I cannot vouch for the accuracy of all the details in this presentation from the History Channel below, but I can vouch for the fact there was an unscheduled truce between British and German soldiers on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day in 1914.

It is one of the most remarkable stories to come out of the horrors that was the First World War. It speaks of the commonalities that the ordinary soldiers shared and how difficult it must have been for them to go back to killing one another as the “higher ups” could not allow peace to break out.

The assassination of an Austrian Archduke by Serbian anarchists set in motion a chain reaction of war that engulfed nearly all of Europe and other parts of the world. When it was over 16 million people were dead. Entangling alliances were the main reason for the war that was supposed to be the war to end all wars. Instead, it merely set the stage for the Second World War.

The Christmas Truce is a remarkable point in time in a war that should never have been fought.

And that’s the way I see it.