
I've never heard of a Christmas truce! My brother is a huge history buff so I know a lot of little snippets, but maybe I can surprise him with this one :) Or maybe not.
ReplyDeleteGood luck with that. There is a good article on Wiki if you need to cram on it before you do. I love that story, it's just one of those in the end we are all the same type of things that don't happen nearly enough.
Delete