It’s late 1914. 

December cold in the trenches of the Western Front of World War I.

Rations are in short supply.

Men shiver… dreaming of home. Wishing they were far away. 

The fighting has stretched on for five months. 

France and the UK battling Germany and Austria-Hungary.

For months, here in the trenches, the sounds of the machine gun fire have peppered every waking moment. 

The whining of the bullets. The hissing and the cracking. 

But this morning — Christmas morning — the guns stop. 

It’s not planned. It’s spontaneous. 

But it happens all along the front. 

And over hundreds of miles of trenches. 

Silence… And then singing.

Soft at first and then louder.

Carols. Christmas songs.

First one side sings in German. And then the other in French or English.

They applaud each other and cheer…  

They shout Christmas greetings to each other… 

From across the barren, machine gun riddled land in between these two armies.

Two armies locked in a viscous war that at this time has already killed hundreds of thousands of soldiers.

But today… something changes.

Today, these men from opposing armies refuse to fight.

And instead they lay down their weapons 

And they lift their heads. 

They cut away sections of the twisted barbed wired that block their path 

And they walk out into no man’s land.

To embrace their enemies.

[MUSIC]

They greet each other. 

They exchange gifts… food, chocolate, cigarettes and alcohol. 

Some of the men trade buttons and hats. 

Laughter and talk pours from the barren wasteland between these two opposing sides. 

And for a moment joy shines amid the frozen badlands of war.

Along some stretches of the front lines, they even kicked off impromptu games of soccer. 

“I wouldn’t have missed that unique and weird Christmas Day for anything,” British Captain Bruce Bairnsfather would later write. He said he even saw one of his men cutting a German soldier’s long hair.

They promise not to fire a shot until after midnight that day. 

In some areas, the ceasefire even begins on Christmas Eve and extends for a couple of days.

A Christmas Truce… a reminder of the humanity in us all…. 

A reminder of the resistance from men on the front lines to the savages of war 

Resistance to the orders from above. 

See… these men battling each day in the trenches… battling the cold and the hunger… the pain and the suffering.

They’re not the ones calling the shots. They’re not the ones waging war. They are the pawns. 

They are the casualties of war.

World War I would stretch on for years. Millions would die. 

But today… even just for one day, they stand down, and leave their guns in the trenches 

And embrace their enemies as friends.

Today, they refuse to fight. 

And this story of a Christmas Truce — this story of resistance — has been told again and again… year after year, generation after generation. 

Roughly 100,000 soldiers participated in the 1914 Christmas Day truce. There are many different recountings of this day. And that makes sense, since it took place over hundreds of miles of trenches, across Belgium and Northeastern France.

Some of the stories talk of candles and Christmas trees being set up over the trenches. All speak to the Christmas carols and the embracing of their enemies in no man’s land.

May it inspire no matter what country we come from, what language we speak or what religion we believe.

Happy Holidays folks. 

Thanks for listening. I’m your host Michael Fox. 

I love this story. I think it’s such an incredible testament to what is possible. And how two sides that are literally killing each other, can set it aside and embrace like brothers or friends.

Folks, if you have not heard, I have some really exciting news. This week, we launched Season 2 of Under the Shadow. I know this is a weird time to do it… just before the holiday break, but the race to war with Venezuela from the Trump administration is so great, that it couldn’t wait. In the first episode I look at what’s driving Trump’s threats in Latin America today and the dangers of a renewed Monroe Doctrine for the region.

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This is episode 82 of Stories of Resistance. If you don’t already subscribe to the show you can follow the links in the show notes. Stories of Resistance is produced by The Real News. Each week I bring you stories of resistance and hope like this. Inspiration for dark times. 

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