All Quiet on the Western Front Summary Sample

Criticism of the Romantic Rhetoric of War, Honor, and Patriotism in the Novel All Quiet on the Western Front

Today, after two world wars and numerous more local conflicts that took place through the entire last century and continue steadily to occur nonetheless, the public opinion generally sees war as something terrifying, disgusting, and ugly. Due to the abundance of the photos and videos from the war zones, one can see what the war appears like.

non-etheless, such vision of the war had not been always prevalent. At many points through the twentieth century, including the 1910s, the war was considered to be beautiful and sacred. In Germany before and throughout World War I, massive propaganda spread the chauvinist, nationalist, and militarist some ideas, which became dominant once more after Adolf Hitler found power in 1933. Out of this perspective, All Quiet on the Western Front compiled by Erich Maria Remarque is seen as an response to the widespread pro-war discourse and affirmation of the pacifist stance.

The roots of the political propaganda are located in the rule of Napoleon. He was the first ruler that stumbled on the realization that propaganda and censorship could be used strategically to shape people opinion and continue maintaining the power (Ther). Later, propaganda became a typical weapon that the political leaders used against their people. Also in World War I, propaganda played the significant part in the public discourse. German wartime propaganda in at your home front came in different sorts and included posters, media content, events, and general censorship.

non-etheless, the crucial facet of the German propaganda was that the ideas which it relied were popular long before the war began. Obedience, loyalty, and discipline were viewed as the critical virtues in German monarchy at the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth century. Social Darwinist and Nationalist ideologies heavily influenced public debate in the country. In the decade before the outbreak of war, the threat was regarded as omnipresent; many stuck to the opinion that only the armed conflict could save the German nation. At the same time, they were not only the politicians who spread such ideology: it had been also promoted by artists and intellectuals, such as college professors and school teachers, which is the case in every Quiet on the Western Front. Following the German mobilization in 1914, all agents named above maintained their positive stance on the war (Ther). The wartime slogans assured the German soldiers they are superior and can with no doubt win the war. Whereas in the propaganda posters and postcards the enemies were depicted as caricatures, the image of the German soldier was romanticized.

Actually before and during World War I, war and military action had been sacralized in Germany. The extent to which war became a matter of common salvation is clear from the words of the German writer, Nobel Prize-winner Thomas Mann, who wrote: “War! It was purification and relief which we felt, and an incredible hope” (Dassen). Not just politicians and intellectual elites justified and glorified the war, but in addition priests and clergymen in the Christian churches, who claimed that the war had religious nature, and God find the Germans.

All Quiet on the Western Front is visible as an reply to the militarist, chauvinistic discourse that sacralized the war and caused it to be a holy duty for each German man. The presence and power of the propaganda become evident already in the very first chapter of the book. Although it seems that Paul and his friends joined the war effort out of their wish, in fact , they certainly were too young to have their particular opinion on the issue. The students were manipulated by their headmaster, Kantorek, who represents a massive part of the German society—especially well-educated middle and upper classes, who supported the militarist ideology. “… at that time even one’s parents were ready with the phrase “coward, ” states the protagonist. At precisely the same time, he highlights, that the town poor along with German farmers, were mostly against the war: “The wisest were just the poor and simple people. They knew the war to be a misfortune, whereas people who were better off, and may have been in a position to see more clearly what the consequences could be, were beside themselves with joy” (Remarque and Wheen 7). The social pressure that the students experienced is reflected in these passage:

“For us lads of eighteen, they [“thousands of Kantoreks”] ought to have now been mediators and guides to the world of maturity, the entire world of work, of duty, of culture, of progress–to the future. We often made fun of these and played jokes to them, but in our hearts we trusted them. The idea of authority, which they represented, was associated in our minds with greater insight and much more humane wisdom” (Remarque and Wheen 7).

non-etheless, with impressing mastery, Remarque demonstrates how such vision of the war was destroyed already during the first days at the battlefield. In reality, the war had not been the sacred battle between your good and the evil. The war was rather about legs amputated, young soldiers killed, hunger, excrements—total absurdity, which soon becomes evident for Paul and his comrades. Throughout the novel, the war is depicted realistically, just as it is. Of course, such portrayal is disillusioning and refutes all militarist pathos at once. From the first day on the battlefield, the protagonist realizes, that he, exactly like other soldiers, has been deceived. Remarque writes:

“We loved our country around they; we went fearlessly into every action; but in addition we distinguished the false from true, we had suddenly learned to see. Also, we saw that there clearly was nothing of the world left. We were all at once terribly alone, and alone we ought to see it through” (Remarque and Wheen 7).

Overall, All Quiet on the Western Front is a powerful objection to German militarist rhetoric and demonstration of the real face of the war. Remarque managed to deconstruct the propaganda pathos and show, what the war is—the absurd. Taking this into consideration, there is absolutely no wonder that Quiet on the Western Front was one of the first books marked as “degenerate” and forbidden by National Socialist Party after it came to power in 1933. This novel was a threat to Nazism, which relied on myths, maybe not on reality. The image of war as of the full total horror didn't encourage the Germans to become listed on the military effort; it evoked unwelcomed pacifism. non-etheless, today All Quiet on the Western Front serves as a robust reminder and a warning, which is, regrettably, too often ignored by those in power as they elect to pursue their economic interest rather than look after the common good.

Works Cited

Dassen, Patrick. “The German Nation As A Secular Religion In The very first World War? About The Dilemma of Unity In Modern German History. ” Political Religion Beyond Totalitarianism, J. Augusteijn and M. Janse, Palgrave Macmillan, 2013.
Remarque, Erich Maria, and A W. Wheen. “All Quiet On The Western Front. ” 1987, http://explainallquietonthewesternfront.weebly.com/uploads/2/4/7/2/24722875/all_quiet_on_the_western_front.
Ther, Vanessa. “Propaganda At Home (Germany). ” Encyclopedia. 1914-1918-Online. Net, 2014, https://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/propaganda_at_home_germany.