A Classic from the Great War

With all this talk of World War I, I felt it was appropriate to mention this book.



Last year I read a book called All Quiet on the Western Front by World War I veteran, Erich Maria Remarque. The thing that stood out the most about this book is the fact that it was written not by an allied veteran but by a German veteran; the chance to hear from the side of the enemy made it very interesting. Before I read this book I considered WWI and WWII Germans to be heartless monsters, something I've been told my whole life. However, upon reading this book I realized I may have been misguided.

From the start of this book something became very clear, this was not a pro-war novel written by some ultra-nationalist trying to restore his country's pride,  instead it was about a young soldier who only joined the army because of societal pressure. 

Straight out of boot camp he was sent to the western front and witnessed the worst of the carnage and waste of the war. The protagonist and other German soldiers often expressed their discontent with fighting a war for no reason other than the fact that the politicians back at home were angry at the world. This made the Germans seem very human, they had  the same concerns the allies did during the war. 

Years later when Hitler came to power, All Quiet on the Western Front became illegal to own in Nazi controlled areas. Copies were often burned by the Nazis due to the book's anti-war, anti-nationalist sentiment. Erich Maria Remarque was even accused by Hitler as being a secret Jew. Today the book serves as an example that no one, not even the enemy likes war.