_{NOTE (4/1/08): Moved from Community Projects > Contests > 2007 > 2007 Holiday Contests > Nativity Contest in order to make available as print.}

'Twas Christmas in the trenches where the frost, so bitter hung
The frozen fields of France were warmed as songs of peace were sung
For the walls they'd kept between us to exact the work of war
Had been crumbled and were gone forevermore

My name is Francis Tolliver, in Liverpool I dwell
Each Christmas come since World War I, I've learned its lessons well
That the ones who call the shots won't be among the dead and lame
And on each end of the rifle we're the same

- John McCutcheon, Christmas in the Trenches.


We talked, mainly in French, because my German was not very good and none of the Germans could speak English well. But we managed to get together all right. One of them said, "We don't want to kill you and you don't want to kill us, so why shoot?"

- 2nd. Lieutenant Cyril Drummond, 135th Battery, Royal Field Artillery.

In 1914 the world was plunged into conflict with the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria. Called the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All Wars; fought simultaneously on land, sea and, for the first time, air, it was, up to that point, the single most devastating conflict in modern history, resulting in the deaths of between 20 and 70 million people - almost half of them civilians, and not all of them lost to battle. It disintegrated four empires, devastated countries, and paved the way for a second, even deadlier war.

On the Western Front, the war was fought in trenches separated by stretches of ground known as No Man's Land, littered with land mines, barbed wires and corpses, and devastated by intense bombing and shelling. Pinned down, with no effective way to advance upon the enemy, a stalemate was forced as both sides were left to suffer the discomfort of the cold, the mud, the unpalatably repetitive rations, the rats and lice - and disease.

But something extraordinary happened around the Christmas of 1914. The sound of artillery faded to a dull thud, and lit Christmas trees appeared along the German front. Carols filled the air as the English and the Germans vied with one another for supremacy of song. Occasionally projectiles sailed from one trench to the other, exploding in treats rather than shrapnel. Heads peeked cautiously above sandbags and, when no bullets followed, soldiers gathered the courage to venture into No Man's Land, where they met "yesterday's enemies" hand to hand. While orders were issued by some commanders against fraternising with the enemy, many high-ranking officers decided to relax regulations for the season, and some of them even joined in the making of contact. Conversations broke out, items were exchanged - photographs, chocolates, cigarettes, coat buttons -, football games were played. Their fallen comrades were finally given a decent burial, and services were held. The truce held 'til Christmas Day for some, the New Year for others, as soldiers finally settled back to war.

This is a message to remind those reading it that Christmas isn't all about stockings and credit cards, turkey dinners and plays; and that, even in the darkest of times, Christmas can be beautiful, for a moment however brief.

A meaningful Christmas to those who celebrate it, and good tidings this holiday season to all else.


------------------------


My Christmas card for the year, and my submission for `shell4art's Christmas contest. I know it's a rather odd choice of themes, but she did say, "It can be anything!"

The story of the Christmas truce caught my imagination ever since I read about it in a magazine as a child, and when I recently found John McCutcheon's song, Christmas in the Trenches, it brought back memories of the story, and I badly wanted to draw it. I do not expect this even begins to do the story justice, but for now I am at peace with it.


NOTES

Yes, the Christmas truce of 1914 really happened. It is not a myth cooked up by sentimentalists and pacifists, though it has gained some sort of legendary status.

No, in spite of its strangeness, it was not a unique occurrence in history. There was another truce between the French and German the next year, and 1916 Easter truce. Earlier back there were similar periods of peace in the Americal Civil War and the Crimean War, among others. It is, however, the best known, best documented and most publicised one.

There is apparently a 2005 movie, Joyeux Noel, which is based upon the story of the Christmas truce. Never having seen it before, however, I do not know how accurate or inaccurate the account is. EDIT: Found the DVD in time to watch it on Christmas Day 2007!

I know that the sinking of the Lusitania happened *after* the truce and that I could just as well have drawn, say, the Battle of Jutland, but it seemed to me a good reminder of how war can devastate lives that have nothing to do with it. That, and I just like liners.

Researched and referenced from a large mound of WWI historical media. Drawn with 0.05mm, 0.1mm, 0.5mm technical pens and a broad-tipped felt pen; small areas had to be re-inked digitally following a minor accident involving a runaway pen. Digitally tinted with Corel PhotoPaint.

Anyone seeking to point out that at certain places people were still being shot at, that some soldiers/officers were using the truce as a chance for reconnaisance, or that a percentage of the participants of the truce still harboured prejudice and hatred for the enemy will please refrain from playing the Grinch. Similarly, those tempted to launch into an argument about politics, religion or intolerance are respectfully requested to hold their tongues.


GIVEAWAY - claimed by !

I am giving away a printed card copy of this picture to the first person to correctly tell me the outcome of the famous football game in the Frelinghein-Houplines sector, as described by German officer Leutnant Johannes Niemann as well as several others (the score, and in whose favour). Please bear in mind, however, that you *will* have to supply me with your postal address (!) and, depending on the distance between on our countries, the card may or may not arrive before 25th December (although I can safely say that it will get there before the 12th day of Christmas).