Has there ever been a case of opposing soldiers meeting on the battlefield but refusing to fight each other,?

Question

because they recognized that they were both just pawns of the state?

To na n: the soccer game was cool. Resuming the battle was not.

Answer 1

Not sure but there was a great movie about two opposing soldiers locked in the same cell in the Balkans a couple of years ago, can't remember the name.
Looked it up it's called "No Man's Land". Turns out they weren't in prison, just kind of marooned together and injured.

Answer 2

There are stories of lulls in the fighting, where the opposing sides played games together, shared stories and food, and even had deep philosophical discussions, only to return to fighting shortly after. Being a soldier isn't just about fighting and killing, and those of us who have served recognize that. It's about caring for your nation, and giving your life to serve it. No government is ever always right. Nor is any government always wrong. The same can be said for any grouping of people, and the sooner that a person recognizes that, and recognizes that the person on the other side of that battle line is there to do the bidding of their nation, the better. Of course, I haven't addressed those not belonging to a standing national army. I really don't care for or respect mercenaries or idealogical fighters. I might respect their skill, or their ability to keep their word, if they do; but, non-aligned soldiers are not good people. They don't hold true to a law or offer their lives to it. They make their own, or sell their services to the top bidder, and I find that distasteful, crude, and disrespectful of the profession.

Answer 3

They should. Most people are too weak-minded for that, though. It's the same thing that happened in Nazi Germany...people were afraid they would be reported by someone else so they just continued to participate in the atrocity and didn't ask questions. Although, one time two opposing armies did just stop for a holiday and hold a soccer game, after which they commenced fighting again the following day...that was cool.

Answer 4

I remember the one scene in Braveheart where William Wallace's Scot Army is running to fight Irish conscripts, battling for England. As they approach each other, they stop, walk toward each other, shaking hands and laughing at the British King on his horse.
There are stories of entrenched British soldiers playing Christmas songs across battefields to theri German enemies and vice-versa in WWI.

There also was a movie which came out in 1970 called "Suppose They Gave a War and Nobody Came?"
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066422/

There was also an EXCELLENT (and all but forgotten) TV movie of the same year, "Tribes", starring Jan-Michael Vincent and Darren McGavin. McGavin is a Marine drill instructor who hates the fact he now has to train draftees to go to Vietnam. Vincent plays this not-really a hippie, more like a Buddist, who just will not accept the Marine way of doing things. McGavin's attempts to train this young man made for some gripping televison.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066490/