Description
Amidst one of the most violent conflicts of human history, a unique event unfolded five months into the hostilities along the Western Front of the First World War. Lulls had occurred in the fighting as armies ran out of men and munitions and commanders reconsidered their strategies following the first two major engagements. And in the weeks leading up to Christmas Day in 1914, French, German, and British soldiers crossed trenches to exchange seasonal greetings and talk. The soldiers organized a series of informal truces for a number of activities from collecting their dead comrades from the battlefield to a football match leading to the exchanging of gifts and celebrating Christmas Day together. This lecture covers this remarkable symbolic moment of peace and humanity amidst the horrors of war.
