All Quiet on the Western Front
A brutal, bloody glimpse into the horrors suffered by the German Army in the final days of the First World War
The end of the First World War brought a wave of overwhelming relief to Europe. For four long years, armies on both sides of no man’s land had been involved in a costly war of attrition. Millions died on both sides, and millions more were wounded in what was said to be ‘the war to end all war’.
Few films about the war depict it in even a fractionally positive light, but ‘All Quiet on the Western Front’ goes as much in the direction of ‘anti-war’ as almost physically possible. The film adaptation of the 1928 novel written by Erich Maria Remarque, a German veteran of the trenches. It depicts the mental and physical well being of the young men sent to fight the war that their leaders had started.
The film begins by showing a group of young German soldiers, visibly excited to be getting signed up to go and fight. Like with men of all the other nations involved, the war was seen as an adventure- a chance to explore a new country with each other and have an adventure. The reality- of course- was very different.
Much of the film divides itself between the horrors of life in the trenches and the effort to bring the conflict to an end by generals and other representatives behind the line. As the paperwork for peace is being written up, thousands of soldiers were still dying in the mud.
The most brutal scene in the film shows a German attack on French lines. The troops are sent over the top and towards the French lines. After fighting their way through the halestorm of machine gun and artillery fire, the troops regroup to push on. The shock at seeing so much food and drink in one of the French dugouts made a few soldiers forget about the true hell they were living through- even if it was only temporary.
The French counter attack saw the Germans met with tanks, machine guns and flamethrowers. What followed was a horrific example of man’s inhumanity to man. Even so close to the end of the war, the killing machine was ravenous. The men who survived were little more than a shell of those who marched confidently to the war.
The film concludes with the final minutes of the war where- despite the truce being moments away from coming into effect- one German commander seems keen to effectively end the war on the front foot. He orders his men to attack French positions despite the end of the war being no more than what seems about 10 minutes away.
Thousands of German troops were killed or wounded as were many French as the futile attack took place. Then quick as a flash, it was all over. A whistle sounded and the war was over- like the end of a hard fought football match.
Soldiers from both sides returned home, battered and bruised from days, weeks and sometimes months of war. Life would never be the same, even for those the trenches had spared.
