From truce in the trenches to cocktails at the consulate: How Christmas diplomacy seeks to exploit seasonal goodwill

From truce in the trenches to cocktails at the consulate: How Christmas diplomacy seeks to exploit seasonal goodwill

British and German troops observe a temporary truce on Christmas Day 1914. Daily Mirror/Mirrorpix via Getty ImagesPresident Donald Trump is reportedly setting his sights on a Christmas peace deal in the Ukraine-Russia war. The timing is apt. Every December, political leaders reach instinctively for the language of goodwill. Meanwhile, diplomats the world over use the season to host parties at which gift-giving and booze are used to help foster f…

The Christmas Truce of 1914: Here’s what really happened

by Jonah McKeown St. Louis, Mo., Dec 25, 2022 / 10:00 am The experience of fighting in “The Great War,” World War I, was marked by brutality and misery on a scale never before seen. The grisly realities of trench warfare had already, in just five months, claimed a million lives by the time Christmas came along in 1914, and on the orders of their superiors, young men from both sides routinely gunned or gassed one another into oblivion. But in the…

The Untold Story of the Pope Behind the Famous Christmas Truce of 1914

It’s a story of hope for modern man; a glimmer of light amid the darkness of the 20th century that suggests perhaps we won’t end up destroying ourselves after all.We're talking about the famous Christmas Truce of 1914. Here is the story:In World War I, German and British soldiers throughout Europe called unofficial ceasefires on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, ventured into “no-man’s land” between the sides, and enjoyed conversation, caroling, …