So it should not be a surprise to learn that Germans and English soldiers stopped fighting on Christmas Day 1914 to play soccer. Or so the legend goes.
The New York Times wrote on December 25, 2014:
"Yet on Dec. 24, much of the Western Front fell silent as ordinary soldiers made temporary peace with the enemy. This was the remarkable Christmas Truce of 1914.
According to several accounts, soccer games were played in no man's land with makeshift balls that Christmas. Lt. Kurt Zehmisch of Germany's 134th Saxons Infantry Regiment witnessed a match.
Eventually
the English brought a soccer ball from their trenches, and pretty soon a lively
game ensued. How marvelously wonderful, yet how strange it was. The English
officers felt the same way about it. Thus Christmas, the celebration of Love,
managed to bring mortal enemies together as our friends for a time."
Other historians have questioned whether such a game or a truce actually took place. James Masters in CNN in December 2014 quoted several. The article noted that regardless of historical accuracy, the English Premier League was celebrating the 100th anniversary of the truce and since 2011 had sponsored a Christmas Truce youth tournament in Belgium.
The consensus seems to be that while there may have been some instances of enemy soldiers kicking a ball around, there was probably not an actual truce between the two armies. Still, one can only hope that some day all global conflicts will be decided on the soccer pitch (or basketball court or hockey rink or ...) rather than on a battlefield.
