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

2. The Beginning
Problems 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

3. WWI lasted from 1914 to 1918 involved most of the world's great powers
assembled in two opposing alliances
the Allies
and the Central Powers.

5. Aftermath of War
Four major imperial powers—the German, Russian, Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman Empires—had been militarily and politically defeated, with the last two ceasing to exist.
The revolutionized Soviet Union emerged from the Russian Empire
The map of central Europe was completely redrawn into numerous smaller states.

6. Battle Tactics Barbed War Machine Guns Germans- poison gas
Slow, painful death, most feared
Britain and France- tanks
TRENCHES

9. Trench Warfare
Both sides constructed elaborate trench and dugout systems opposing each other along a front- fighting lines
protected from assault by barbed wire.
“No Man’s Land”-The area between opposing trench lines which was fully exposed to artillery fire from both sides.
Attacks, even if successful, often sustained severe casualties as a matter of course.
Stalemate-slow wearing down of opposing forces. No one wins!

11. Erich Maria Remarque Background
Late 1916 at age of 18 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

12. Postwar Remarque
Survivors of WWI felt that their world had been swept away
The phrase “Lost Generation”
Resolved to come to terms with his experience through writing
PTSD-Post Traumatic Stress Disorder