In class we have been talking about the prisoner’s dilemma, which gives us insight as to why a person to either cooperate or compete in a specific situation or conflict . These type of situations/conflicts have been occurring throughout history. One example from history would be Christmas during World War I when there was a cease fire between the enemies mostly between the Germans and the British.
On Christmas morning we stuck up a board with ‘A Merry Christmas’ on it. The enemy had stuck up a similar one…. Two of our men then threw their equipment off and jumped on the parapet with their hands above their heads. Two of the Germans done the same and commenced to walk up the river bank, our two men going to meet them. They met and shook hands and then we all got out of the trench…
This is a great example of how the prisoner’s dilemma is present in international relations. These enemies were able to cooperate and cease fire even though it was just for a day. They had to trust that the other side wouldn’t fire at them and vice versa. When this was first was presented to each other they weren’t sure how the other side would react, they were choosing to put their faith in the fact that they would also cease fire if they did the same. The other side also had to have faith that they weren’t walking into a trap where they would put down their weapons and then they themselves would be fired at. This situation also explained how they had a live-and-let-live system during the war, where soldiers would walk near the borders and the other soldiers would show restraint.
A British staff officer on a tour of the trenches stated that he was
“Astonished to observe German soldiers walking about within rifle range behind their own line. Our men appeared to take no notice. I privately made up my mind to do away with that sort of thing when we took over; such things should not be allowed. These people evidently did not know there was a war on. Both sides apparently believed in the policy of “live and let live.” (Dugdale 1932, p. 94)
So this may have played a part in to why they were so willing to trust each other and have a cease fire on that Christmas. My question though is why would they have even started this type of system and why would they have had a cease fire. They were enemies and what made them think to cooperate with the other side when the outcome had more of a potential of turning out bad then good.