The WAY to WOW Shows
When Culture Overrides Conflict
December 23, 2025
Automatically generated from YouTube captions; names and wording may contain errors.

[0:00] Who are you? [music] And where are you going? What do you want? [music] [music] Hello and welcome to Business Lessons from the Military. I'm your host, Kevin Bemel, and I'm here every Tuesday at 10:00 a.m. Pacific time to talk about military history, doctrine, and leadership practices from which we distill lessons that we can apply to our businesses or professional practices.

[0:36] So today which is uh the day before Christmas Eve and two days before Christmas of course uh I I I wanted to talk about an incident that I think is pretty unique in the annals of modern warfare and that is the Christmas truce of 1914. I I first thought about doing this last year and for various reasons wasn't able to fit it into the schedule. Uh but it's a particularly poignant

[1:13] moment in what was or what really developed into probably more rightly said uh one of the most brutal wars of all time. And and so, you know, at this time of year, uh uh the the the Christmas truce of 1914 really stands out as a a a seinal event in human history and uh I I I think it's a particularly

[1:48] poignant piece of military history to talk about. So, uh, this this episode is probably going to be a little more focused on on the history [laughter] than than the lessons perhaps. Uh, but uh, I I I I I hope you will find this meaningful. I I will talk a little bit about what I think its significance is in in terms of what it means for running a business or a professional practice. Uh but but I I I hope too that that you

[2:26] will ponder this and perhaps come up with your own thoughts about what this means. So going back to 1914 um in the this is of course the early part of the 20th century uh warfare as we know it modern warfare we'll call it with with steel ships and massive artillery um with massed armies was not a concept that was particularly old.

[3:02] Um, the Franco-Russian War was a a be a kind of the beginning of that type in the 1870s and then the Boore war at the very end of the 19th century in South Africa. Um, those conflicts were both were both of them were more limited in scale certainly than than World War I. So, World War I really introduced the world to the kind of mechanized

[3:37] uh modern warfare that that we've seen since then. So, there's there's many um causes of World War I. um in at in in in the you know second uh decade of World War I, Europe had really become a tinder box. Um militarism had was was particularly um prevalent especially as um as demonstrated by the arms race between Great Britain and Germany. Um, Germany

[4:12] was uh run by Kaiser Wilhelm. Kais Kaiser Vilhelm the first. Um, uh um Great Britain uh I want to say the prime minister was Lloyd George. I believe Queen Victoria was was was dead by this point. Um the European alliances fell into basically three camps. the what was known as the triple onant, Great Britain, France and Russia. Uh they were also known informally as the allies and

[4:48] the Triple Alliance made up of Germany, Austria, Hungary and Italy. um sort of exacerbating the conditions in Europe was uh was imperialism which was still going on at this time. Um uh Germany felt it was kind of late to the the race for colonies. Um in fact Kaiser Vilhelm operated with a big big chip on his shoulder. He was a a relation of

[5:23] Queen Victoria. Um but he als he oftentimes felt that she she put him down. He was kind of an also ran among the monarchs of Europe and and so uh Germany in particular was in a quest for colonies um pretty much throughout the world. Um and and and so um this this caused uh conflict um in in on many other continents besides Europe and as well um nationalism was a particularly

[6:00] uh volatile. Um there was a lot of turmoil going on in various countries especially in the Balkans. Um in in in Russia too at the at the beginning of the war, Russia was still ruled by the Sar Zar Nicholas. Um but um very soon after uh World War II started um there was what amounted to a civil war in Russia and u co the communists basically um took over the country. they executed uh

[6:36] Nicholas and Hitsarina and their children um and and essentially pulled Russia out of the war at that point. So this this is kind of the the the the setup to the war. The actual spark of the war was the assassination of Archduke France Ferdinand of Austria Hungary. So he was assassinated on June 28th, 1914 in Saravo [snorts] um by an anarchist, a self-described anarchist. And this led a a chain

[7:13] reaction of alliance obligations um that that by early August about six weeks later, five six weeks later um Europe was embroiled in war. Now, um, as is sometimes the case, um, people's perceptions of of what was going to happen turned out to be dramatically incorrect. Um, most soldiers thought it would be a short war. They'd be home by Christmas. Now, again, this is beginning of August. So, August, September,

[7:50] October, November, December, five months, you know, less than five months basically, you know, the war would be done and they'd be home. Um in the event uh World War I um continued to until November of 1918. Um what happened instead was uh Germany uh enacted its uh Schlieffen plan. Um, but that plan stalled and um and by the autumn of 1914, as I've talked about in other episodes of this show, the Western

[8:26] Front had frozen into trench warfare. Um, if you've ever seen pictures of it or or movies of it, um, with with no man's land in between the trenches between the Triple Ant and the Triple Alliance, barbed wire, machine guns, uh, you know, shells, holes from artillery, shells landing. It it it was it was horrendous. it it it was I think fairly described as hell on earth. So um by

[9:02] December of uh 1914 um Great Britain, the French, the Belgians, and the Germans, they they were imshed in this trench warfare. Um these trenches were filled with mud, lice, rats. The temperatures were were freezing. Um, there was inadequate shelter and clothing. There was constant artillery fire and sniper fire. Uh, you know, to to lift one's head above the edge of the trench could mean you would

[9:39] be shot by a sniper. Um uh for those of you who are fans of uh the the series Downtown Abbey, um there is a a a scene that is uh takes place during World War I in which um um gosh, I'm going up on the character's name. He was a the footman who um finds a way to get appointed to the medical corps. and he's he finds life in the trenches to be unbearable. And so he um he takes out his cigarette

[10:16] lighter. He lights the lighter and he holds his hand up above the edge of the trench knowing that his hand is going to get shot. And indeed it is. And um as as a result of that wound, he's he's sent he's sent home. So, uh, you know, while that's of course dramatized for the show, um, such occurrences happened, uh, for sure during World War I. Um, and there had and and even by December, only, you know, five months into the

[10:51] war, four and a half, five months into the war, there had been thousands of casualties for minimal at best territorial gains. In some cases, the trenches were only 30 to 100 yards apart. The the enemy was was visible um and audible. So the Germans could hear the the the the British and the French and vice versa um in some cases um you know from from their trench entrenched positions. So the leadup to the truce. So um

[11:27] despite um propaganda um portraying the enemy as monsters um the the rank and file soldiers noticed that there was a great deal of suffering on both sides and the suffering. They were suffering similar uh fates again. the mud, the rice, the not the rice, the mud, the lice, the rats, the horrible conditions, the noise, the chaos, um the fear, um and they also noticed similar human behaviors, the the

[12:02] singing, the joking, um you know, soldiers repairing the trenches, um you know, just a a bleak bleak existence that they shared. [snorts] So um as um as Christmas approached uh several factors uh converged. First of all um both the Germans and the British ha um held a deep cultural significance to Christmas. So uh well I've I've never been to Great Britain. Um, I was in uh I

[12:38] was stationed in Germany uh in in 1917 uh I'm sorry 197 listen to me in 2017 during the the Christmas season and I had the opportunity to to visit a number of Christmas markets and and and to see people out socializing uh having mold wine and and just gathering as friends and and talking and smiling and laughing. Um, very different, by the way, than the way

[13:14] Christmas is celebrated here in the United States. Christmas is a much more uh social and much less commercial endeavor uh in in in Europe than it is here. Uh, and I think that that is much the same uh in in in Great Britain, although I'm I'm I'm sure you hear complaints of the over commercial commercialization of Christmas uh in in in Europe as well. So, um this this matching of the cultural significance of Christmas between the British and the Germans, I think, resonated with a lot

[13:51] of the soldiers. Um many units received Christmas parcels with from home. They there were gifts of of food, tobacco, you know, just small kind of um uh small gifts in other types of gifts included socks or whatever. Um and um the German high command um had issued uh Christmas trees and candles uh to the frontline units. And so um it's very likely that that again the British especially uh saw

[14:26] these trees and and again it it this for the soldiers it it resonated with them thoughts of previous Christmases, thoughts of home, etc. Um, it's important to note that the the Christmas truce of 1914 was not an officially ordered truce in any way, shape, or form. Number one, and and that's largely because the high commands of of both armies [snorts] explicitly forbade fraternization with the enemy. And so uh you know that

[15:04] the truce took place had nothing to do with the leadership of of any of the army of either of the armies the the the German or the British army. So the Christmas truce began essentially spontaneously on Christmas Eve December 24th 1914. um in many sectors, but particularly in Flanders in Belgium, uh German troops who had decorated their trenches with candles and Christmas

[15:40] trees um um on on the parapits kind of above above the level of the trenches. So um Germans beca began singing Stila. Um that's German for silent night. a a a very beautiful um Christmas carol. Um presumably you've heard it. Um and uh British troops responded by singing English carols. Um and and shouting greetings across snowman's land. Merry merry happy Christmas is pro probably

[16:15] what the British said. In this country we say merry Christmas, but I believe in Great Britain happy Christmas is is the more common greeting. Um and um at at one point uh soldiers started to cautiously emerge uh from the trenches uh w with with with hands raised their weapons slung and back so they weren't at you know the ready use position or left behind entirely. Uh so this this was a a uh you know a a a uh groundup movement if you say if you if you will

[16:52] again not it was nothing that was uh formally ordered. So so Christmas Day arrives and in various points along the western front this sort of unofficial peace had uh taken hold. So um there there was clearly fraternization. There are pictures if you saw the picture in my social media posts um of of soldiers that is that is a picture taken uh from from the actual Christmas truce. So across dozens of locations along the

[17:29] western front soldiers met in no man's land. They exchanged gifts, cigarettes, chocolate, buttons, hats, just, you know, little little things. They shared food and alcohol if they had it. Um, and they took photographs together. And indeed, I just mentioned one of those photographs that I used in um promoting this episode. Um and and interestingly um they also uh took the time to bury their dead who in many cases were left in no man's land because to go out and

[18:04] retrieve the dead would likely mean that you you know one would get shot. Um and there were joint burial services for uh foreign for for uh fallen soldiers. Uh chaplain from both sides participated. Um and uh the Lord's prayer uh the Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want that. The Lord's prayer it was it's been reported that it was recited in multiple languages at some of these uh impromptu uh funerals. Um,

[18:40] legend has it um and and uh it this it comes from what what are thought to be, you know, credible sources that um there were a number of improvised football games, what what we here in the United States call soccer, not not football with pads and helmets and all that. Um and supposedly one German unit reportedly won a 3 to2 victory even. So like the Christmas truce itself, uh these matches were they were informal, they were symbolic. This was not um an

[19:15] organized tournament. So I'm going to take a quick break here for a break and come back and talk some more about the Christmas truce. America is a maritime nation. Our freedom and security depend on strong sea services. The Beverly Hills Council of the Navy League stands with our Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, and Merchant Marine through community support, education, and advocacy. For over 120 years, Americans of all walks of life have heeded our call. No prior military

[19:51] services required to join our mission. The Beverly Hills Council of the Navy League of the United States. Help us support those who serve at sea. Visit navyleague.org.

[20:06] >> So this is uh business lessons from the military. I'm I'm your host Kevin Bemel. I'm talking about the Christmas truce of 1914. A an extraordinary event in the very early uh part of World War I. So uh I before the break I was mentioning that it was essentially a spontaneous truce. This was nothing that was uh you know ordered for sure not by the high command but by any officers. Um th this was a a

[20:41] a ground swell. Well ground swell be is too large but it was it was something initiated by rank and file soldiers. So um uh it it for the most part uh the truce took place between British and German units. Now it's I think it's important to note that um the British and the Germans culturally probably have the greatest similarity of the various countries that were involved. all there there there there

[21:18] are some connections between Britain and France especially as a result of the Norman invasion there's a great deal of of of French words in English there there was not as much cultural sim or there is not and was not as much cultural similarity between uh France and Great Britain for example nor for that matter France and Germany. Um, having said that, um, there were French and German units that participated in the Christmas truce, uh, but but just not not in in in as great a number as,

[21:56] uh, the those that took place between, uh, British and German units. Um, and they were evidently extremely rare on the Eastern front between Germany and and Russia. Uh while um as I understand it uh Christmas is celebrated in the um Orthodox Christian the Russian Orthodox Church. Um my recollection is it's actually u celebrated on a different day than um among uh Roman Catholics and and

[22:31] Protestants. And so, you know, less of a chance for that to develop uh to develop. Um it did not take place typically in um artilleryheavy sectors um or areas with recent uh heavy casualties um or um among units where the officers were particular particularly strict. So, uh, while officers certainly did not order the Christmas truce, in some cases, they just sort of turned a blind blind eye to it, um, and let it happen.

[23:08] Um, and and and and didn't, you know, stop it. But there there certainly were officers who were very strict on the no fraternization policy and they they, you know, prevented any activity like that from happening. Um most of the truses last for about 24 to 48 hours um encompassing uh Boxing Day, which it's nothing we celebrate here in the United States. Boxing Day happens the day after uh Christmas in in in in Europe. Uh and uh it there are a few uh reported cases

[23:44] where the Christmas truce actually lasted until New Year's New Year's Day. Did that actually happen? Um, you know, we'll we'll we'll probably never know for sure. Uh, the high command [laughter] the high commands of the two armies uh did not like the Christmas truce to say the least. So, um they were deeply disturbed um by the fraternization which they thought would uh undermine discipline. um they did not want to see the enemy

[24:21] humanized um because they thought it would threaten uh soldiers uh willingness to fight. Um and um um they they weren't 100% wrong in this. Post truce there were incidents where uh soldiers shot over the head of the enemy uh rather than at the enemy because they they had at least temporarily lost the stomach to to to kill the enemy. So um the responses from the high command included um issuing orders explic

[24:59] explicitly uh banning uh the truses. There were threats of court mar court courts marshall. Um they rotated units away from the front um that had that were known to have fraternized. Um and they uh re renewed artillery bargages in order to prevent its it its reoccurrence. Um by Christmas of 1915 conditions were far harsher. Casualties were much higher. um the war had become much more ideologically brutal and so no

[25:38] comparable trucees happened again for for the rest of World War I. Um, if you've ever seen any of the propaganda from World War I, um, boy, it it loses nothing in the propaganda of World War II, the the images, um, uh, attempting to dehumanize the enemy are are are pretty stark. uh um um the the idea of the Germans being called Huns and made to look like apes, for example, that that dates from

[26:13] at least from World War I. So, um you know, again, the the the high command was not on board with this at all. So, um why did the truce happen? Well, I talked about just sort of how it came to happen, but but what was what was the why um undergirling it? So, I think that there was an early idealism about the war. Um um and and the soldiers at in in December of 1914, they had not been

[26:48] hardened by months and years of slaughter that that continued through 1915 and and and into almost the end of 1918. That that brutality hadn't happened yet. um the mass gassings on battlefields had not happened yet. Uh and and and so they weren't really hardened um and and and deeply enough indoctrinated into absolute hatred of the enemy. Um so I think that's number one. Number two,

[27:24] uh the the the shared culture, especially again between the British and the Germans, the the shared Christian traditions, the similar social backgrounds, um that resonated with the average soldier in a way that that probably officers and the high command just just didn't realize until the Christmas truce happened. Um, and I think it's one of the reasons why the the propaganda continued to um become uh um

[28:01] um more desirous of of of painting the enemy as as being just outright evil. Um next, uh you know, it was a static war unlike World War II, which was a mobile war. uh World War I was a static war that that the trench warfare there were periods of time months and months and months where almost no ground was gained or ground would be gained but then quickly lost back and forth in the trenches. So um the the the close

[28:37] proximity of the armies uh enabled communication uh you know it's it's it's a lot easier to kill um the enemy that you don't see. Uh but when you're close enough to hear his, you know, daily activities, the sound of his voice, it's much it's much harder to to to kill a person in those kind of circumstances, I think. Um and then finally, the the Christmas truce was not political. It was not strategic. It was a groundsup soldiarddriven

[29:13] phenomenon really. and and uh you know you you had um uh what were called doughboys, the um the the British soldiers and you had the German soldiers uh a lot of them very young uh far away from home on Christmas undoubtedly lonely in horrible circumstances and uh they were seeking I think some relief um from the the the extraordinarily harsh uh conditions in which they found themselves. [snorts] So

[29:51] um in the aftermath of the Christmas truce, as as I mentioned a couple moments ago, so many soldiers fired high deliberately in order not to hit the enemy or to hit a a enemy soldier that they had come to get to know a little bit. In some cases, uh attacks were delayed as long as possible. Um and and it's it's uh the the the the impact on the morale of the soldiers was was was complex. So on the one hand they were uplifted by a sense of shared humanity.

[30:27] On the other hand they were sobered by the reality of the war and the fact that in the end the Christmas truce had no uh impact on the course of the war. It was for all intents and purposes a moment in time um but one that left political and military leadership unmoved in its its goals for for World War I. So, um, the long-term historical significance of the [snorts] Christmas truce, uh, you

[31:04] don't hear about it so much anymore, I think, uh, unfortunately, but I think it it it it stands as kind of an icon of uh, how ordinary people will resist uh, dehumanization, how they how they We will search for connections uh with our fellow human beings. Our our our desire to have those connections. And uh I I I I I think that

[31:39] um these in some cases can be very beneficial uh but in other cases can be very detrimental. So in a situation like World War I where the British and the Germans had a lot of cultural similarity, there was there was there were connections made in uh you know between um even the Germans and the Russians where there was far less cultural similarity, right? So, um, not only didn't the truses take hold, but, um, they even if even if they had, I

[32:15] don't think there would have been nearly the resonance. Um and um and the attempt to uh assume cultural similarity among different cultures I I think is is is is a very dangerous uh idea during wartime for sure. Right. So um the the Christmas truce does live on in in books and films. There are memorials um and and you know in

[32:51] conversations about just war theory, civil military relations. You know it get it and the psychology of combat. It certainly gets continues to be discussed. Um I think it's important to note that the Christmas truce was not a sign of anti-war sentiment. certainly not widespread anti-war sentiment. Um, most soldiers returned to fighting when they were ordered to do so. Uh, and in fact, it was just a temporary fragile truce. It was not a peace movement. There's

[33:26] there's no evidence that that was a part of this. It it was it was a moment in time and and and a essentially uh a a unique moment in time. So, so what does this mean for uh for those of us who, you know, run businesses, run professional practices? Well, I I I feel compelled to mention this. I do mention it periodically. Business is not war. Okay? And and the use of war metaphors to describe what

[34:02] happens in business, I think, is incredibly corrosive. We want to out compete our competitors, but we don't want to destroy them. I I I I find such language to be very disturbing uh as someone who's been in the military. So, I I I think that um the Christmas truce should stand as uh a reminder that war is war and business is not. And that even in war, human beings will

[34:38] strive for to retain some sense of humanity. All the more so those of us who while engaged in competitive endeavors should keep uppermost the retention of our humanity. So I think that's that's number one. Number two, there is wisdom and a collective wisdom uh uh a moral wisdom that um may

[35:13] bubble up from the rank and file people in our organizations and we shouldn't ignore it. Indeed, we ignore it at our peril. So uh if if we as leaders are doing something and we see that our our you know team members are uncomfortable with it or they're voicing dissent from it. We need to listen to that dissent. Okay. They may recognize something that in our zeal to compete we're

[35:48] overlooking. And shame on us as leaders if we do that. We need to maintain the humanity of all the members of our team. And part of that is is recognizing uh that they that their ideas and their thoughts have values. Maybe they don't apply or or maybe they're in some cases wrongheaded. Okay. But treating people decently means hearing

[36:26] them out when something is is important to them. And and and again we as leaders we have a responsibility to listen. Okay. Uh so I think that's that's number two. And number three, and maybe this is the most important lesson, is we need to keep uppermost in our minds that we work to live. We don't live to

[37:05] work. Those are very different things. We can work hard. We we sometimes will work long hours [snorts] and we may drive ourselves to to do difficult activities in our work. All of those are fine. But in the end work is not the end for our existence.

[37:40] The end work is the way in which we bring additional meaning to our existence. But that existence includes family, friends, service to our communities and our nations. And we should not let our zeal to out compete, let alone conquer our competitors, overrule this fundamental idea. So this is my last episode of season 3

[38:19] of Business Lessons from the Military. The next episode will be next year, 2026, season 4. And I I hope going forward that we'll remember that we work to live because in the end that's why I do this show to give you ideas on how to work better, smarter, how to compete better, but to do so in order that you can live a better life for you, the members of

[38:56] your team, your family, families and your loved ones. So, I thank you very much for joining me today, especially live viewers. Had a couple more uh than usual today, and that's that's very gratifying. I appreciate your viewership this year. uh you've helped me grow my channel and um and and and hopefully in in return I've been able to give you some ideas, maybe some some support when when you were struggling. Um and and if

[39:33] so, then my purpose for uh for this show, indeed for all of my shows, has certainly been met. So, uh, tomorrow, [snorts] uh, will be my final show for 2025. It's my my annual, uh, Christmas Eve show that I do. I know it's I know it's funny, the Jewish guy doing a Christmas Eve show. Um, I I I I take a moment to commune with um, with my, you know, Christian brothers and sisters um, at this time of year. Um and uh and and

[40:09] so I hope you'll join me 10:00 a.m. tomorrow for the special edition of the Way to Wow shows. And and I again with with with deep deep gratitude um that that that you are that you watch uh these shows and uh that just leaves me to sign off and say Marie darling you are my bell. Courage at all times my friends.