 Although the popular tendency has been to see the December 1914 Christmas Truces as unique and therefore of romantic rather than political significance , they have also been interpreted as part of the widespread non @-@ cooperation with the war spirit and conduct by serving soldiers . In his book on trench warfare , historian Tony Ashworth describes what he calls the ' live and let live system . ' Complicated local truces and agreements not to fire at each other were developed by men along the front throughout the war . These often began with agreement not to attack each other at tea , meal or washing times , and in some places became so developed that whole sections of the front would see few casualties for extended periods of time . This system , Ashworth argues , ' gave soldiers some control over the conditions of their existence . ' The December 1914 Christmas Truces then can be seen as not unique , but as the most dramatic example of non @-@ cooperation with the war spirit that included refusal to fight , unofficial truces , mutinies , strikes , and peace protests . 
