The first Christmas at the front, in 1914, passed in a remarkable atmosphere. At the start of hostilities, the soldiers had hoped for a short war. They had expected to be home long before Christmas and were surprised to find themselves still in the trenches. This is why there was little will to fight amongst many of the soldiers.

In the run up to Christmas, the number of unofficial truces along the front line increased. On Christmas day, this developed into real fraternization in quite a number of places. Soldiers on both sides walked into No Man's Land, which led to conversations with the enemy, sometimes there were even gifts exchanged, or songs sung together…