GC: n
S: BBC – https://bbc.in/2MQkiKB (last access: 17 November 2015); EC – https://bit.ly/2GkSEEj (last access: 17 November 2015); The Guardian – https://bit.ly/1R0xKXi (last access: 17 November 2015).
N: 1. “mutually agreed-upon temporary intermission of hostilities”, early 13c., triws, variant of trewes, originally plural of trewe “faith, assurance of faith, covenant, treaty,” from Old English treow “faith, truth, fidelity; pledge, promise, agreement, treaty,” from Proto-Germanic treuwaz.
2. Originally, an agreement for an abatement of brief suspension of hostilities. At present under United Nations practice it implies a cessation of hostilities “coupled with a set of conditions”.
3. Relevant truces XX and XXI centuries:
- Christmas Truce: On Christmas Eve 1914, during World War I, British and German soldiers stopped fighting. Many of them left their trenches and started to talk and exchange gifts. But after a few hours of peace they were ordered back to their guns.
- The truce ended seven weeks of fighting that left more than 2,200 people – mostly Palestinians – dead, was brokered by Egypt and began at 19:00 (16:00 GMT) on Tuesday 27 August 2014. A long-term ceasefire has been agreed between Israel and Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip after the Truce.
4. Truce probably indicates a less definitive cessation of hostilities than the term “Armistice”.
5. Temporary Ceasefire: The temporary cessation of hostilities by agreement between the
warring parties. A ceasefire or armistice may be ‘general’, in which case hostilities cease
throughout the theatre of war, or ‘local’, in which there is only a partial cessation of hostilities.
A general ceasefire often precedes a peace treaty. (OCHA)
6. Collocations:
- Verb + truce + call, declare, offer, propose: The guerrillas have called a one-month truce.
- Verb + truce + agree (to/on), conclude, make, negotiate, reach: The priest helped to negotiate a truce between the warring sides.
- Verb + truce + maintain, break, violate.
- Truce + verb + hold, last, prevail collapse: The two-day truce collapsed in intense shellfire.
- Truce + verb + expire, lapse: They renewed the war as soon as the truce expired.
- Prep. during a/the: during a wartime electoral truce.
- Among/between: An uneasy truce prevailed between them at dinner.
- Phrases: a flag of truce.
7. Cultural Interrelation: We can mention the movie Christmas Truce (2015) by Brian Skiba.
S: 1. OED – https://bit.ly/2Uysj9r (last access: 17 November 2015). 2. TERMIUMPLUS – http://goo.gl/LDH4iu (last access: 17 November 2015). 3. BBC – https://bbc.in/1BZQFKf; https://bbc.in/1t9f3rH (last access: 17 November 2015). 4. TERMIUMPLUS – http://goo.gl/LDH4iu (last access: 17 November 2015). 5. GLOSS RW – https://bit.ly/2G2p1YO (last access: 18 November 2015). 6. OCD – https://bit.ly/2DNDhT2 (17 November 2015). 7. IMDB – https://imdb.to/2HILGLn (last access: 17 November 2015).
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