HistoryTube
  • Blog
  • YouTube
    • Ancient America
    • Ancient Egypt
    • Ancient Greece
    • Ancient Rome
    • Africa
    • China
    • Georgians
    • Holocaust
    • Tudors
    • World War I
    • World War II
    • History Meets English
    • History Meets Reality TV
    • History Meets Science
    • Royals
    • Time Team
    • YouTube Channels
    • Tony Robinson
    • Lucy Worsley
  • About Me
    • Portfolio
  • Privacy Policy

History Docs

Need a Documentary for a Class?  Check out my reviews!

The Remarkable Story of the Christmas Truce

12/15/2021

0 Comments

 
  Good Morning, we will continue our journey until Christmas with the story of the Christmas Truce.  This Christmas Truce Happened during World War II.  Thousands of Germans and English soldiers put down their arms to celebrate Christmas.  It is a special episode during the Great War and it happened in 1914.

The Germans were determined to take the allied troops off guard.  The French wanted to gain back their lost territories.  The Germans wanted to take the French out that way they could fight the Russians on the eastern front.  The Germans were pushed back and then they decided to dig in.  However, this failed and both sides dug in.  At the start of the war, the fighting was in the open field.  There were no trenches.  They fought in the open  Nobody expected what was to come next.

The soldiers ranged from the ’20s to their 40’s.  It was a professional army.  They were career soldiers.  There were no conscripts.  The Home Service ran at half state and when the war started, other soldiers were recalled to make up the difference.  Many of the men were not in tip-top fighting conditions.  The British had lost 90,000 men.  However, despite this, the German army was halted.  The Great War was now a siege.  The trench made it safer for the men to live.

However, poor drainage in the trenches leads to mud in the trenches.  Mud was a constant problem and a constant companion.  It was sticky.  The men were sent to the hospital because of their cold and wet feet.  It was a challenge to keep their feet clean.  Sleeping was a challenge.  It was so cold.  They sleep on the fire step or sleep on bags.  The man was exhausted.  It was nearly impossible to keep clean in the trenches.  With the little water, they had the soldiers managed to keep themselves clean.

Cleaning the weapons was also a challenge.  The soldiers had to keep their guns clean.  Two or three times the soldiers were clean the weapons.  The mud could cause their guns to jam.  Mealtimes were considered a high point of the day.  The British rations were intended to feed the body.  The food was repetitive.  It keeps the body going.

Conditions were barely better on the German side of no man’s land.  They worked on extending trenches.  They tried to keep everyone supplied.  The soldiers suffered from bowel problems.  It was the same thing every single day.  The men in the trenches do not see an end to the war.  On Christmas, Eve frost comes.  The conditions were ripe for what happened in December 1914.  Something is in the air.

The British headquarters thought that the Germans would attack, however it was not an attack.  They were celebrating Christmas.  The British soldiers saw the colored lights.  German families had sent Christmas trees to the front.  The German soldiers started singing Christmas trees.  The British soldiers were suspicious of the activities of the Germans.  Slowly the suspicions went away.  Soldiers started shouting across the no man’s land.  On Christmas, you did not shoot each other.  Slowly bolder spirits climbed out of the trenches to meet each other.  Celebrations started breaking out among groups on Christmas Day.  Christmas Day would be celebrated in an unforgettable way in December 1914.

This is an excellent documentary about the Christmas truce.  It was a bit slow to set up, however, the slowness demonstrated what fostered the Christmas truce.  I would show it in the classroom either as a teacher or a sub.  It would be a great way to end off the year before Christmas vacation.

You can access the documentary at this link.


0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    I'm a librarian with an active imagination who likes to create.  Genealogist and Researcher.

    Like what you see?  Don't forget to smash the bookmark button!

    Blogs posted five days a week for the school year September-May and for summer blogs posted three days a week June-August!

    If you can, try to purchase these documentaries to support these historians!  If you can't purchase, subscribe to their channels or podcasts!

    Worksheets

    My Teachers Pay Teachers Store!  Worksheets available as a Word Document.

    Lulu Store

    I am also on Lulu!  If you're interested in genealogy I have several books available!

    Archives

    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020

    Categories

    All
    1065
    1066
    1900's Island
    Abandoned
    Abraham Lincoln
    Africa
    Alexandria
    Alex Langladas
    Alfred The Great
    Amazon River
    America
    American History
    Ancient Egypt
    Ancient Rome
    Ancient World
    Ancient Worlds
    Andes Mountains
    Angkor Wat
    Anne Boleyn
    Athens
    Australia
    Austria
    Baroque
    Bath
    Battle Of Marathon
    Battleships
    Beatrix Potter
    Bernadette Banner
    Bettany Hughes
    Biographics
    Biographies
    Bismarck
    Britain
    Caitlin Doughty
    Caligula
    Cambodia
    Castles
    Central America
    Charlemagne
    China
    Christmas
    Cleopatra
    Cornwall
    Dam Busters
    Dame Patricia Routledge
    Dan Snow
    David Adams
    Denmark Strait
    Edwardian Farm
    Edwardian Home
    Edward The Confessor
    Egypt
    England
    Ethiopia
    Experimental History
    Exploration
    Farm
    Fashion History
    First Nations
    Flintstones
    France
    Francis Pyror
    Franz Joseph
    French Revolution
    Full Steam Ahead
    Genealogy
    Genetics
    Geographics
    Geography
    Georgian Period
    Germans
    Germany
    Gold
    Greece
    Greeks
    Gus Casely Hayford
    Gus Casely-Hayford
    Hastings
    Helen Castor
    Helen Of Troy
    Henry-viii
    Hidden Killers
    Highway
    History
    Holocaust
    Home
    Hood
    Ice Cream
    Immigration
    Inca
    Irish Palace
    Iron Age
    Jago Cooper
    Jane Austen
    Japan
    Jesuits
    Joann Fletcher
    John Gater
    Judith Flanders
    Kathleen Martinez
    Kew Gardens
    King George III
    Knights Templars
    Korea
    Lady Jane Grey
    Leyte Gulf
    Lincoln Highway
    Lithuania
    Lost Kingdoms
    Lost Legions
    Lucy Worsley
    Lusitania
    Mammoths
    Marco Polo
    Marie Antoinette
    Mary Beard
    Mary Boleyn
    Maryland
    Medieval-period
    Meet-the-romans
    Mick Aston
    Middle Ages
    Ming Dynasty
    Minoans
    Monarchy
    Musashi
    Napoleon
    Neil Oliver
    New Zealand
    Nicholas II
    Paul Mearns
    Pearl Harbor
    People Of The Clouds
    Peter Ginn
    Phil Harding
    Pompeii
    Portsmouth
    Prince Philip
    Prince Regent
    Princess Alice
    Prussia
    Pyramids
    Queen Elizabeth II
    Queen Luise
    Queens
    Railroads
    Reality TV
    Ronald Hutton
    Royal Fibs
    Royal Myths
    Royal Secrets
    Royalty
    Royal Women
    Russia
    Russian Revolution
    Ruth Goodman
    Salem
    Serbia
    Simon
    South America
    Spain
    Sparta
    Spy
    SS Atlantic
    STEAM
    STEM
    Stewart Ainsworth
    Stone Age
    Stonehenge
    Stuart Peachy
    Suzannah Lipscomb
    Tales From The Green Valley
    The Family
    The Vikings
    Time Crashers
    Time Team
    Time Travels
    Time Walks
    Tirpitz
    Titanic
    Tom Pinford
    Tony Robinson
    Top 10
    Tracy-borman
    Trains
    Trojan-war
    Tudor
    Tudor Monastery Farm
    Tudors
    Turn Back Time
    United-states
    USS Indianapolis
    Varus
    Victorian
    Victorian-bakers
    Victorian-bakers
    Victorian-farm
    Victorian-farm
    Victorian-home
    Victorian-pharmacy
    Vikings
    War Of 1812
    Warsaw Ghetto
    Wartime Farm
    White Palace
    White Star Line
    Who Do You Think You Are?
    Wilhelm Gustloff
    William Shakespeare
    William The Conqueror
    Winston Churchill
    Witches
    Witch Hunting
    World War I
    World War II
    YouTube

    Privacy Policy

    HistoryDocTube will not collect any personal information and will not sell any personal information to a third party.  We will not request any personal information. 

    ​The purpose of this blog is to share information on what can be used in a classroom, private school, or home school setting as well as serve as a portfolio of my personal and professional work. 

    The reviews are my opinions and should be treated as such.  I just want to provide a tool for teachers to select documentaries for their classrooms.

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
  • Blog
  • YouTube
    • Ancient America
    • Ancient Egypt
    • Ancient Greece
    • Ancient Rome
    • Africa
    • China
    • Georgians
    • Holocaust
    • Tudors
    • World War I
    • World War II
    • History Meets English
    • History Meets Reality TV
    • History Meets Science
    • Royals
    • Time Team
    • YouTube Channels
    • Tony Robinson
    • Lucy Worsley
  • About Me
    • Portfolio
  • Privacy Policy