WORLD WAR I

CHRISTMAS TRUCE
WORLD WAR I
World War I, or the Great War, started in August of 1914 with the
assassination of Austrian archduke Franz Ferdinand and the invasion
of a German colony called Togoland in West Africa by French and
British troops. The Allies were on one side of the war. This included the
United Kingdom, France, the Russian Empire, New Zealand, Belgium,
Serbia, Canada, Australia, Italy, Romania, and the United States. The
other side, the Central Powers, included Germany and Austria-
Hungary. For the majority of the war, Allied and German Forces were
at a stalemate in trench warfare all along the Western Front with the
exception of the Christmas of 1914.

TRENCH WARFARE
Soldiers in the trenches often fought within thirty
yards of their enemies. The area between the
two sides was called “No Man’s Land.” In
December of 1914, about four months after the
fighting had begun, the exchange of fire was
heavy. The British troops lying in their cold trenches must have been
amazed when they heard a distant chorus of German soldiers singing
“Stille Nacht” or “Silent Night.”

GIFTS
Both sides had already received their Christmas gifts
from home. The Allied forces were given packages
containing chocolates, tobacco, and notes from home.
The German troops also received gifts, including
Christmas trees, or tannenbaums in German. The
Germans were given candles to light on Christmas Eve.
They set some of their trees upon the ledges of their
trenches and started singing.
©Teaching to the Middle
PEACE OFFERING
British troops easily recognized the tune of “Silent Night” and joined in
slowly. Both sides peered over their trenches cautiously. A writer from
the British Daily Telegraph wrote that someone from the German line
slipped a chocolate cake into one of the British trenches. The cake
included a message asking for a truce for the evening and on
Christmas day. A truce is a suspension in fighting for a period of time
agreed upon by both sides. The note supposedly said, “You no fight, we
no fight.”
TRUCE
Both sides wanted to celebrate Christmas, so a truce
was agreed upon. They started to shout holiday
greetings back and forth and up and down the
trenches, to display acts of trust. Christmas rations
were tossed back and forth across enemy lines, as well
as Christmas gifts. They exchanged tobacco, buttons,
and chocolate. The men sang songs and it is rumored
that one German soldier even put on a juggling act in the
center of No Man’s Land. Another group even played a
game of soccer on Christmas Day.

LENGTH
In some areas the truce was continued until after New Year’s Day, but
in others the fighting resumed the day after Christmas, as if the
truce had never happened.

AGAINST ORDERS
This informal celebration of Christmas was a direct contradiction to
their orders, but the officers simply “looked the other way.” One
German soldier, Kurt Zehmisch, wrote in his diary, “Thus Christmas, the
celebration of Love, managed to bring mortal enemies together as
friends for a time.” Some officers were angry with the “fraternization
with the enemy” though.

LEGACY
The story of the Christmas Truce has been translated into songs,
books, and movies many times. The first official Truce memorial was
unveiled on November 11, 2008 at the actual site of one of the
Christmas Truce soccer games. The Christmas Truce is considered one
of the most unusual events in all of human history.
©Teaching to the Middle
Name____________________________________________________

World War I
CHRISTMAS TRUCE
MATCHING: Match each term with its description.
1. ____ Ferdinand A. Germany’s side of the war

2. ____ Allies B. Christmas carol sung by troops

3. ____ Central Powers C. When neither side is able to move forward

4. ____ stalemate D. Land between opposing trenches during World War I

5. ____ Western Front E. Food rumored to be slipped across enemy lines

6. ____ No Man’s Land F. Archduke assassinated, sparking World War I

7.. ____ Silent Night G. German Christmas trees given to soldiers

8. ____ tannebaum H. Some waited until this day to resume fighting

9. ____ cake I. Side of war the United States was on

10. ____ New Year’s J. Location of trench warfare in World War I

TRUE OR FALSE?: Place a check in the correct column.

Statement T F

11. The United States were part of the allies during World War I.

12. The Allies were winning the war during Christmas of 1914.

13. World War I had been going on for around 9 months on Christmas 1914.

14. German soldiers did not receive any Christmas presents.

15. The soldiers played a soccer game during the Christmas Truce.

16. All officers “looked the other way” while fraternization occurred.

17. The fighting resumed everywhere the day after Christmas.

18. Many books have been written about the Christmas Truce in WWI.

19. A memorial was constructed in 2008 to acknowledge the truce.

20. The Christmas truce of WWI is one of the most unusual historical
events.
©Teaching to the Middle
MULTIPLE CHOICE: Choose the best answer.

21. What is the author’s purpose in writing this article?

A. To inform the reader of an event that occurred during World War I.
B. To persuade the reader that all wars should have times of truce.
C. To entertain the reader with an interesting story about a truce.
D. To explain how trench warfare worked during World War I.

22. Which of the following is NOT true about the fighting of World War I?
A. Fighting mostly took place from trenches.
B. Much of the time the sides were in stalemate.
C. Hand-to-hand combat was common.
D. Hand-to-hand combat only occurred after crossing “No Man’s Land.”

23. Which is NOT true about the Christmas Truce of World War I?
A. The soldiers sang Silent Night together.
B. The Germans supposedly proposed the truce.
C. The soldiers exchanged gifts with one another.
D. A baseball game was played in the center of No Man’s Land.

24. Which of the following BEST describes the author’s tone toward the
Christmas Truce of World War I?
A. Critical B. Sarcastic
C. Admiring D. Condescending

25. Which country was NOT part of the Allies?

A. United States B. United Kingdom
C. Germany D. France

26. Which of the following was NOT an item exchanged by soldiers?

A. Buttons B. Weapons
C. Chocolate D. Tobacco

27. Which of the following sentences LEAST supports the central idea of the
selection?
A. The Christmas Truce is considered one of the most unusual events in all
of human history.
B. The British troops must have been amazed when they were lying in their
cold trenches on the front line when they heard a distant chorus of
German soldiers singing “Stille Nacht” or “Silent Night.”
C. Many soldiers in the trenches fought within thirty yards of their enemies.
D. Another group even played a game of soccer on Christmas Day.
©Teaching to the Middle
 THE CHRISTMAS TRUCE
By Carol Ann Duffy
Stop the War Coalition, 31 May 2013.
UK Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy wrote this poem in remembrance of the soldiers in
the German and British trenches in World War 1, who declared a momentary unilateral
truce in the slaughter at Christmas 1914, in recognition of what united them as human
beings, rather than the war that divided them as killing machines.

1Christmas Eve in the trenches of France, the guns were quiet.

The dead lay still in No Man's Land – Freddie, Franz, Friedrich, Frank . . .
The moon, like a medal, hung in the clear, cold sky.

4Silver frost on barbed wire, strange tinsel, sparkled and winked.

A boy from Stroud stared at a star
to meet his mother's eyesight there.
An owl swooped on a rat on the glove of a corpse.

8In a copse of trees behind the lines, a lone bird sang.

A soldier-poet noted it down– a robin holding his winter ground –
Then silence spread and touched each man like a hand.

Somebody kissed the gold of his ring;

11

a few lit pipes;

most, in their greatcoats, huddled,
waiting for sleep.
The liquid mud had hardened at last in the freeze.

But it was Christmas Eve; believe; belief thrilled the night air,
16

where glittering rime on unburied sons

treasured their stiff hair.
The sharp, clean, midwinter smell held memory.

20On watch, a rifleman scoured the terrain –

no sign of life,
no shadows, shots from snipers, nowt to note or report.
The frozen, foreign fields were acres of pain.

23Then flickering flames from the other side danced in his eyes,
As Christmas Trees in their dozens shone, candlelit on the parapets,
and they started to sing, all down the German lines.

26Men who would drown in mud, be gassed, or shot, or vaporised

By falling shells, or live to tell, heard for the first time then –
Stille Nacht. Heilige Nacht. Alles schläft, einsam wacht...
29Cariad, the song was a sudden bridge from man to man;
a gift to the heart from home,
or childhood, some place shared ...
When it was done, the British soldiers cheered. ©Teaching to the Middle
33 A Scotsman started to bawl The First Noel
and all joined in,
till the Germans stood, seeing
across the divide,
the sprawled, mute shapes of those who had died.

38All night, along the Western Front, they sang, the enemies –
carols, hymns, folk songs, anthems, in German, English, French;
each battalion choired in its grim trench.

So Christmas dawned, wrapped in mist, to open itself

41

and offer the day like a gift

for Harry, Hugo, Hermann, Henry, Heinz...
with whistles, waves, cheers, shouts, laughs.

45 Frohe Weinachten, Tommy! Merry Christmas, Fritz!

A young Berliner, brandishing schnapps,
was the first from his ditch to climb.
A Shropshire lad ran at him like a rhyme.

49Then it was up and over, every man, to shake the hand

of a foe as a friend,
or slap his back like a brother would;
exchanging gifts of biscuits, tea, Maconochie’s stew,

53Tickler's jam ... for cognac, sausages, cigars,

beer, sauerkraut;
or chase six hares, who jumped from a cabbage-patch, or find a ball
and make of a battleground a football pitch.

58 I showed him a picture of my wife. Ich zeigte ihm

ein Foto meiner Frau.
Sie sei schön, sagte er.
He thought her beautiful, he said.
62They buried the dead then, hacked spades into hard earth
again and again, till a score of men
were at rest, identified, blessed.
Der Herr ist mein Hirt ... my shepherd, I shall not want.
66And all that marvellous, festive day and night, they came and went,
the officers, the rank and file, their fallen comrades side by side
beneath the makeshift crosses of midwinter graves...

69..beneath the shivering, shy stars and

the pinned moon
and the yawn of History;
the high, bright bullets
which each man later
only aimed at the sky.

©Teaching to the Middle

Name____________________________________________________

THE CHRISTMAS TRUCE

By Carol Ann Duffy
MULTIPLE CHOICE: Choose the best answer.
1) What is the main reason Carol Ann Duffy write the poem, “The Christmas
Truce?”
A. To explain how soldiers stopped fighting during World War I.
B. To persuade the reader that soldiers should stop fighting.
C. To honor those soldiers who fought in World War I and were part of the
Christmas truce.
D. To entertain the reader with a story about a truce in World War I.

2) In which country were the soldiers of World War I mostly fighting?

A. France
B. Germany
C. United States
D. England

3) What was “No Man’s Land?”

A. The Western Front in France.
B. The land between enemy trenches on the Western
Front.
C. The area where soldiers lived during World War I.
D. The land where soldiers were buried.

4) What is the main reason Duffy puts names in her poem, like Freddie and Franz?
A. To honor those who died in the war.
B. To help the readers recognize the people involved.
C. To help the readers make a personal connection to the soldiers.
D. To show the nationality of the soldiers.

5) “Freddie, Franz, Freidrech, Frank…” is an example of which type of figurative

language?
A. Simile
B. Metaphor
C. Personification
D. Alliteration

6) “The moon, like a medal, hung in the clear, cold sky” is an example of which type
of figurative language?
A. Simile
B. Metaphor
C. Personification
D. Alliteration ©Teaching to the Middle
7) “Silver frost on barbed wire, strange tinsel, sparkled and winked” is an
example of which type of figurative language?
A. Simile
B. Metaphor
C. Personification
D. Alliteration

8) Which type of interaction did NOT occur between soldiers during the truce?
A. Exchanged gifts
B. Practiced shooting
C. Played games
D. Sang carols

9) Who is speaking in line 58?

A. The poet
B. A soldier
C. A captain
D. Duffy

10) What is the main reason many of the dead were buried during the truce?
A. They had the opportunity to do so without getting shot.
B. They had a break.
C. They wanted to honor them.
D. They were upset.

11) “…beneath the shivering, shy stars” is an example of which type of

figurative language?
A. Simile
B. Metaphor
C. Personification
D. Hyperbole

12) What is the most likely reason Duffy calls the

Christmas truce a “yawn in history?”
A. It was boring.
B. It was war.
C. Soldiers were tired.
D. People stopped fighting for a brief moment.

13) What is the overall mood of the poem?

A. Celebratory
B. Romantic
C. Melancholy
D. Annoyed

©Teaching to the Middle