A closer look
British and German soldiers temporarily paused the horrifying carnage of World War I to celebrate Christmas together in 1914, singing carols and exchanging small gifts in the frozen mud of no man's land. The unofficial ceasefire happened completely spontaneously, with men climbing out of their miserable trenches to play casual games of soccer and trade cigarettes with the very people they were trying to murder yesterday. It is often painted as a beautiful testament to the enduring power of human decency and peace, but the completely unhinged part is what happened immediately after the holidays ended. The high command on both sides completely freaked out about this unauthorized outbreak of friendship and heavily threatened the officers, ordering the men to get right back to slaughtering each other. So after a lovely weekend of sharing chocolate and kicking a ball around, they spent the next four years burying each other in artillery fire
