Following months of trench warfare, unofficial ceasefires erupt along the Western Front during Christmas of 1914. Climbing from their trenches onto battle-scarred "no man’s land," British and German soldiers shake hands, swap cigarettes and jokes, and even play football. "We all have wives and children…we’re just the same kind of men as you are," one German soldier said to Philadelphia's Evening Public Ledger newspaper. Read more about it!

The information in this guide focuses on primary source materials found in the digitized historic newspapers from the digital collection Chronicling America.

The timeline below highlights important dates related to this topic and a section of this guide provides some suggested search strategies for further research in the collection.