Explanation: In 1914, the first year of WW1, when Christmas rolled around, many areas of the Western Front simply stopped fighting. As Christmas was celebrated on the same calendar date, and most combatants were Christians, it became a moment of unity in the midst of what was already-shaping-up-to-be a hopeless, pointless, miserable war which started for reasons few of the rank-and-file - or even the officers - were really all that clear on. Several days of unofficial truce followed Christmas, with troops from opposing sides exchanging gifts, food, singing carols, and playing games like football (soccer) together.
Obviously, this was DANGEROUS and COULD NOT BE ALLOWED, and when the brass heard about it, they made sure that it wouldn’t happen again. In 1915, 1916, and 1917, no such Christmas truce was repeated, as long-established units were rotated away from the front, and pointless offensives initiated to forestall any hope of a grassroots truce from taking effect.
After all, what if they realized they had more in common with each other than the aristocrats squabbling over Serbia’s borders…?
I don’t see my countrymen there…
