Michael Rosen's column on language and its uses
Ceasefire, 20th century: a temporary suspension of fighting, usually between two armies
One of the peculiarities of wars is that at some point they come to an end. Before a peace agreement is signed, there is usually a ceasefire. As you can see, it’s a compound noun, combining the two major sources of modern English – French and Old English – with “cease” coming from French (and before that, Latin) and “fire” from Old English. It’s a delight to see the roots of the language so symmetrically married in the one word.
Originally it was a command: “Cease fire!”, that is, “stop firing your guns”. The first written example of this comes from the Caledonian Mercury of 1844: “I was obliged to sound the ‘Halt’ and ‘Cease fire’.” The first written use of the term to mean an end to hostilities is in the Times on 12 November 1918: “The cease fire of yesterday must be universal and final.” As we know, that was the end of the “war to end all wars” – although it turned out not to be.
But “ceasefires” are often fragile, and do not necessarily announce the intended end of a conflict, unlike an armistice. Ceasefires are usually meant to be temporary but binding, in contrast to a truce or a cessation of hostilities – although these terms are often used interchangeably.
Of course, they are not possible if either or both sides will not stop. It seems clear that the Nazis (or Hitler in particular) would not have been prepared to agree to a ceasefire to bring an end to hostilities in Europe during the Second World War. Hitler’s position was no surrender to anyone, ever. Many millions of lives were lost in the process. Instead of a “ceasefire” there was an “armistice”, once the Nazi side had been thoroughly broken.
However, the claim that the other side would never agree to a ceasefire (or wouldn’t honour one even if they agreed to it) is all part of how political the word can be. In that sense, power play around the term can be a pretext for the continuation of war.
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