When and where did that originate?
Has there ever been a military campaign or operation that actually stated the goal of “Getting them Home for Christmas”, then, subsequently, actually worked?
There were some wars that were carried out pretty quickly. When Prussia was seeking to unite Germany under its control, it fought wars against Denmark, Austria, and France. Each of these wars was fought and won within a single campaigning season.
At the initial outbreak of the First World War, many felt (very optimistically) that the war would be over by Christmas and that it would be a short skirmish in the Balkans. This of course proved to be untrue, but the following couple of years saw plenty of people still hoping that things would be “wrapped up by Christmas.”
I’m not aware of it ever being an actual slogan or campaign promise, more of just a common hope among the populace.
[QUOTE=Kaiser Wilhelm II, August 1914, addressing German troops leaving for the front]
“You will be home before the leaves fall from the trees.”
[/QUOTE]
Mind you, Willie had some reason to believe that. In the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1871, the main part of the fighting, between the French Empire and the Prussian-led North German Confederation, began on 19 July 1870 and ended with the defeat of the French Army and the fall of the French Empire in September, 1870. There continued to be fighting until the following spring, but it was pretty clear the North German Confederation had won the war.
Similarly, the Austro-Prussian War of 1866 lasted all of even weeks, resulting in an Austrian defeat and the establishment of Prussian hegemony.
Those had been the last major wars between great powers in Europe prior to the Great War, so it wasn’t unusual that some thought there would be a similar quick victory of Germany over France again.