World War I began in August 1914 and on the Western Front quickly bogged down into trench warfare. In Belgium and northern France, British and French troops were dug into trenches facing German troops a few hundred yards away. The troops continued firing back and forth until a remarkable event occurred, which historians have labeled "The Christmas Truce." On Christmas Eve, along several sectors of the front, British and German troops stopped firing and eventually came out into the area between the trenches to sing Christmas carols and exchange small gifts. The truce lasted until Christmas night in most areas of the front, although it continued until New Year's Day in a few areas. Most of the troops" commanding officers were unhappy with the truce- they would have preferred the troops to keep fighting through Christmas - and in the future they often used a policy of rotating troops around the front so that the same British and German troops did not face each other for more than relatively brief periods. Can game theory explain why the Christmas Truce occurred? Can game theory help explain why the commanding officers' strategy was successful in reducing future unauthorized truces?

Step by step solution

01

Understanding the concept of the Prisoner's Dilemma

Game theory usually centers around models like the Prisoner’s Dilemma, which presents two players with two options where each player’s choice depends on what they perceive the other will do. In the context of World War I, the British and German soldiers found themselves in a situation remarkably similar to this dilemma. Continuing to fight was the 'defection' choice, which risked high casualties, while the 'cooperation' choice was to form a truce, minimizing casualties. The reasonable decision for both sides, considering self-preservation, would be to form a truce.

02

Applying the game theory to the Christmas Truce

The Christmas Truce can be seen as an example of the 'cooperation' option in the Prisoner's Dilemma. Soldiers from both sides, who ordinarily have no direct personal conflict would likely have preferred to avoid battle and loss of life, if possible. So, on Christmas Eve, the soldiers ceased fire and formed a truce without the command or authorization of their leaders, indicating the soldiers' preference for mutual cooperation over mutual defection.

03

Understanding the commanding officers' strategy to prevent future truces

The officers were displeased with the truce because it disrupted the ongoing conflict and interfered with their strategy. To reduce the chances of future unauthorized truces, they rotated soldiers on the front lines, minimizing the amount of time any two opposing sets of soldiers were in opposition. This is because soldiers are less likely to form a truce with an unfamiliar enemy, ensuring the continuation of hostilities.

04

Applying the game theory to the commanding officers' strategy

The commanding officers' strategy of changing the players in the 'game' can be seen as a way of changing the influences on the choices in the Prisoner's Dilemma. By continuously changing the personal identities of the opposing players they disturbed the mutual familiarity and reliability developed, and thereby shifted the choices they made within the context of the game. This ultimately increased the likelihood of choosing defection (fighting) over cooperation (truce).

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