Today is Christmas Day, and marks the anniversary of the Christmas Truce of 1914.

Christmas Day is the holiday that celebrates the birthday of Jesus Christ, and though it began as a strictly Christian holiday, it is enjoyed today by people of many faiths, and by many secular people too. It is a time when people give and receive gifts, and when families and friends get together. One of the most common sentiments of the Christmas season, from the New Testament story of the birth of Jesus, is the phrase “peace on Earth, goodwill towards men” (Luke 2:14). On Christmas Day in 1914, five months after the outbreak of World War I, just such a sentiment played itself out in a most unlikely place. As Christmas Eve gave way to Christmas Day, the German troops stopped firing their guns and began to sing Christmas carols. Then, at the first light of dawn, many of the German soldiers came out from their trenches into the no-man’s-land between them and the Allied lines. At first, upon hearing the German soldiers’ calls of “Merry Christmas,” they feared it was a ruse. However, once they had perceived that the troops were unarmed, the Allied soldiers emerged from their trenches and met with the Germans, shaking hands and exchanging gifts of cigarettes and food. They spent the day together, singing carols and songs and playing games, including one case where soldiers from opposing sides engaged in a good-natured soccer match. Following this so-called “Christmas Truce,” World War I continued to escalate into one of the bloodiest conflicts in European history. This rare act of chivalry between enemies was not repeated, but for one Christmas Day in 1914, these soldiers, be they German, French, Russian or British, were not opponents in war, but rather they were all men, gathered together in camaraderie and friendship.

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In Love of War in Tim O’Brien’s “How to Tell a True War Story” (9–12), students explore the relationship of love and war by examining texts on camaraderie among soldiers. After viewing video on the topic and reading a short story, students compose a visual collage depicting their own beliefs about the relationship between love and war.