WEBVTT - The Tale of the Christmas Truce

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff from How Stuff Works High brain Stuff,

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<v Speaker 1>Lauren vocal bomb. Here today, I've got a Christmas story

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<v Speaker 1>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 we

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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<v Speaker 1>the 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 meters 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 ten and bombs in German were

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<v Speaker 1>sent to the front, replete with small candles to light.

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

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<v Speaker 1>candles and set some trees up on the ledges of

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

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

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

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<v Speaker 1>spirit of the season. Germans held up signs Uni fight,

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<v Speaker 1>wen Know Fight. British troops responded with signs proclaiming Merry Christmas.

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<v Speaker 1>This Christmas did turn out to be a merry one.

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<v Speaker 1>Today's episode was written by Josh Clark and produced by

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<v Speaker 1>Tristan McNeil. By the way, if you're listening to data,

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<v Speaker 1>episode publishes Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays. For more on

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<v Speaker 1>this and lots of other seasonal topics. Visit our home planet,

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<v Speaker 1>how stuff works dot com.