On 24 December 1914, along stretches of the Western Front in Belgium and France, British and German soldiers stopped shooting at each other. Some 100,000 men are thought to have taken part. Men on both sides traded gifts, buried their dead and, in a few sectors, kept the peace going until New Year's Day, before their commanders forbade any repeat. It is the best-remembered moment of the first wartime Christmas, but the fortnight around it was crowded.
The war carried on around the truce. Eight days before it, German warships shelled Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby, leaving hundreds of civilians dead or hurt. On Christmas Day itself British seaplanes went after the Zeppelin sheds at Cuxhaven, and on New Year's Day a German submarine sank the battleship Formidable in the Channel. In Italy, Benito Mussolini had just launched a movement to push his country into the war.
Far from the trenches, Britain declared a protectorate over Egypt and made Hussein Kamel its sultan, and Australian and New Zealand troops in Egypt were formed into one army corps. In the Caucasus, Russian and Ottoman armies began the battle of Sarikamish, where cold is thought to have killed thousands of Ottoman soldiers. German troops from South West Africa beat the Portuguese at Naulila in Angola, and a German counter-attack failed at Edea in Kamerun. In Japan a gas explosion at the Hojo coal mine killed about 687 people, five days before Tokyo Station opened. On New Year's Day two gunmen fired on a picnic train near Broken Hill in Australia.
In Los Angeles, Mack Sennett's comedy Tillie's Punctured Romance, with Charlie Chaplin in the cast, had its premiere three days before the naturalist John Muir died in the same city. Baba Amte, later a social activist, was born in India, and in Argentina a merger created the club that became Club Atletico Lanus.
20 events, one card per happening, mostly from 11 December 1914 to 8 January 1915; 11 of them from outside Europe and North America.
How sure we are: events with no label are high confidence. A grey label such as Exact day uncertain says why one detail is less certain; a yellow label such as Sources differ on the date marks a low-confidence event where the sources disagree or are thin. The notes say where. Dates are in the Gregorian calendar; where a country still used another calendar, the notes give the original. How events are checked
The truce
War & conflictWidely known
British and German soldiers lay down arms at Christmas
· Western Front, Belgium and France · Europe
1 day before Christmas Day
Along parts of the Western Front soldiers stopped fighting from 24 December, with some 100,000 troops involved, exchanging gifts and burying their dead; commanders banned a repeat.
Why it is interesting. Many German soldiers had lived in England, especially London, which made talk across the lines easier.
Notes and dating details
Infobox dates are 24-26 December; in some sectors the truce lasted until New Year's Day.
Outside Europe and North America, from two weeks before Christmas to two weeks after, in date order.
Disasters
Gas explosion at the Hojo coal mine kills about 687 in Japan
· Hojo mine, Kyushu, Japan · Asia
10 days before Christmas Day
Date uncertainty: Sources give 680-686 or 687 dead; one historian suggests it may have reached 1,000
Methane mixed with coal dust ignited, probably from a spark, at the Mitsubishi Hojo mine in Kyushu. Shafts were sealed to contain the fire, which also killed survivors underground. About one in five of the dead were women who worked alongside their husbands.
Notes and dating details
Hojo article gives 687 dead, with other sources at 680 or 686 and one historian suggesting up to 1,000 (possible company cover-up). TakeMeBack.to dates it 1 December, probably in error.
Germans defeat Portuguese forces at the Battle of Naulila
· Naulila, Portuguese Angola · Africa
7 days before Christmas Day
Sources differ on the date.
On 18 December 1914 German forces from South West Africa attacked Naulila in Portuguese Angola and forced the Portuguese to retreat. It followed the deaths of three German officers there during a dispute.
Notes and dating details
Infobox and lead say 18 December; the second lead paragraph says 18/19 December. Portuguese Wikipedia, drawing on Portuguese historiography, dates the battle to 18 December 1914, so that day is kept at medium confidence.
After the Ottoman entry into the war, Britain deposed the pro-Ottoman Khedive Abbas II and made his uncle Hussein Kamel Sultan, under a protectorate that ended nominal Ottoman rule.
Notes and dating details
Sources differ: Abbas II's article and Wikipedia's 1914 page give 18 December; the Sultanate of Egypt article and Hussein Kamel's reign start give 19 December.
Tatsuno Kingo's brick station, with its Marunouchi facade, opened on 20 December and replaced Shinbashi as the main terminal. Prime Minister Hara Takashi was stabbed in front of it in 1921.
Why it is interesting. The station's look is often said to copy Amsterdam Central, but the Wikipedia article disputes this.
· Sarikamish, Kars Oblast, Russian Empire · Middle East
3 days before Christmas Day
Date may use an older calendar.
Russian and Ottoman forces began a battle at Sarikamish during the Caucasus campaign of World War I. It ended in a Russian victory on 17 January 1915.
Why it is interesting. Around 25,000 Ottoman troops are thought to have died of cold in the mountains before the main fighting began.
Notes and dating details
Calendar not stated in source; Russian Empire location. Wikidata agrees with article on 22 December 1914. If the source's date is Old Style (Julian), the Gregorian date would be 4 January 1915.
On New Year's Day 1915, Mulla Abdullah and Gool Badsha Mahomed fired rifles at a train carrying 1,200 picnickers near Broken Hill, killing four people and wounding seven before police and military officers killed them.
Why it is interesting. It has been described as the only documented engagement with the enemy on Australian soil in the First World War, though the shootings are debated as an act of war.
Notes and dating details
Infobox lists 6 fatalities including both perpetrators. The attackers left notes linking their act to the Ottoman-British war. Date, four killed, seven injured and about 1,200 picnickers are also given by the Museums of History NSW.
A new club was formed on 3 January 1915 by merging Lanus United, which was in financial trouble, with Club El Progreso. The name Club Atletico Lanus was officially adopted at a meeting on 27 January 1915.
Notes and dating details
Name made official 27 January 1915. Spanish Wikipedia agrees on 3 January 1915 but says several versions of the club's origins exist, the best accepted being this merger.
Events we can place in December 1914 but not on a particular day.
War & conflict
The Australian and New Zealand Army Corps is formed in Egypt
· Egypt · Middle East
During December 1914
The ANZAC corps was formed in Egypt, with General William Birdwood in command, from Australian and New Zealand troops. It later served in the Gallipoli campaign.
Notes and dating details
Lead says formed in Egypt in December 1914; Birdwood reached Cairo on 21 December to take command.
A series of conflicts among the Ottoman, British and Russian empires began in December 1914 in neutral Qajar Iran and lasted until 30 October 1918, when the Armistice of Mudros ended it. Over 2 million Persian civilians died, mostly in the famine of 1917–1919.
Why it is interesting. Persia's failure to protect its sovereignty through the war and its aftermath helped bring about a coup in 1921.
Notes and dating details
Calendar not stated in source. Infobox: December 1914 – 30 October 1918.
Away from the truce, the same fortnight in Europe.
Politics & diplomacy
Fasci d'Azione Rivoluzionaria is founded in Italy
· Italy · Europe
14 days before Christmas Day
Benito Mussolini founded this Italian pro-war movement on 11 December 1914, sponsored with Alceste De Ambris and Angelo Oliviero Olivetti. It campaigned for Italy to enter the First World War; its first meeting came on 24 January 1915.
German navy bombards Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby
· Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby, United Kingdom · Europe
9 days before Christmas Day
On 16 December 1914 the Imperial German Navy bombarded four British ports, Scarborough, Whitby, Hartlepool and West Hartlepool, causing hundreds of civilian casualties.
Why it is interesting. The raid caused public outrage in Britain against both the German Navy and the Royal Navy, which had failed to stop it.
The French Fourth Army began an offensive against the German 3rd Army in Champagne, France, on 20 December 1914. It formed part of a plan to attack the Noyon Salient and ended inconclusively in March 1915.
Why it is interesting. The first day brought only small gains for the French XVII and I Colonial Corps.
Notes and dating details
Battle ran 20 December 1914 to 17 March 1915. The lead's date text is garbled; infobox and body give 20 December 1914.
On Christmas Day 1914 the Royal Navy carried Royal Naval Air Service aircraft close to Cuxhaven to find and bomb the Zeppelin sheds. The seven aircraft damaged shore installations, and all crews survived.
Notes and dating details
Date from infobox ('Began 25 December 1914') and lead (Christmas Day, 1914).
Britain created the Military Cross, a gallantry decoration for captains and lower-ranking commissioned officers as well as warrant officers. Its first 98 awards appeared in the gazette on 1 January 1915.
German submarine U-24 sinks the battleship HMS Formidable in the English Channel
· English Channel · Europe
7 days after Christmas Day
U-24 torpedoed the pre-dreadnought battleship Formidable at about 02:20 on 1 January 1915, hitting her on the starboard side level with the forward funnel. She sank with heavy loss of life.
Why it is interesting. Her squadron had been on training exercises in the Channel on 31 December without anti-submarine protection, and the submarine followed it through the day.
Notes and dating details
Wikidata gives 1915-01 (month); English Wikipedia gives 1 January 1915.
Tillie's Punctured Romance premieres in Los Angeles
· Los Angeles, United States · North America
4 days before Christmas Day
Some details uncertain.
Mack Sennett's silent comedy, starring Marie Dressler, Mabel Normand and Charlie Chaplin, premiered at the Republic Theatre. It was made by the Keystone Film Company and drew on a stage play.
Notes and dating details
The article dates the premiere at the Republic Theatre, Los Angeles, to 21 December 1914, citing the BFI; the infobox agrees. Wikidata also lists 14 November 1914 (United States), referenced only to IMDb.
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