WEBVTT - BrainStuff Classics: What Was the Christmas Truce?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff production of I Heart Radio. Hey

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<v Speaker 1>brain Stuff, Lauren Bogle bom here with another classic episode

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<v Speaker 1>from our archives. The Holidays are supposed to be a

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<v Speaker 1>time of peace and togetherness, but of course wars don't

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<v Speaker 1>stop for the holidays, whether it's within our families or

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<v Speaker 1>among our nations. But today's episode is the story of

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<v Speaker 1>one time that war did stop for Christmas. High brain

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<v Speaker 1>Stuff Lauren Bogle bam here Today, I've got a Christmas

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<v Speaker 1>story for you, and I promise it has a happy ending.

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<v Speaker 1>The beginning is a little bit harsh though a World

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<v Speaker 1>War One gave the world its first brush with efficient

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<v Speaker 1>and widespread death. More than eight point five million people

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<v Speaker 1>would lose their lives to the war. Troops used trench

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<v Speaker 1>warfare for the first time. The hundreds of miles of

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<v Speaker 1>trenches that marked the landscape from the English Channel to

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<v Speaker 1>Switzerland held an astounding average of one soldier for every

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<v Speaker 1>four inches. Both sides held tenaciously to their positions. The

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<v Speaker 1>Battle of Verdun lasted nine months, caused three hundred thousand

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<v Speaker 1>deaths and resulted in almost no change in the position

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<v Speaker 1>of the lines. New technology made its way into battlefields

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<v Speaker 1>of France, Germany and Belgium, bringing death to soldiers in

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<v Speaker 1>new horrible ways. Machine Guns, which had made their debut

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<v Speaker 1>in the American Civil War, became more efficient over the

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<v Speaker 1>ensuing decades, and by the early twentieth century they could

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<v Speaker 1>deal six hundred rounds per minute. Chemical warfare was refined

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<v Speaker 1>in the form of mustard, chlorine and phosgene gas. Airplanes

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<v Speaker 1>were used for the first time in major combat, including

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<v Speaker 1>the concept of mass casualty bombings. The tank and the

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<v Speaker 1>flamethrower both made their debuts with mixed results, and the

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<v Speaker 1>casualties of World War One extended to civilians, making the

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<v Speaker 1>Great War a total war. In the midst of all

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<v Speaker 1>this madness, however, an event took place that serves to

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<v Speaker 1>renew a little faith in humanity. The Christmas Truce was

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<v Speaker 1>a brief moment of sanity, standing out against the chaos

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<v Speaker 1>of war. One of the first public statements Pope Benedict

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<v Speaker 1>the fifteenth made when he was elected to the papacy

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<v Speaker 1>was to plea for a truce on Christmas Day. Although

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<v Speaker 1>the Germans entertained the idea of a Christmas truce, the

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<v Speaker 1>Allied forces rejected it. Benedict's request fell to the wayside.

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<v Speaker 1>World War One had begun in Earnest on the Western

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<v Speaker 1>Front in the Flanders area of Belgium. The Christmas season

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<v Speaker 1>arrived amid heavy fighting. Both sides were dug in and miserable.

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<v Speaker 1>Soldiers learned what it meant to live in discomfort and fear.

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<v Speaker 1>In some cases, enemy soldiers fought from trenches just thirty

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<v Speaker 1>yards or twenty seven ms from one another. All along

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<v Speaker 1>the front that Christmas, British and German troops received packages.

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<v Speaker 1>Inside they found notes of appreciation, chocolates, putting, tobacco and

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<v Speaker 1>other tokens. In their packages, the German troops received Christmas trees.

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<v Speaker 1>The small trees at tenen Bombs in German were sent

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<v Speaker 1>to the front perplete with small candles to light. On

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<v Speaker 1>Christmas Eve of nineteen fourteen, German soldiers lit the candles

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<v Speaker 1>and set some trees up on the ledges of their trenches.

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<v Speaker 1>When they began singing, the British troops joined in. Wary

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<v Speaker 1>hopeful soldiers began to peer over the trenches. As Christmas

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<v Speaker 1>broke over Flanders, a truce was carved. From the spirit

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<v Speaker 1>of the season. Germans held up signs unifight weeno fight

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<v Speaker 1>British troops responded with signs proclaiming Merry Christmas. This Christmas

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<v Speaker 1>did turn out to be a very one. Today's episode

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<v Speaker 1>was written by Josh Clark and produced by Tristan McNeil

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<v Speaker 1>and Tyler Play. For more on this and lots of

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<v Speaker 1>other warming topics, visit how stuff works dot com. Brain

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<v Speaker 1>Stuff is a production of My heart Radio. Or more

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