All Quiet on the Western Front

1. All Quiet on the Western Front By Erich Maria Remarque

2. BACKGROUND: The Tinderbox • In the years leading up to WWI, Europe was a tinderbox waiting to ignite • Chief among the causes of this extreme state of tension was the growth of nationalism • Throughout Europe, governments engaged in rigorous military buildups, whether to carry out nationalist goals or to contain nationalistic threats • To add to their defenses, most European countries became involved in a web of secret alliances • These alliances were so complex that few leaders could predict what would happen if one state provoked another

3. The tinderbox ignited on June 28, 1914 with the assassination of Austro-Hungarian Archduke Franz Ferdinand by a Serbian anarchist in Sarajevo • One month later, because of the alliances, Europe was plunged into war • Map of Tinderbox

4. The setting of WWI provides the framework for All Quiet on the Western Front

5. Erich Maria Remarque

6. Remarque Background • Born June 22, 1898 in Osnabruck, Germany as Erich Paul Remark, (later adopted ‘Maria’ in honor of his mother, changed the spelling of his name to ‘Remarque’ to allude to French ancestors on his mother’s side of the family) • Father, Peter, was a bookbinder • Family was poor, moved often during Erich’s youth

7. Remarque Background • Late 1916, at age of 18, he was drafted into the German army to fight in WWI • Served along the Western front, wounded several times, once seriously • Mother died while he was convalescing at a military hospital in 1917 • War ended before he returned to active duty

9. Remarque in the Postwar • In the decade after WWI, Remarque led a troubled, restless life: • After the war, he worked as a teacher, stone cutter, salesman for a tombstone company, test driver, organist for an insane asylum, advertising copywriter, dramatic critic, editor for a sports magazine • In 1927, he found himself suffering from unexplained bouts of depression • Concluded that it was the ghosts and images of WWI that still haunted him nearly a decade after the war

10. WARNING • Following are graphic images of war. • If you do not wish to see these images, please close your eyes. • After the images have passed, I will tell you to reopen your eyes.

15. Remarque in the Postwar • The survivors of WWI felt that their world had been swept away forever • The phrase “Lost Generation” comes from this idea • Resolved to come to terms with his experience through writing • PTSD-Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

16. All Quiet on the Western Front • Written in the evenings after a full day’s work • Completed in a few months • After a few rejections, novel was serialized in 1928 • Published in book form in 1929 • Titled in German: In Western Nichts Neues • Book sold over one million copies in Germany during its first year • Translated into 23 languages

17. All Quiet on the Western Front

18. All Quiet on the Western Front • Novel was written in a “realistic” style • Realism: the attempt in art and literature to represent life as it really is • Novel is semi-autobiographical • AQWF is greatly admired for its directness and simplicity • Illustrates the horror and confusion of war as perceived by the men in combat • Characters in the novel discover that the brutal realities of war are far different from the “glory” and the “heroism” that their elders had led them to expect

19. All Quiet on the Western Front • Remarque nominated for the Nobel Prize for Literature • Novel was made into a Hollywood movie in 1930 (Academy Award Winner) • As Nazi party came into power, AQWF was attacked by Nazileadership

20. The Nazi Party and All Quiet on the Western Front

21. The Nazi Party and All Quiet on the Western Front • Nazis contended that the “message” of the novel was pacifist and anti-nationalist • The Nazis publicly burned his books in 1933 • Took away his citizenship in 1938 • Joseph Goebbels arranged to disrupt the Movie’s 1930 premiere in Berlin by having a gang of youths storm the theater throwing stink-bombs and shouting “Germany awake!” • Remarque lived in Switzerland and France until the beginning of WWII

22. Remarque’s Later Life • Became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1947 • Wrote a number of subsequent novels, but none matched the acclaim of AQWF • Was well known in Hollywood, and rubbed shoulders with the likes of Marlene Dietrich, Greta Garbo, Charlie Chaplin, Cole Porter, Earnest Hemingway, and F. Scott Fitzgerald • Died September 28, 1970 in Switzerland

23. MAJOR MOTIFS/THEMES • The Lost Generation, i.e., the questioning of authority, traditional values, and social conventions • People’s inhumanity to other people • Comradeship • The symbolic images of Nature • The complex role of gender

24. Pay Special Attention To: • The vivid descriptions of the horror and confusion of war • The effect of the various settings on the characters’ behaviors • The images involving animals • The idea of youth being robbed at the hands of war • The representation of women in the novel

25. MAJOR CHARACTERS • Paul Baumer (boi’ mer) • Kropp (krop) • Muller (mew’ ler) • Leer (lar) • Stanislaus Katczinsky (Kat) (ke-chin-ski) • Haie Westhus (hi vest’ hoos) • Detering (det’ er-ing) • Corporal Himmelstoss (him’ el-shtos) • Tjaden (ja’ den) • Kemmerich (kem’e-ish) • Kantorek (kan’ te rek)

26. Trench Warfare & Poison Gas

27. TRENCH WARFARE:

28. TRENCH WARFARE:

29. TRENCH WARFARE:

30. TRENCH WARFARE:

31. TRENCH WARFARE

32. TRENCH WARFARE:

33. POISON GAS:

34. POISON GAS:

35. POISON GAS:

37. Propaganda Posters Each of the nations which participated in World War One from 1914-18 used propaganda posters not only as a means of justifying involvement to their own populace, but also as a means of procuring men, money and resources to sustain the military campaign. In countries such as Britain the use of propaganda posters was readily understandable: in 1914 she only possessed a professional army and did not have in place a policy of national service, as was standard in other major nations such as France and Germany. Yet while the use of posters proved initially successful in Britain the numbers required for active service at the Front were such as to ultimately require the introduction of conscription. Nevertheless recruitment posters remained in use for the duration of the war - as was indeed the case in most other countries including France, Germany and Italy. However wartime posters were not solely used to recruit men to the military cause. Posters commonly urged wartime thrift, and were vocal in seeking funds from the general public via subscription to various war bond schemes (usually with great success).

38. The U.S.A. entered World War One in April 1917, but lost no time in producing many more propaganda posters than any other single nation. These encompassed recruitment to the various armed services, plus - frequently - the raising of war finance via the hugely successful liberty bond issues.

39. SOME FINAL NOTES:

44. “Of the nations which went to war from 1914-18 Germany was arguably the best prepared. Along with France the German government had long planned for war. Whereas France was expecting a conflict with Germany and Austria-Hungary, Germany reckoned upon facing at least France in the west and Russia in the east: a formidable proposition. Thus Germany took great care in formulating its own war strategy - the Schlieffen Plan - which in the event failed to achieve its aim of knocking France out of the war in the west and then rushing back to the east to deal with Russia while the latter's painfully slow mobilisation proceeded apace. For all that, the Schlieffen Plan very nearly came to fruition. Conscription was a matter of standard policy in pre-war Germany. However the German government (presided over by Kaiser Wilhelm II) was not averse to appealing for more men, and for stating the patent justice of their decision to enter into a state of war.”

45. Germany Kaiser and People -- Thanks Women--Work on the Home Front!

46. “Italy began the Great War in August 1914 as a declared neutral. Her inclinations lay with the Allies however and in due course she declared her hand against the Central Powers on 23 May 1915. As with the other major nations she was prompt in using wartime poster propaganda to generate fervent support for Italy's stance: and of course as a means of encouraging military volunteers.”

47. Italy No Early Peace Morale Booster

48. “Britain entered the war on 4 August 1914. The possessor of a small professional army and without a policy of conscription she had urgent need of more men - many, many more men - for training within the British Expeditionary Force (BEF). Thus the government in London acted quickly in bringing out a stream of recruitment posters, including possibly the most famous of its type, featuring Lord Kitchener ("Your Country Wants You!"). Other posters followed in due course, many urging wartime economy. Others simply encouraged continued support for government policy, usually by whipping up indignation against the latest alleged outrages committed (invariably) by the German Army.”

49. Great Britain Your Country Wants You Women’s Land Army

50. Duffy, Michael. “FIRST WORLD WAR.COM The War to End All Wars.” 26 January 2003 <http://www.firstworldwar.com/posters/index.htm> Cited February 13, 2003.