1. All Quiet on the Western Front
The Great War

2. The War:
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

3. 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

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

5. 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

6. 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.

7. 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

8. Any questions?