BACKGROUND INFORMATION:ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN

FRONT

World War I, Erich Maria Remarque, Main Characters

BEGINNING OF WWI

• WWI officially began in 1914 with the assassination of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand by a Serbian.

• But the unrest originally started in the 19th-century with conflicts between European imperial powers and the rise of nationalism

ALLIANCES

• After 1914, complicated alliances and treaties enlisted more and more countries into the battle. • The Triple Alliance: Germany, the Austro- Hungarian Empire, and Italy.• The Triple Entente: Great Britain, France, Russia.

NEW INVENTIONS

• World War I utilized many new inventions including:

• Flamethrowers• Tanks • Airplanes • Machine guns • Poisonous gases• Submarines

FLAMETHROWER

TANKS- THE MARK V TANK

AIRPLANES- SOPWITH PUP

MACHINE GUNS

POISONOUS GASES

• Two types of gas:

• Chlorine

• Mustard

SUBMARINES

TRENCHES

• WWI was fought mostly in trenches

• Trenches were dug by both sides to protect soldiers from enemy attack

• However, trenches often caused more harm to soldiers than protections

•

TRENCHES

• Trenches smelled bad and were filled with water.

• This caused soldiers to have “trench foot”.

• Conditions in the trenches also caused soldiers to have dysentery and lice.

TRENCH FOOT• An infection of the feet

caused by cold, wet and unsanitary conditions.

• In the trenches men stood for hours on end in waterlogged trenches without being able to remove wet socks or boots.

• The feet would gradually go numb and the skin would turn red or blue.

• If untreated, trench foot could turn gangrenous and result in amputation

No Man’s Land

• Small, bitterly contested area between enemy trenches.

• Contained a considerable amount of barbed wire.

• Soldiers who tried to venture across No Man’s Land were often killed.

Aerial View of the Western Front

Erich Maria Remarque 1898-1970

• Father was a bookbinder• Enlisted in German Army

at 18• Fought on the Western

Front and was wounded

several times• Lived in the US and Switzerland after losing

German citizenship because of book.

ALL QUIET

• All Quiet is considered to be semi-autobiographical.

• Shows the horrors of war

• Also shows war’s effects from the viewpoint of ordinary soldiers.

MAIN CHARACTERS

• PAUL BAUMER: A young German soldier fighting in the trenches during World War I; protagonist and narrator of the novel.

• STANISLAUS KATCZINSKY (“KAT”): A soldier in Paul’s company; Paul’s best friend in the army; Is forty years old and has a family at home; Always finds food, clothing, and blankets whenever the soldiers need them.

MAIN CHARACTERS

• Albert Kropp: One of Paul’s high school classmates who serves with Paul in the Second Company; one of Paul’s closest friends during the war.

• Mueller: One of Paul’s high school classmates and a soldier in his company. Wants to talk their postwar plans.

MAIN CHARACTERS

• Tjaden: One of Paul’s friends in the Second Company; has a large appetite; has a grudge against Corporal Himmelstoss.

• Kantorek: Schoolmaster of Paul’s high school; places intense pressure on Paul and his classmates to fulfill their “patriotic duty” by enlisting in the army.

MAIN CHARACTERS

• Himmelstoss: a noncommissioned training officer; was a postman. He torments Paul and his friends during their training. After he experiences the horrors of trench warfare, however, he tries to make amends with them.

• Gérard Duval:  a French soldier whom Paul kills in No Man’s Land.