7 Historical ‘Wars on Christmas’

Ebenezer Scrooge and the Grinch are both so well known for waging wars on Christmas that their names have become synonymous with a lack of festive spirit. But extreme feelings of “bah, humbug” don’t just exist in fiction, with real life wars on Christmas sometimes stretching for decades and even centuries. Here are seven times throughout history that holiday cheer was under attack.

1. Parliament canceled Christmas in Scotland in 1640.
2. The government outlawed Christmas in England in 1647.
3. Puritans banned Christmas in Massachusetts in 1659.
4. French revolutionaries renamed Christmas “Dog Day” at the end of the 18th century.
5. Joseph Stalin canceled Christmas in Russia in 1929.
6. Adolf Hitler Nazified Christmas in Germany in 1933.
7. Fidel Castro banned Santa Claus in Cuba in 1959.

Parliament canceled Christmas in Scotland in 1640.

Scotland is known for Hogmanay, its extravagant (and often booze-fueled) New Year’s Eve celebration. But the reason the festivities got so large is because Christmas was effectively canceled in the country for hundreds of years. The Scottish Reformation started in 1560, with Scotland splitting from the Catholic Church and instead turning to Protestantism. Christmas was a Catholic celebration, and while the feasts and merry-making of the holiday hung on for a while, in 1640, Parliament passed a law that officially banned “Yule vacance” (i.e. Christmas vacation).

All that festive cheer had to go somewhere, so the Scots shifted their energy over to New Year. And although the ban was lifted in 1712, the Church still discouraged Christmas celebrations. It wasn’t until 1958 that Scots were officially given the day off as a public holiday and started to properly deck the halls again.

The government outlawed Christmas in England in 1647.

You may have heard that Oliver Cromwell canceled Christmas in England, but he actually only strengthened the ban that was already in place. Although the English Reformation started earlier than Scotland’s version—with King Henry VIII rejecting papal authority in 1534—England was a little slower in outlawing Christmas and all of its (in Protestant eyes) sinfully lavish trappings. In 1644, an ordinance was issued that stated Christmas in England, Ireland, and Wales should be a day of “solemne humiliation, because it may call to remembrance our sinnes” of forgetting to honor Jesus and instead “giving liberty to carnall and sensuall delights” on Christmases past. Another ordinance officially abolished the holiday in 1647.

Not everyone was happy to give up the festivities; rowdy parties sometimes had to be broken up by force. During the 1650s, Cromwell made the ban even harsher, with new laws introducing penalties for anyone who held or attended a Christmas church service and orders for all shops to continue doing business on December 25.

But whereas Scotland went without Christmas for hundreds of years, people in England, Wales, and Ireland went back to freely drinking and feasting over the 12 Days of Christmas in 1660 thanks to Charles II seizing power and reinstating the holiday.

Puritans banned Christmas in Massachusetts in 1659.

Across the Atlantic, Puritan settlers in Massachusetts also took issue with Christmas. The General Court passed a law in 1659 that sought to stop the “disorders” caused by the holiday, with anyone caught “forbearing of labour” or “feasting” on December 25 facing a five shilling fine. As well as disliking the boisterous behavior that resulted from Christmas celebrations, the Puritans were also against the holiday because of its non-Christian roots—Roman Catholics had essentially hijacked the pagan winter festivities of Saturnalia—and its lack of evidence in the Bible.

The ban was lifted in 1681 without having spread to other colonies in America, but Christmas didn’t become a federal holiday until 1870 under the presidency of Ulysses S. Grant.

French revolutionaries renamed Christmas “Dog Day” at the end of the 18th century.

When the French Revolution kicked off in 1789, it wasn’t just Marie Antoinette and her fellow royals who were under attack, with Christianity—and by extension, Christmas—also facing the wrath of the rebels. Throughout the 1790s, the revolutionary government destroyed crosses, closed churches, and had practicing priests arrested. Anyone who wanted to celebrate Christmas had to do so in secret. An atheist group called the Cult of Reason even renamed the jolly holiday “Dog Day” (Le Jour Du Chien). Midnight Mass was only off the festive schedule for a few years, though; when Napoleon Bonaparte seized power in 1799, the country was able to have a joyeux Noël again.

Joseph Stalin canceled Christmas in Russia in 1929.

Joseph Stalin was staunchly atheist, so there was no place for Christmas in his Soviet Russia. In 1929, the government officially banned Christmas, with December 25 declared a working day and the decorating of evergreen trees prohibited.

Communist Party member Pavel Postyshev didn’t agree with the ban. In 1935, he wrote an article in the newspaper Pravda calling for Christmas trees to be reintroduced. Stalin was willing to oblige, but only if religion didn’t play a part in the holiday. As a result, the secular elements of Christmas were brought back—including Russia’s version of Santa Claus, Ded Moroz (Father Frost), and his granddaughter Snegurochka (Snow Maiden)—and the whole celebration was shifted over to New Year.

To this day, Russia still rings in the New Year with many of the trappings the Western world associates with Christmas. As for the religious aspect of Christmas, Catholics and Protestants celebrate on December 25, while Orthodox Christians—who make up the majority—celebrate on January 7.

Adolf Hitler Nazified Christmas in Germany in 1933.

Germany is the birthplace of a few Western Christmas traditions—including Christmas trees and advent calendars—but the holiday significantly changed when Adolf Hitler came to power in 1933. Given that Jesus was Jewish, celebrating his birthday didn’t exactly fit with the Nazis’ antisemitic ideology, so the government set about taking Christ out of Christmas.

A larger emphasis was put on the pagan origins of the holiday, with its roots being traced back to Germanic winter solstice celebrations. Christmas trees got a makeover, with swastika and military decorations replacing religious ornaments. The star on top of the tree also had to go—five pointed stars evoked the symbol of the Soviet Union, while six points recalled the Jewish Star of David—so a Germanic sun wheel was used instead. The lyrics of Christmas carols were also changed to get rid of religious references, and an entirely new carol, “Exalted Night of the Clear Stars,” was even written to further spread Nazi propaganda.

Fidel Castro banned Santa Claus in Cuba in 1959.

When Fidel Castro became prime minister of Cuba in 1959, he quickly set about implementing his vision for the country—which included banning Santa Claus. Old Saint Nick was given the boot because, in the words of Vicentina Antuña, the government’s director of culture, he’s “a recent importation and foreign to our culture.” Cuban kids would still get presents, but they’d have to wait until January 6, the feast of Epiphany, and the gifts would supposedly be delivered not by Santa, but by the Three Wise Men.

Castro took his war on Christmas a step further 10 years later. He wanted people working on the sugar harvest, so he banned Christmas celebrations outright. Cuba was Christmas-less until 1997, when Castro allowed the holiday to be celebrated in anticipation of the upcoming visit of Pope John Paul II. That year was supposed to be the only exception, but Christmas has been celebrated in Cuba ever since.

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