 In the lead up to Christmas 1914 , there were several peace initiatives . The Open Christmas Letter was a public message for peace addressed " To the Women of Germany and Austria " , signed by a group of 101 British women suffragettes at the end of 1914 as the first Christmas of World War I approached . Pope Benedict XV , on 7 December 1914 , had begged for an official truce between the warring governments . He asked " that the guns may fall silent at least upon the night the angels sang . " This attempt was officially rebuffed . 
