All Quiet on the Western Front The Great War

The War: 1914-1918 Causes Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary was assassinated by a Serbian in Bosnia on June 28th, 1914 Ferdinand was killed as revenge for Austria’s oppression of the Serbs

What happened next… After the assassination, Austria declares war on Serbia Germany decides to support Austria + Russia backs Serbia = Germany declares war on Russia Next, Germany declares war on France b/c they refuse to remain neutral Britain declares war on Germany b/c they invade Belgium, which was supposed to be neutral

Final Sides Central Powers: Allies: * winners Germany Bulgaria Austria-Hungary Ottoman Empire France United Kingdom Russia Italy (1915) Serbia Unites States (1917)

Death totals Total: over 37,000,000 dead or wounded 17,000,000 dead Central Powers Allies Germany: 7,142,558 Austria-Hungary: 7,020,000 Bulgaria: 187,500 Ottoman Empire: 4,000,000 Russia: 5,000,000 US: 323,018 France: 6,160,000 Italy: 2,197,000 Serbia: 331,106 UK: 3,190,235 Total: over 37,000,000 dead or wounded 17,000,000 dead

AQOTWF Author: Erich Maria Remarque (1898-1970) He based the book on his own experience as a young infantryman in the German army during WWI. Purpose: “To report on a generation that was destroyed by the war—even when it escaped the shells.” More than 1,000,000 copies of the book was sold in Germany the year it was published, 1929.

The Story Narrated by Paul Baümer, a 19-year-old German volunteer, during the last 2 years of WWI. The book alternates between periods of conflict at the Western Front and peaceful interludes Remarque used his novel to show his concern for the physical and spiritual effects of WWI on a generation of young men in Germany Novel is also an attack on members of Germany’s older generation for imposing their false ideals of war onto the youth

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