World War 1 paused for Football

 Authored by Hari Raam

During World War I, it was the peak of the War, Germany and Britain were at warfare. A dramatic incident occurred on Christmas Day at Ypres, Belgium. Over two-thirds of the troops - approximately 1,00,000 people are known to have served in this epic battle zone.

The war was fought between men in trenches before armored vehicles and modern technology. It was one of the most brutal and life-threatening ways of fighting a war. On plain lands and mountains, 8 to 15 feet trenches would be dug, and hundreds of soldiers will charge to the enemy trench, where enemy forces will open fire on them brutally. Most of them will be shot dead by the time they reach the enemy's trench, and the few survivors will try to kill the opponents within the trench, but the enemies will simply shoot them down due to their small numbers. A ‘win' is defined as capturing the enemy trench. During World War 1, the war was fought in this sort of way.  

Snipers will be on the high alert for anyone emerging from trenches at all hours of the day and night. As a result, even a minor blunder can result in a fatality.

The enemy trenches will be filled with dead bodies that will not be retrieved. Because the enemies will shoot if they spot any head above them. They will physically sleep on and stand over the dead bodies of their enemies and comrades. They fought the war in such inhumane conditions. Even the victorious soldiers will be in smaller numbers; the majority will be killed in the haste.

 On Christmas Day, a British soldier noticed a German soldier ahead of him in the opposite trench. He realized it wasn't a head but a German soldier carrying a football with both arms inside the trench, where only the ball could be seen. The British soldiers were confused by this. They were all waiting to see what would happen next. The unarmed German soldier crawled up slowly. If he moved forward, the British soldiers threatened to shoot him. He approached the trench, He was not shot by British soldiers. He dropped the ball on the ground and kicked it so hard that it fell into a British trench. Because they thought it was a camouflaged bomb, the British soldiers started jumping to the side to find shelter. Unfortunately, it did not explode.

A young British soldier put down his weapon and took the ball after a little argument. Then he kicked the ball to the opposite side of the German soldiers. After some passes, more soldiers from both sides joined in. Soon, the entire warzone between the two lines was turned into a huge football ground, with soldiers turned up as football players and joyfully accepting each other as fellow football players but not as enemy soldiers.

The news of the unofficial cease-fire took a day to reach the higher officials. The rumors about the unofficial cease-fire gained a lot of traction. Almost every newspaper printed letters from soldiers detailing the interesting incidents that happened in the warzone (playground).

This placed the authorities in trouble. These soldiers were not to make decisions on their own, but just to carry out commands. They were quick to react. Football was prohibited in the warzone by British and German authorities. They were told to burn all the footballs they had. They instilled in them a strong spirit of nationalism and communal bonds. Without enmity, there can be no war. They were ordered to shoot people they have never met. Without terrorizing the opponents, the war would fail. War is not in our nature, which is why transforming someone into a murdering tool takes both practical training and theoretical knowledge.

After this event, the War lasted four years and took the lives of about ten million people.