It was called the war to end all wars. World War I, also known as the Great War, started in 1914 after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria. His murder fuelled the rising tensions between many nations of Europe and catapulted them into war. The war began in August with great enthusiasm on all sides. Young men rushed to enlist, convinced they would be home by Christmas. But by December, the initial hopes for a quick victory had faded, replaced by the grim reality of trench warfare. Millions of men huddled in muddy trenches, separated from their enemies by a no man’s land strewn with barbed wire and the bodies of the fallen. As the cold winter of 1914 settled over the Western Front and Christmas approached, the mood on both sides was sombre. Many soldiers were experiencing their first Christmas away from home, and the contrast between the season’s message of peace and goodwill and the daily reality of war and death was stark. But few could have imagined the scene that would unfold on Christmas Day 1914. Join me as we visit the trenches on the Western Front and investigate the day the guns fell silent.
