Christmas Eve 1914, fighting stopped along the Western Front as the Allies and Central Powers came together to exchange gifts, play football and celebrate the December holiday.  

In several instances along the trenches, ally soldiers documented the sudden murmuring of German voices from across No Man’s Land as the German soldiers were singing to themselves “Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht”–otherwise known as the prominent Christmas Carol, Silent Night.  

German soldiers were cited to have used candles to light lines of Christmas trees along their trench, an act that initially brought uncertainty, but would soon shift to relief.  

One soldier, a British machine gunner named Bruce Bairnsfather, recalled German soldiers yelling to the other side, “Come over here!” to which a British sergeant replied, “You come half-way. I come half-way.”  

Just that one instance of tenuous trust had soldiers from either side nervously climbing from the trenches to meet their adversaries within No Man’s Land. When once greeted by artillery and bullets, now the German and British soldiers greeted one another with handshakes and gifts. 

Soldiers sang together, traded gifts like tobacco and wine and found themselves playing football. While soldiers celebrated, others used the time to tend to the dead, bury the fallen or tidy up the typically musty trenches.  

The truce was not confined to one instance of British and German revelry. French, Belgian, German and British troops held ceasefires along the Western Front. In this spontaneous instance, soldiers found in their enemies a common quality, a sense of humanity usually ignored in the heat of battle. 

The war had only been going on for six months, but what many soldiers once thought would be a quick war would continue for another four years before the conflict came to an end. This brief respite would serve as the last Christmas for many of the soldiers, and the commanding officers of either side would never allow another event like this to occur during future holidays.  

Despite being only a brief moment of revelry and relief, the Christmas truce remains one of the most notable moments during the First World War. Soldiers who had fought and killed one another came together to celebrate and play. The event remains a firm reminder of the humanity in every person, even amidst the throes of war. 

If just given the chance for peace, the common man will strive to achieve it, even if only for a moment.