1914- True story of "the war ON Christmas"

1914 The Christmas Truce


Just after midnight on Christmas morning, the majority of German troops engaged in World War I cease firing their guns and artillery and commence to sing Christmas carols. At certain points along the eastern and western fronts, the soldiers of Russia, France, and Britain even heard brass bands joining the Germans in their joyous singing.

At the first light of dawn, many of the German soldiers emerged from their trenches and approached the Allied lines across no-man's-land, calling out "Merry Christmas" in their enemies' native tongues. At first, the Allied soldiers feared it was a trick, but seeing the Germans unarmed they climbed out of their trenches and shook hands with the enemy soldiers. The men exchanged presents of cigarettes and plum puddings and sang carols and songs. There was even a documented case of soldiers from opposing sides playing a good-natured game of soccer.

The so-called Christmas Truce of 1914 came only five months after the outbreak of war in Europe and was one of the last examples of the outdated notion of chivalry between enemies in warfare. In 1915, the bloody conflict of World War I erupted in all its technological fury, and the concept of another Christmas Truce became unthinkable.

http://www.historychannel.com/tdih/tdih.jsp?category=general&month=10272964&day=10272990

Every time I hear it, I'm crushed by how for one calm night, the men who were sent to fight and die in their monarchs' barbaric war were able to find peace and joy and the next day, all of this was crushed by the drumbeat of machine guns and artillery. It's so sad.

and the "authorities" on both sides redeployed the troups and brought up fresh men. The men who celebrated the birth of Jesus together would not take up arms against their brothers in Christ.

:hi:

During a war of ideals, they stopped to observe religion. It's hard to do that now when the war is based on religion itself. That would certainly have been a sight to see. It's funny, I never heard of that in my highschool and college history classes, that really should be something that is pointed out to the students of today.

"In the last wintry months of 1914 the First World War had barely started, but
the people in the trenches believed the war would be a matter of weeks rather
than years. Just before Christmas the Germans, led by Horstmayer (Daniel Brühl,
from Good bye, Lenin!) have lined up against the allied front of the French (led
by Guillaume Canet?s Lieutenant Audebert) and the Scots, led by Gordon (Alex
Ferns).
      Amongst the Germans is the famous tenor Nikolaus Sprink (Benno
Fürmann), who has been drafted into the army just like anyone else, much to the
displeasure of his Danish girlfriend Anna Sörensen (Diane Kruger), who is also
an opera singer. Through the right connections, she is able to come and visit him
at the front and on Christmas eve Sprink and Sörensen find themselves together
in the trenches. When they hear the Scots playing their bagpipes, the tenor-come-
soldier, with all the flair of a man of the theatre, hops out of the trenches into no
man?s land, singing on the top of his longs with only a Christmas-tree for
protection.
      The universality and sentimentality of the peace-preaching Christmas songs
hesitantly lead the three commanding officers to call a temporary truce. But rather
than staying in their respective trenches, each side soon joins the officers in no
man?s land for an exchange of Christmas wishes, chocolate and spirits, only to
find (not unsurprisingly) that the enemy is more similar to them than the war-
propaganda would have them believe. As Lieutenant Audebert later puts it "we
have more in common with the German soldiers than with the
French politicians that are sending us off into war". But what are the
consequences of this? Where and when does the Christmas spirit end and do
they have to revert back to killing one another, as their respective countries
demand and expect of good soldiers?
      In the deceptively simple screenplay written by the director, the exploration of
the characters and the ideas of patriotism and fatherland (which are so important
in keeping up the troops? morale) are cunningly entwined. Our group of
protagonists is a miniature version of the cosmopolitan and completely
interconnected European patchwork of countries and the European motto ?In
varietate concordia? (United in diversity). Mutual respect and ?violence have
always dominated European history. Carion treatment of grand themes are
alternated with the careful observation of small details, including the ever present
lice and endless waiting for battle rather than ongoing fighting rings true and
adds a layer of authenticity often lacking in films set in the period. A small scene
involving Anna running into the French owners of what is now the German
headquarters at the front underlines the tragic nature of war perfectly; the
husband wants nothing to do with Anna (while she is not even German, though he
does not know that) while his wife tries to look past the war to see the human
being, despite the fact that the war has robbed her of her own home."

(...)

http://www.europeanfilms.net/reviews/2005/joyeuxnoel.html

Telegraph review:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2005/12/02/bfnoel02.xml&sSheet=/arts/2005/12/02/ixfilmmain.html