All Quiet on
the Western
Front
Erich Maria Remarque
 More than any other
conflict, the Great War
inspired writers of all
generations and classes,
most notably among
combatants
 AQWF is an anti-war
novel depicting the
horrors of war from the
point of view of the
ordinary soldier:
"It is just as much a matter of
chance that I am still alive as
that I might have been
hit. In a bomb-proof dug-out
I may be smashed to atoms
and in the open may survive
ten hour's bombardment
unscratched. No soldier
outlives a thousand
chances. But every soldier
believes in Chance and trusts
his luck."
Remarque During the War
About the Author
 Erich Maria Remarque studied at the University of
Münster but had to enlist in the German army at the
age of 18.
 He fought on the Western Front and was wounded
several times.
 After the war, Remarque worked as a teacher, a
stonecutter, and a test-car driver.
 He became famous after his first novel, All Quiet on
the Western Front
 touched a nerve of the time
 sparked off a storm of political controversy
A brief discourse on the
causes of WWI from
someone who is not a
history teacher.
 Militarism
 Alliance system
 Imperialism
 Nationalism
Militarism
Because Britain had
a great navy,
Germany wanted a
great navy too.
Germany and France
competed for larger
armies. The more
one nation built up
its army and navy,
the more other
nations felt they had
to do the same.
Alliance System
For twenty years, the nations of
Europe had been making alliances. It
was thought the alliances would
promote peace. Each country would
be protected by others in case of war,
making it foolish for one country to
wage war on another.
The danger of these alliances was that
an argument between two countries
could draw all the other nations into a
fight. This is just what happened when
a conflict between Austria-Hungary
and Serbia led to World War I.
In the summer of 1914 there were two
alliances: The Triple Alliance
composed of Germany, AustriaHungary, and Italy, stood opposed to
the Triple Entente composed of
Britain, France, and Russia.
Imperialism
Another cause was
that European
nations ruled smaller
countries, called
colonies, and
competed with each
other to amass more
colonies. Both France
and Britain had many
colonies in Africa and
Asia. Now Germany
and Italy decided they
wanted a colonial
empire too.
Nationalism
In addition to political
conflicts, the causes of
the war included such
forces as nationalism or
patriotism. Nationalism
led European nations to
compete for the largest
army and navy, or the
greatest industrial
development. It also gave
groups of subject peoples
the idea of forming
independent nations of
their own.
Escalation
 The war that would destroy European society had
been coming for a long time. The nineteenth century
had been an era of great progress and of turmoil and
conflict as well. New nations had been created. The
balance of power that existed in 1815, at the end of
the era of Napoleon, was disturbed. Adding to the
danger was a false sense of security. Local wars had
flared up in the nineteenth century, but a major war
was regarded as unlikely. Looking back at 1914 today,
however, we can see that each of the major countries
of Europe had interests that would bring it into
conflict with at least one of the other great powers.
Spark
 On June 28, 1914, Gacrilo Princip, a nineteen-year-old
Serbian revolutionary, fired two pistol shots. One killed
Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the nephew of Emperor Franz
Joseph of Austria-Hungary and heir to the Austrian
throne. The other killed Sophie, his wife.
 Austria-Hungary held Serbia responsible. On July 5 Austria
asked for and received from Germany a "blank check" of
support for any action Austria-Hungary might take
against Serbia.
 On July 23 Austria sent a series of demands to the
Serbians. The demands were designed to humiliate and
virtually destroy the Serbian nation. Still, Serbia agreed to
most but not all of the demands.
 Austria reacted on July 28 by declaring war on Serbia. The
Russians prepared to defend Serbia. Germany sent a
warning to Russia to stop mobilizing its army for war; the
Russians ignored the warning, and Germany declared war
on Russia on August 1. France came to the aid of its
Russian ally by declaring war on Germany. The British
hesitated, but when the Germans marched into Belgium,
they declared war on Germany as well.
 Italy, the third member of the Triple Alliance, refused to
back Germany and Austria-Hungary. Italy claimed the
Triple Alliance was for defensive purposes only and
Austria's declaration of war against Serbia was no
defensive.
 So in August, 1914, the guns of the war went off. The
system of alliances for keeping peace had brought the
great nations of Europe into war with one another.
 Allied Powers included France, Great
Britain, and Russia (and eventually
the US).
Central Powers
Central Powers included Germany, AustroHungarian Empire, and the Ottoman Empire.
Most Famous WWI Poem:
“In Flanders Fields”
Sung by SHS Concert Choir
In Flanders Fields
Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, MD (1872-1918)
Canadian Army
IN FLANDERS FIELDS the poppies blow
Between the crosses row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
Symbol: examine the
title and text for
symbolism
Images: identify
imagery and sensory
details
Figures of Speech:
analyze figurative
language and other
devices (use the terms on
the handout).
Tone and Theme:
discuss how all devices
reveal tone and theme
Sift through the poem. What is the tone and theme of this
piece? What themes do you think we will encounter in the book?
Life in the Trenches
 Loss of Innocence
 Truths of War
 Hopes, Dreams, Plans
 Sacrifice
 Death
 Primitiveness
Loss of Innocence
Truths
of
Warin All Quiet
Innocence isHopes,
almost
an
enemy
Dreams
Plans
Sacrifice
All
Quiet
on
the
Western
Front
displays
all
Death
on the
Western
Front
–
a
soldier
must
get
In
the
world
of
All
Quiet
on
the
Western
When
you
breakPrimitiveness
down
the word
of the
angst
central
to
any
story
about
The
frailty
and
value
of
life
is a war,
giant
rid
of
it
right
away
if
he
wants
to
survive.
Front,
we
are
exposed
to
the
dreams
of on
"sacrifice,"
the first
part,
"sacr,"
means
Throughout
the
course
ofofAll
Quiet
but
it
also
exposes
the
horrors
a
new
theme
in All
Quiet
on
themonths
Westernof
Ourmen
narrator
learns
to
lose his
innocence
who
endure
months
upon
sacred
or
holy.
Sacrifice
implies
a setas
of
the
Western
Front,
we
watch
kind
of
war,
one
that
allows
for
mass
Front.
The
author
highlights
the
shallow
quickly,
mostly
by observing
that
in
trench
warfare.
Conditions
areloss
abysmal
beliefs
for which
one
willing
to
give
soldiers
fight
to is
both
preserve
their
death.
Machine
guns
had
never
been
used
attitude
of
observers
who
think
of
others
around
him,
but
also
through
his
and
mass death
atofrequent
occurrence.
something
upand
tois
achieve.
In All
Quiet
on
humanity
suppress
their
human
before
World
War
1Our
narrator
provides
soldiers
as
toys
that
can
be
lost
and
ownThis
experiences.
And
he
consciously
feels
context
shapes
the
soldiers'
–to
the violent
Western
Front,
the men
sacrifice
instincts.
Humanness
allows
them
a
close
account
of
the
atrocities
of
the
war.
easily
The
author
spends
great
thatand
loss
as hereplaced.
survives
innarrator's
the
story,
particularly
our
–noting
concept
everything
for nothing.
They
give
up
form strong
bonds
with
one
another,
Even
those
who
physically
survive
are
amounts
of
time
describing
the
process
how
he
has
become
"old
folk"
and
how
oftheir
life
and
of
dreams.
The
soldiers
dream
lives
for
a
set
of
ideals
that
are
but
it
also
compels
them
to
feel
victims.
The
soldiers
must
learn
every like
of dying.
Eventually,
Death
becomes
separate
he
feels
from
the
new
recruits
ineither
order
to
keep
sane
and
in
order
to staythe
incomprehensible
or
false.
The
hunted
prey.
Their
ability
to
survive
is
detail
offray,
warfare
inof
order
to
survive.
greatest
enemy
all.
In
the
novel,
the
entering
the
recruits
only
a
year
or
so
alive.
Their
dreams
are not
elaborate,
but
fact that
they
sacrifice
for
unknown
sustained
by these
bonds,
and their
bravest
the
brave
men innocent.
die, sex,
while
the
younger
thangives
heof
is,
but
fargreat
more
are,
rather,
tied
tois
home,
and
reasons
rise
to
and primal
ability
to
kill
fed byfamily,
their
fear
weakestfood.
of men survive.
widespread
tension.
of being
hunted. Lots of animalistic
imagery thread throughout the novel,
highlighting the wilder urges that the
men face.
 Protagonist: Paul Baumer
 Secondary: Stanislaus Katczinsky
 Background characters: Muller, Tjaden, Albert Kropp, Kimmerich,
Leer, Haie Westhus, Detering
 Kantorek (their Schoolmaster)
 Corporal Himmelstoss
 Baumer, Muller, Leer and Kropp went to school together and were
encouraged to enlist Kantorek. All are age nineteen.
 Tjaden, Westhus and Detering are lower class workers or farmers.
 Katczinsky is the oldest and becomes a mentor or father figure to
Paul.
All Quiet on
the Western
Front
Plot Summary

As you saw in the excerpt, the book opens five miles behind the front. Kimmerich has
just died.

After the excerpt, we follow Paul with the Second Company to the front line where
he experiences a bombardment of French bombs, trench warfare and death on an
intimate level.

Juxtaposed with the harsh experiences of war, we also learn of the intimate
camaraderie that develops between the group as they work together to find food,
and battle against lice and rats.

We learn of Kat’s amazing ability to scavenge and are privy to the debates the boys
have on the merits of fighting a war that they did not start.

Half way through the book, Paul is given leave and returns home to find that his
mother is very sick and bedridden. He is reunited with his boyhood items but is now
so disconnected from the boy he was just a few years ago that he is filled with a
profound sadness. He ends his visit with the thought “I ought never to have come on
leave” (Remarque 160).
Plot Summary
 After his leave and before returning to the front, Paul is stationed on the base for
additional training and is assigned to guard the Russian POWs, an experience which
makes him question the validity of the German propaganda.
 He returns to the front and feels unable to reintegrate into the group. He is rusty and
finds himself making mistakes that he wouldn’t have if he had never gone on leave. After
a routine patrol into no man’s land, he finds himself paralyzed by fear behind enemy lines
and forced to kill a French soldier.
 After coming under fire while evacuating a town, Paul and Albert are wounded and bribe
their way into a military hospital where a new group of injured soldiers bond. They even
conspire to help one of them have sex with his wife who comes to visit after years of
being apart.
 Paul is discharged and returns to the front.
 The book ends with the knowledge of the inevitable defeat of the German army and a
montage of each character’s death, culminating with Paul’s death on the last page.
Life in the Trenches
Think Along
WWI
Propaganda