Eugene V. Debs on the 1914 Christmas Truce
Our Christmas present to you: a long-lost Eugene V. Debs article on the famed 1914 Christmas truce, in which German and British soldiers dropped their weapons for a day and played football together — displaying humanity in the face of barbarity.
An illustration of British and German troops suspending hostilities for Christmas in 1914. (Print Collector / Getty Images)
The soldiers engaged in the European slaughter have become entirely too friendly with each other. They have in fact fraternized when they have had a chance instead of fratriciding.
And this has been pronounced a crime and threatened with punishment as the following cablegram explains:
The German army authorities have issued a general order prohibiting in the future troops in the field from fraternizing with forces of the enemy as they did at several points in the western theater of the war at Christmas. To such an extent was this fraternizing carried out, that at one place the Germans and British played football Christmas Eve and they agreed to suspend hostilities for two days more.
This article is for subscribers only. Please login or subscribe to access our full archives and beautiful print and digital magazine starting at just $3 a month.