Military events leading to the Christmas truce (July-December 1914): The start of a military revolution

World War I may be the most profound of all Western military revolutions. The lasting political consequences of 1914-1918 coursed through Europe until at least the early 1990s. The war also gave birth to the concept of "Modern War" with its development of three-dimensional combined arms tactics and operations. The armies that rapidly deployed to battle in the summer of 1914 could not have anticipated these long term impacts. That summer, the major powers all faced a common dilemma caused by the "cult of the offensive" - the shared belief that rapid and decisive first strikes were the only way to assure victory. This thinking severely compressed the time available for diplomatic solutions and resulted in "war by timetable." The stereotype of trench warfare did not happen overnight as the Western Front battles of August-September 1914 were characterized by a great deal of maneuver. Many commanders regarded the initial line of entrenchments as an unnatural and temporary pause in the war. These hasty trenches stretching from Switzerland to the North Sea quickly turned permanent and acquired increased fortifications. At the end of 1914, every offensive action on the Western Front necessitated a frontal attack on these heavily defended trenches. The resulting casualties were staggering and unlike anything previously seen by Western armies. The French alone suffered nearly 1 million casualties during the last five months of 1914. It is within this context that the unofficial cease fires of Christmas 1914 occurred. These informal truces are seen in hindsight as symbolic moments of peace and humanity during the initial stages of what would become one of the most violent events in human history.