Live and let live (World War I)

Live and let live is the spontaneous rise of non-aggressive co-operative behaviour that developed during the First World War particularly during prolonged periods of Trench Warfare on the Western Front. Perhaps one of the most famous examples of this is the Christmas Truce of 1914.

It is a process that can be characterised as the deliberate abstaining from the use of violence during war. Sometimes it can take the form of overt truces or pacts negotiated locally by soldiers. At other times it can be a tacit behaviour—sometimes characterised as "letting sleeping dogs lie"—whereby both sides refrain from firing or using their weapons or deliberately discharging them in a ritualistic or routine way that signals their non-lethal intent.

This behaviour was found at the small-unit level, sections, platoons or companies, usually observed by the "other ranks" e.g. privates and non-commissioned officers. Examples were found from the lone soldier standing sentry duty, refusing to fire on exposed enemy soldiers, through to snipers, machine-guns teams and including field-artillery batteries.

Tony Ashworth in his book "Trench Warfare 1914–1918: The Live and Let Live System" researched this topic based upon diaries, letters, and testimonies of veterans from the war. He discovered that 'live and let live' was widely known about, at the time, and was common usually at specific times and places. It was often to be found when a unit had been withdrawn from battle and was sent to a rest sector.

During the First World War, 1914–1918, the Higher Commands, Division, Corps and Army Commanders and their staffs were aware of this un-aggressive behaviour, and in some cases used to analyse casualty statistics to detect it. As a counter, raids or patrols were often ordered to foster the correct "offensive spirit" in the troops.

The "Live and Let Live" system was fragile at best and was thus easily broken by the use of lethal force.

Game Theory

Some game theory theorists, like Robert Axelrod, have characterised "Live and Let Live" as an iterated variant of the Prisoner's Dilemma. Axelrod linked "Live and Let Live" to the co-operative strategy referred to as Tit for Tat.

Further reading

*Ashworth, Tony "Trench Warfare 1914–1918: The Live and Let Live System" (1980). (ISBN 0330480685)

*Ashworth, Tony "The Sociology of Trench Warfare", British Journal of Sociology, 21 (1968), 407–20.

*Axelrod, Robert. (2006). The Evolution of Cooperation Revised edition Perseus Books Group, (ISBN 0465005640)

External links

* [http://www.heretical.com/games/trenches.html Excerpts from the Chapter "The Live-and-Let-Live System in Trench Warfare in World War I"]