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MOHAMED ALI ON SONY LISTON

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He said:

“He knows I’m great. He went to school, he’s no fool. I predict that he will go in eight to prove that I’m great, and if he wants to go to heaven, I’ll get him in seven. He’ll be in a worser fix if I cut it to six.

“And if he keeps talking jive, I’ll cut it to five. And if he makes me sore, he’ll go like Archie Moore, in four. And if that don’t do, I’ll cut it to two. And if he run, he’ll go in one. And if he don’t want to fight, he should keep himself home that night. Just before the fight, when the referee was giving us instructions, Liston was giving me that stare.

“And I won’t lie, I was scared. Sonny Liston was one of the greatest fighters of all time. He was one of the most scientific boxers who ever lived, he hit hard, and he was fixing to kill me. It frightened me, just knowing how hard he hit.

“But I was there, I didn’t have no choice but to go out and fight. The first round, I was dancing, moving back and side-to-side. I hit him with a couple of combinations, and he got me once with a right hand to the stomach.

“At the end of the round, I went back to my corner, and I felt good because I knew I could survive. Round two, I made a mistake and he caught me against the ropes. I got away from most of the punches, but he hit me good with a left hook that shook me up. Round three, I changed my strategy.

“I’d planned to fight hard the first two rounds, and then coast while Liston got tired. That way, by round five or six, I’d be rested and he’d be out of energy, and I’d start coming on strong. But at the start of round three, I could see he was frustrated and getting tired already, so I decided to test him then.”

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THE LONGEST BOXING FIGHT IN HISTORY

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The longest boxing fight in history was between Dick Hyland and Ray Campbell after a fight in 1913. It lasted 110 rounds, 7 hr 19 min (9:15 p.m.-4:34 a.m.), and was declared a no-contest (later changed to a draw).

The longest fight in history captured the attention and admiration of boxing enthusiasts worldwide with its unprecedented display of endurance and determination.

Lasting for an incredible 110 rounds over seven hours and 19 minutes, this battle of wills tested the physical and mental limits of both fighters.

The sheer craziness and unbelievable stamina exhibited during the match left spectators in awe, with some even succumbing to sleep from the sheer exhaustion of witnessing such a remarkable display of sportsmanship. This extraordinary event will undoubtedly live on in the book of boxing history.

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SECRET SOCIETIES THAT LEFT THEIR MARKS ON HISTORY

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Throughout history, men and women have formed secret groups, gathering behind closed doors in pursuit of shared ideals. They might have used unexpected methods to get what they wanted.

Some attempted magic, others turned to violence, and many, in fact, got caught and persecuted for the things they did. Yet still, secret societies continue to meet in private today — perhaps there’s even one in your hometown.

20. The Knights of Malta

Not every secret society is about the occult, magic, or the dark arts. The Knights of Malta — founded in the year 1048 — had noble aims from the start.

20. The Knights of Malta

Whitworth Porter/Wikimedia Commons | {{CC-PD-Mark}}

Members would take care of anyone making the pilgrimage to Jerusalem, regardless of the person’s faith. The Pope ordered them to aid any Christians who needed protection along the way, too. Things have changed somewhat since 1048, though.

The Knights of Malta is still going strong today

Nowadays, the Knights of Malta have a much different focus. Its 13,500 members across 120 countries focus on charitable causes in general.

The Knights of Malta is still going strong today

Reg Speller/Fox Photos/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Their motto is “Tuitio Fidei et Obsequium Pauperum” — nurturing, witnessing, and protecting the faith and serving the poor and the sick. Considering their focus on charity, it makes sense that Nelson Mandela was once part of the organization.

19. Freemasons

So many rumors surround the Freemasons — possibly the least secret “secret society” in history. This makes sense, considering how old and storied the organization is. The Freemasons emerged in Europe in the midst of the Middle Ages, a time when craftspeople were arranged into regional guilds.

19. Freemasons

Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images

It wasn’t until 1717 that the Freemasons morphed into its current iteration. That’s when four branches from London joined together, and the group expanded to the rest of the continent and the Americas.

The Freemasons’ secret handshake

What started as a fraternity for craftsmen is now a bit more mysterious to non-members. The Freemasons are ostensibly about charity work and social networking. However, rumors swirl that the group is plagued with bullies, nepotism, and a refusal to change with the times.

The Freemasons' secret handshake

Gracie Films

People also suspect that the Freemasons have a secret handshake, but they won’t show it to anyone outside of their six million members. The Freemasons were given the honor of being parodied by The Simpsons in an episode that saw Homer join the “Stonecutters.”

18. The Molly Maguires

An organization made up of Irish immigrants in 19th-century America might sound innocent enough. But the Molly Maguires had sinister aims that the all-male membership carried out while dressed as women — hence the name.

18. The Molly Maguires

Tamm Productions

In the 1870s they allegedly completed their most notorious job of all: assassinating 24 foremen and supervisors working in the Pennsylvania coal mines. The subsequent investigation led to 20 suspected members of the Molly Maguires getting convicted.

The Molly Maguies came to a bloody end

The Molly Maguires supposedly had their hand in arson and threat-making as well — but it was the two dozen murders that finished the organization off. A mole infiltrated the group, leading to the arrests of the 20 suspected members.

The Molly Maguies came to a bloody end

Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper

All of the men received death sentences and were hanged. As time has gone on, though, some remember the Maguires positively as being dedicated to labor and unions despite their unforgivable alleged crimes.

17. The School of Night

London in the late 16th century set the scene for some of humankind’s greatest writers to create their finest works. But they didn’t spend all of their time at their desks with pens in hand. Instead, some authors gathered in the School of Night.

17. The School of Night

duncan1890/Getty Images

It was a society that explored atheism and alchemy, all illegal subjects of conversation at the time. In fact, if you didn’t believe in God back then, you could have found yourself charged with treason.

The School of Night was once called The School of Atheism

Playwright Christopher Marlowe — the top tragedy writer of his time and an inspiration to William Shakespeare — was said to be a member of the School of Night. Other members supposedly included Sir Walter Raleigh, George Chapman, Matthew Roydon, and Thomas Harriot.

The School of Night was once called The School of Atheism

Corpus Christi College

Marlowe faced charges for writing a text deemed to be heretical, but before he could face any kind of trial, he died under suspicious circumstances in 1853. After that, no one knows what happened to the School of Night.

16. Order of the Temple of the East

The Order of the Temple of the East — or Ordo Templi Orientis — used the Freemasons as its inspiration, but it operated on a completely different belief structure. Its eventual leader was occultist Aleister Crowley, who taught members the tenets of Thelema, an ideology he created himself.

16. Order of the Temple of the East

Arnold Genthe

He incorporated mysticism, contributing to some very strange rituals performed by the society — supposedly to this day. A gathering of the Order of the Temple of the East incorporates two components — gnostic mass and magic ceremonies.

Ordo Templi Orientis

Gnostic mass mimics Catholic mass, but attendees don extravagant get-ups to worship. And then there are the rituals, which range from conjuring spirits to tantric love-making and encouraging out-of-body experiences called astral projections.

Ordo Templi Orientis

Hereward Carrington, Sylvan Muldoon

Perhaps even more surprising, the society still exists today, although the locations of their lodges remain largely unknown to non-members. The latest branch to continue Crowley’s teachings is the Caliphate O.T.O., which was incorporated in 1979.

15. The Calves’ Head Club

To understand The Calves’ Head Club, you need to brush up on English history. Here’s the basics: King Charles I married a Roman Catholic French princess in 1626, a union that angered his Protestant subjects. In response to rising opposition, he dissolved Parliament and eventually incited civil war in England.

15. The Calves’ Head Club

Anthony van Dyck/Wikimedia Commons | {{PD-Art}}

Headed up by Oliver Cromwell, Parliamentarians later defeated the monarchy and in 1648 Charles I was facing charges of treason. The following year, King Charles I was executed by beheading, and Oliver Cromwell seized power.

Games of Thrones in real life

The highly controversial Calves’ Head Club came to be after Charles I’s execution. On the anniversary of his slaying, the group gathered for a grotesque celebration of his demise. Members would first decapitate a calf — a representation of the former king — then prepare it and eat it.

Games of Thrones in real life

Gonzales Coques/Wikimedia Common | {{PD-Art}}

Their behavior was treasonous to the monarchy, which returned to power in 1659. Eventually, the Calves’ Head Club disappeared, with the last record of its existence coming in 1734 when a riot about their tasteless ways brought an end to proceedings.

14. Bilderberg Meetings

The Bilderberg Meetings started in 1954 when 11 Americans traveled to the Hotel de Bilderberg in Oosterbeek in the Netherlands. There, they met with 50 people from 11 Western European nations.

14. Bilderberg Meetings

Pvt pauline/Wikimedia Commons | {{CC BY-SA 3.0 DEED}}

Among the attendees, apparently, were a prime minister, a royal, and a one-time CIA leader. As its website describes, “The Bilderberg Meeting is a forum for informal discussions about major issues.” The meetings are exclusive, invitation-only affairs,

The Bilderberg Meetings happen every year

The latest Bilderberg Meeting took place in Lisbon, Portugal, in May 2023. The list of attendees was published on its website, and the topics discussed during the meeting included AI, banking systems, and the situation in Ukraine. But historically, the details of the meetings were kept secret from the public.

The Bilderberg Meetings happen every year

Jean Beaufort | {{CC0 Public Domain}}

Naturally, the secrecy around the meetings has made for many conspiracy theories about the organization. Some people wonder if the group gathers to plan for world domination, or even to sway the global economy.

13. Priory of Sion

The Priory of Sion — or Prieuré de Sion — is and is not a secret society. A man named Pierre Plantard founded the fraternal organization in France in 1956. The idea was that was forming a neo-chivalric order — meaning the Priory of Sion was an order of knighthood.

13. Priory of Sion

Alexander Andreyevich Ivanov

So far, so normal. The problem was that Plantard claimed that the Priory of Sion was actually formed as a secret society in 1099 by a knight named Godfrey of Bouillon on Mount Zion in the Kingdom of Jerusalem.

The history of the Priory of Sion was bogus

To back up that claim about a secret history, Plantard faked a bunch of documents and had them inserted into the Bibliothèque Nationale de France in Paris. He also had two encrypted medieval parchments created, complete with references to the Priory of Sion.

The history of the Priory of Sion was bogus

Columbia Pictures

The whole thing was later found to be an elaborate literary hoax, of course. You might even recognize parts of the story from Dan Brown’s famous novel, The Da Vinci Code.

12. The Rosicrucians

The abbreviated tale of the Rosicrucians goes something like this: legendary Founder Christian Rosenkreuz apparently traveled from his native Germany into the Middle East so that he — a mystical philosopher — could gain some esoteric wisdom.

12. The Rosicrucians

T. Schweighart/Wikimedia Commons

According to the story, his studies gave him a greater perspective on the natural world and the universe at large. Upon getting back home, they say, he wanted to share his wisdom with others and set up the Fraternity of the Rose Cross.

The Rosicrucians and the occult

It’s possible, however, that Christian Rosenkreuz never existed and the story is just allegorical. Still, some people were taken in by the idea of a “universal reformation of mankind” via “esoteric truths of the ancient past.” Yet rumors plagued the Rosicrucians since its foundation in the 15th century.

The Rosicrucians and the occult

Leemage/Corbis via Getty Images

Many especially thought this “universal reformation” would actually be via occult methods. Conspiracy theorists have also said the Rosicrucians were behind some of history’s modern uprisings as well as the founding of other prominent secret societies.

11. The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn

The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn — often shortened to just the Golden Dawn — began gathering in 19th-century London. Group members shared an interest in the occult, magic, and mysticism.

11. The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn

Wikimedia Commons

If that sounds familiar, it’s no coincidence. Some say that Golden Dawn was the precursor to other supernatural-focused groups on this list, such as the Order of the Temple of the East.

Golden Dawn had its origins in the Freemasons

The Golden Dawn was actually founded by three Freemasons: William Robert Woodman, William Wynn Westcott, and Samuel Liddell Mathers. But unlike other groups, the Golden Dawn also allowed women into their inner circle.

Golden Dawn had its origins in the Freemasons

Bettmann/Getty Images

Famous former members of the Golden Dawn include Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and W. B. Yeats. And in 1937 author Israel Regardie published The Golden Dawn: The Original Account of the Teachings, Rites, and Ceremonies of the Hermetic Order — an influential tome that dives deep into the society’s practices.

10. Improved Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks of the World

The Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks of the World first cropped up on the scene in 1868. Then, just over three decades later, a pair of African-American men weren’t permitted entry into the club’s ranks — and decided to form a splinter group.

10. Improved Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks of the World

Local History Announcements

B. F. Howard and Arthur J. Riggs formed the fittingly titled Improved Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks of the World in 1897. The group is still going to this day.

Moving into the modern world

The founders of the Improved Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks of the World ended up creating a club that would become central within Black communities during segregation. It was, apparently, one of the only places where African Americans could gather.

Moving into the modern world

Antler Guard

As society started to integrate, however, the order’s influence faded. But they still fund scholarships, participate in parades, and host community events today. The fact that the fraternal order has a website also suggests they’re not really a secret society, either.

9. The Black Hand

History buffs may be familiar with the work of the Black Hand. In the early 20th century, this revolutionary group hoped to bring together the Slavic people into a single country.

9. The Black Hand

via Wikimedia Commons

To do this, they’d need to break Serbia free from the rule of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy, which had earlier taken control of the small country by annexation. The official name of the group was Unification or Death.

Unification or Death

The Black Hand decided to free Serbia from Austria-Hungary through military campaigns, but they didn’t plan for the conflict they would arguably create. Their plan was supposedly to assassinate Austria’s Archduke Franz Ferdinand — which Gavrilo Princip did in 1914.

Unification or Death

Bettmann/Getty Images

Right away, the monarchy declared war on Serbia, but each country’s allies decided to join in, and this inter-country war soon became World War I. Because of its alleged connection to the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the Black Hand may have caused that war.

8. Order of Gimghoul

Peter Droomgole, a University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill student in the mid-19th century, inadvertently inspired the start of a very creepy on-campus society. He vanished from campus in 1833, and legend has it that he died after losing a duel.

8. Order of Gimghoul

Wikimedia Commons

Not only that but his body is said to be entombed on the school grounds. Robert Worth Bingham, Shepard Bryan, William W. Davies, Edward Wray Martin, and Andrew Henry Patterson started the secret society in 1889.

Peter Dromgoole lives on

In the student’s honor, this secret society was first called the Order of Droomgole, but changed the last part to Gimghoul “in accord with midnight and graves and weirdness.” The group supposedly meets on campus at a very creepy, enshrouded castle.

Peter Dromgoole lives on

THE evil fluffyface

Photo evidence of their activities seems to show satanic references, making them even more off-putting. The castle allegedly sits close to Peter Dromgoole’s final resting place — and his ghost supposedly haunts it.

7. Skull and Bones

It’s no secret that some of the brightest minds in the country end up studying at Ivy League institutions. And Yale University just so happens to be one of the most selective — with an acceptance rate of just 4.46 percent in 2022.

7. Skull and Bones

Pictures of Yale clubs and societies (RU 692). Manuscripts and Archives, Yale University Library.

Therefore, the amount of brilliance packed into the school’s secret Skull and Bones society should be enough to scare the rest of us. Other names for the group include The Order, Order 322, and The Brotherhood of Death.

Bonesmen in the Tomb

No one outside of Skull and Bones really knows the purpose of this society, but there are plenty of theories. Some say that the Bonesmen — who have gone on to become Supreme Court justices, CEOs, and presidents — might influence the CIA or strive for global control.

Bonesmen in the Tomb

Universal Pictures

Making things even creepier, the group meets in a building called the Tomb, a building without windows. This group is now possibly the least-secret secret society as it has been popularized in movies such as The Skulls and The Great Gatsby and TV shows such as The Simpsons.

6. The Grand Orange Lodge

The Grand Orange Lodge drew its name from William of Orange, the Protestant king who defeated the Catholic King James II and took over as ruler of Scotland, England, and Ireland in 1689. Almost 200 years later, the Northern Irish Protestants still revered Orange’s leadership.

6. The Grand Orange Lodge

Godfrey Kneller

So, they formed the Lodge to better protect their fellow worshippers. Its full name is the Grand Orange Lodge of Scotland or the Loyal Orange Institution of Scotland. They are still going strong after forming in 1798.

The Grand Orange Lodge marches on

Had Lord Lieutenant of Ireland George William Frederick Villiers not supported the group, the Grand Orange Lodge’s aims might have flown under the radar. Ireland had always been a Catholic stronghold, so having a leader support a Protestant society ruffled some serious feathers.

The Grand Orange Lodge marches on

Ross Goodman/Flickr

These days, the Order is most visible during its yearly marches. The largest of these gatherings usually occurs on July 12, as “The Twelfth” is an Ulster Protestant day of celebrations.

5. Veiled Prophet Organization

A long time ago, business executive and one-time Confederate soldier Charles Slayback had an idea. In 1878 he gathered fellow St. Louis businessmen to build his own secret society. He wanted his city to have a festival like New Orleans did with Mardi Gras.

5. Veiled Prophet Organization

Missouri Historical Society

They just needed a reason to party — and the Veiled Prophet of Khorassan could be a reason for a celebration. This was a mystic based out of St. Louis — or, at least, that’s what Slayback decided to tell people.

The Veiled Prophet Parade and Ball

In reality, the Veiled Prophet story was just meant to be an excuse to celebrate — and to mask negative social realities. At the time, laborers demanded socioeconomic equality and fair working conditions.

The Veiled Prophet Parade and Ball

Harpers Weekly/Wikipedia

So the citywide gathering would perhaps appease them while exalting the elite’s way of life. The first Veiled Prophet Parade and Ball took place in 1878. Perhaps surprisingly, the Veiled Prophet Organization still has parties to this day.

4. The Hashshashin

In the 13th century, a small group of Shia Muslims split from a larger group of their religion’s practitioners because they wanted to create a utopian state. Yet they didn’t have the manpower to make their vision a reality.

4. The Hashshashin

New Regency Productions

So the secret society had to use much more shocking methods to get what they wanted. There is a reason why this group is otherwise known as the Order of Assassins or just the Assassins.

The Order of Assassins

The Hashashin made a name for themselves by staging political assassinations as well as by sending spies over enemy lines. But these operatives had great discretion — enemies would wake up with daggers on their pillows and notes warning them of impending death.

The Order of Assassins

New Regency Productions

Eventually, though, the group was squashed by the Mongols. This group has naturally inspired plenty of popular culture figures and stories, including Assassin’s Creed, Angels and Demons, and the Faceless Men in Game of Thrones.

3. Knights Templar

Things started out well for the Knights Templar. They had a simple mission when founded in the 12th century — to protect Christians as they traveled to the Holy Land. Templar Enlistees had to vow to a chaste lifestyle, which meant they couldn’t swear, gamble, or drink.

3. Knights Templar

Wikimedia Commons

Perhaps this left their heads clear enough to come up with a more lucrative idea. The Knights opened a bank where people could deposit money at home and take it out when they arrived at their pilgrimage destination.

The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon

Once the Crusades ended, the Knights Templar decided to set up in Paris and make their banking business the main focus of their operation. However, they made the mistake of denying King Philip IV of France a loan.

The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon

C. Balossini/De Agostini Picture Library via Getty Images

He then had some society members arrested and tortured. The Knights began making false confessions, implicating themselves in depraved acts. So, the French monarch had dozens burned to death for their supposed wrongdoings.

2. The Knights of the Golden Circle

The Knights of the Golden Circle first formed in 1854 because they wanted the United States to take over the West Indies and Mexico. This would then make the slave states stronger against any threats from the North.

2. The Knights of the Golden Circle

Harpers Weekly

However, the Civil War kicked off in 1861, and the society’s members switched gears. They sided with the Confederacy, so they started organizing themselves into guerrilla armies and ambushing Union soldiers.

The Golden Circle

Interestingly enough, the Knights of the Golden Circle had a bigger impact in Union states, where people pointed the finger at anyone who seemed to sympathize with the South. Even President Franklin Pierce faced accusations of being a secret member of the organization.

The Golden Circle

Mathew Brady

Despite everything, though, none of the Knights’ aims ever came to fruition. Their main objective was to see in the formation of a new country, known as the Golden Circle.

1. The Illuminati

The Illuminati formed on May 1, 1776, bringing together the era’s most forward-thinking politicians and intellectuals. Unlike many other secret societies on this list, though, the Illuminati didn’t require its members to believe in any sort of deity.

1. The Illuminati

Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

This made it a popular society among non-believers. Their inclusion made people wonder if the group actually formed to get rid of religious organizations. The group claimed, “The order of the day is to put an end to the machinations of the purveyors of injustice, to control them without dominating them.”

The Illuminati was outlawed

The Illuminati was eventually outlawed, and it subsequently crumbled internally when a new leader had to replace its founder, Adam Weishaupt. But some believe that the society didn’t actually collapse in the late 1700s.

The Illuminati was outlawed

knollzw

Instead, they believe the Illuminati still operates — and controls all of the governments dotted around the globe. According to this conspiracy theory, the Illuminati now goes by the name of the New World Order.

This article was originally published on WMoneyVersed

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History

SPONTANEOUS CHRISTMAS TRUCE THAT TEMPORARILY HALTED WORLD WAR

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(Image credit: Alamy)

Spontaneous Christmas truce that temporarily halted world war : ‘The war, for that moment, came to a standstill’

During the bleak winter of 1914, amid the mud, blood and chaos of World War One, an extraordinary series of ceasefires spontaneously occurred along the Western Front. In the 1960s the BBC spoke to some of the men who, over that exceptional Christmas period, decided to lay down their arms.

On Christmas Eve 1914, Rifleman Graham Williams, of the 5th London Rifle Brigade, stood out on sentry duty staring out anxiously across the wasteland of no man’s land to the German trenches. He had already endured months of the brutal violence, bloodshed, and destruction that would come to characterize World War One when something remarkable happened.
“All of a sudden, lights appeared along the German trench. And I thought this was a funny thing. And then the Germans started singing ‘Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht’. And I woke up, and all the sentries did the same thing, all woke up the other people to come along and see this and what the Earth is going on,” he recalled, in the BBC radio show Witness History.

The voices carried across the desolation of no man’s land, familiar songs bridging the barrier of language, a musical reminder of a shared humanity. “They finished their carol and we applauded them and we thought we should retaliate in some way. So, we replied with The First Noel.”

It is hard to pinpoint the exact origins of the 1914 Christmas Truce. It seemed to emerge spontaneously in multiple locations along the Western Front. There wasn’t one uniform Christmas Truce but rather several localized events. For some soldiers in trenches, it lasted a couple of hours, in some areas until Boxing Day, and even in isolated pockets to the New Year. While in some parts of the Western Front, it didn’t happen at all. Some 77 British soldiers were still killed in fighting on Christmas Day 1914.

For Col Scott Shepherd, then a junior officer, fighting near the town of Armentières in northern France, it seemed to begin almost by accident. At dawn on Christmas morning, no man’s land was covered in a heavy fog. “The fog was so thick that you couldn’t see your hand in front of you,” he recalled when he returned to the battlefield with the BBC in 1968.

The decision was made to take advantage of the cover provided by the weather to repair their crumbling trenches. But as the soldiers worked filling sandbags and trying to restore the trench parapet, the fog suddenly began to dissipate.

“It lifted astoundingly quickly. And along that line we were suddenly able to see Germans doing exactly the same thing all out in the open. And we just looked at each other for some time and then one or two soldiers went towards them. They met, they shook hands, they swapped cigarettes. They got talking. The war, for that moment, came to a standstill.”

General Walter Congreve, who led the Rifles Brigade, wrote to his wife on Christmas Day, describing the ceasefire as “an extraordinary state of affairs”. Because the trenches were so close, soldiers were able to shout greetings to each other, initiating conversations. “A German shouted out that they wanted a day’s truce and would one come out if he did,” wrote the general. “Very cautiously one of our men lifted himself above the parapet and saw a German doing the same. Both got out, then more… they have been walking about together all day giving each other cigars and singing songs.”

The ceasefires allowed soldiers some respite to recover their dead from no man’s land and give proper burial to fallen comrades. Men who just hours earlier had been trying to kill each other exchanged cigarettes, food and souvenirs from home. There are even reports of impromptu games of football breaking out, with soldiers having a kick about in barren space between the opposing trenches. Col Johannes Niemann, a second lieutenant with the 33rd Saxon Regiment, was one of the soldiers who took part.

“Suddenly a Tommy came with a football… And then began a football match. We marked our goals with our caps. Tommy did also. And we had much kicking. And then, after all, the Germans won the football game 3-2.”

The war resumes

Nothing like this truce would happen again during World War One. Military leaders, who had been caught by surprise by the ceasefires and the unexpected camaraderie that flourished during them, feared they would erode their troops’ willingness to fight, and would undermine the war effort.

On both sides there were orders issued to stop “fraternisation with the enemy” with threats of court marshals. Officers were told to open fire on enemy soldiers who approached the trench and gradually shots began to ring out again along the line. The war resumed its brutality, and as its relentless horrors escalated, the bitterness between opposing nations deepened. The following Christmas, machine gun barrages were deliberately timed to drown out any sound of carol singing to prevent spontaneous truces happening again.

For a brief moment, soldiers on different sides saw each other as fathers, brothers and sons who just longed to go home and return to loved ones

The 1914 Christmas Truce may not have ultimately altered the course of the war, but as historian Dan Snow says in the BBC podcast Voices of the First World War, the fact that it happened at all is miraculous. “The truce was a brief tantalising flash of individual humanity, in a war of bureaucracies, machines and high explosives.”

And it had a profound effect on the men, such as Col Scott Shepherd, who experienced it. For a brief moment, soldiers on different sides saw each other as fathers, brothers and sons who just longed to go home and return to loved ones, rather than as faceless enemies to be killed.

“Several of them spoke English. They rather expressed their dislike… for the whole war in fact. They weren’t aggressive at all. Some of them said they had been to London, been to England, in fact, they gave every indication of being glad to meet us,” he said.

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