All Quiet on the Western Front Reviews

“All Quiet on the Western Front is about the violence of war, comradeship, disappointment and the casualty that confronts even those who return from the war. The graphic and nightmare-like scenes in the trenches are horrific. So too is the intense sense of loneliness for the protagonist on leave only to return to the front. The hospital scenes will cause most readers to gasp and become uneasy. In its quiet, short and to the point, yet perfect style, this is a book that creates a long-lasting impression on the person reading it.”

“All Quiet on the Western Front is the story of one man caught up in a war that he doesn’t even seem to fully comprehend. The story is that of Paul Baumer, a young German soldier serving in the trenches in France. Baumer volunteered for the war when his instructor in school, Kantorek, urged the class to join up for the glory of Germany. After training, Baumer and his friends go to the front as infantrymen. Filled with glorious ideas about war by authority figures back home, Baumer quickly discovers that the blood-drenched trenches of the Western Front are full of misery and violent death. As Paul’s friends slip away one by one through death, desertion, and injury, Paul begins to wonder about his own life and whether he will survive not only the war but also a world without war.”  (leserglede.com, Peter)

            "Through the book, All Quiet on the Western Front, we, as human beings, should find attempt to find solutions through discussion and compromise instead of warfare. Countries in war may feel that they are gaining a lot through wars but what they fail to see is the losses they have suffered. In many cases, the gain is negligible when it is compared to the losses." (esinearticles.com, Cooper, Michael)

The way I interpreted All Quiet on the Western Front was that is was written to show the hard parts of war. Of course war is not going to be something happy and good feeling, but someone needs to point out the obvious. This is an anti-war novel none the less. The author wants you to understand that the people are not just a general title such as "soldier," they are a person and their lives mean more than what they are honored for.  The fact is people know these things when they start a war, they know there will be people dieing, and young people and their families suffering, but still there is war being declared. This book did a very good job at pointing out what happens to soldiers especially during the lost generation period of the war.  I can understand why this book was such a big deal when it was written because back then there wasn't much anti-war anything. Today we can watch multiple movies and documentaries about the truths of war, while back then All Quiet on the Western Front was the closest thing to a movie they could get.

Works Cited

Cooper, Michael. "All Quiet on Teh Western Front-A Book Review." Ezinearticles. Web. 5 Oct. 2011. <http://ezinearticles.com/?All-Quiet-on-the-Western-Front---A-Book-Review&id=84991>.

Peter. "All Quiet on the Western Front, by Erich Maria Remarque | Book Review, Remarque All Quiet on the Western Front | The World of Books." Nettsted for Bokelskere: Bøker Og Bokanmeldelser, Anmeldelse Bok, Anmeldelse Bøker, Leserglede, Leseglede, Krim, Skjønnlitteratur, Litteraturnyheter. 29 Dec. 2007. Web. 05 Oct. 2011. <http://www.leserglede.com/engblogg/all-quiet-on-the-western-front-by-erich-maria-remarque/>.

Chapter 9

Characters in chapter 9: Paul, Baunmer, Sergeant-Major, Tjaden, Muller, Kat, Kropp, and Albert
Paul just got back from leave and goes to find his comrades. When he finds where they should be staying, he notices that he does not see anyone and that there are only young men there now.  He goes out to find Kat and does, but then he dies on the way back to the trenches.

The men start discuss what the reasons are for starting war and whether there would have been a war if Kaiser would have said no.  Paul answered with "yes" because Kaiser was against war all along and there is still a war going on.  They think about it more of why they are at war and they come to the conclusion that we are just fighting for their "fatherland," while truthfully so it their enemy. So who is the right person?

Soon the men are transferred to Russia to fight and they see dead men hanging in trees with limbs missing or scattered everywhere.  Paul volunteers to go to check and see how strong the enemy position is manned, Paul gets ahead of the group and gets caught in the line of fire.  He falls into a shell-hole and it is full of water.  He has to stay as low as he can and has to pretend to be dead so the enemy wont kill him for real. Rockets can light up the sky for up to an hour so he has to stay still that long just so he is not noticed by the enemy.  Paul then had to think of what he would do if an enemy happened to jump into the same shell-hole he was in for protection. He knew he would have to be ready because if he wasn't ready, then he would surely be dead.

As Paul suspected an enemy did jump into the same shell-hole he was in and immediately Paul struck at the man's throat with his hand knife.  The man was not dead, but he will be. After attacking the man, Paul started to feel remorse for the man and decided to try to help him by bandaging his wounds and giving him water to drink.  He began to realize that they two of them aren't so different after all. They were both fighting for a common reason and he felt guilt.  He needed to find the mans name, but Paul was scared that if he knew his name that it would never be erased from his memory, and he never wanted to remember this time in his life. Until right then Paul had never killed a man with his bare hands. The man's name is Gerard Duval and he has a wife and daughter.  Soon the man is dead.

Paul then decides he needs to get out of the shell hole. After crawling for some time, he hears his comrades calling his name. It is Kat and Albert. After talking to his comrades some more about his traumatic experience, they all come to the conclusion that "this is what they are there for, war is war."

Tjaden

When we first meet Tjaden, he is in ecstasy over the excess food rations made available by the death of so many soldiers. The guy eats like a horse. Tjaden is a peer of main character Paul and is known for drinking away all of his life's problems. For all that he eats, he's very skinny. Back home he is a locksmith.  Tjaden is not a deep thinker. Tjaden has a uniquely strong defiant streak against authority and he clashes regularly with commandant Himmelstoss. Tjaden is a bed-wetter and Himmelstoss blames this on "laziness," but most likely, Tjaden can't help it. Tjaden is humiliated by being placed in the top bunk in basic training by Himmelstoss to drip on the poor guy below him (who's another bed-wetter). And then they reverse. Having received such treatment, it's no wonder that Tjaden is stoked when Himmelstoss is sent to the Front with them. The rules at the Front are different there is really no saluting a higher rank than yourself because there is much more to worry about in trench-warfare. Paul's friend ambush Himmelstoss on his way home from a pubLater, and Tjaden is very happy about this. In Chapter Five, when Himmelstoss accosts the group sitting in a field, Tjaden doesn't stand or salute. Tjaden tells Himmelstoss he's a "dirty hound" and, when Himmelstoss asks for a sign of respect, Tjaden, sitting, tilts left and farts. Threatened with a court-martial, Tjaden doesn't care. But he does hide. The other guys feign ignorance of his whereabouts and Himmelstoss is frustrated. But he is eventually caught and court-martialed. At the field tribunal, Tjaden tells of the bed-wetting and Himmelstoss's abuses. The judge, one of the few rational authority figures in the book, gives a much-reduced sentence and a wrist-slap to Himmelstoss: "He understands it all right though, and lectures, Himmelstoss, making it plain to him that the front isn't a parade-ground."
Comfort food continually drives Tjaden's mood throughout. In fact, it is his offering of army bread across the river to the French women that allows them to cross the river and get a bit of lovin'. Tjaden's death comes after long battle marches, when he and his comrades are emaciated, gray, listless, and lifeless. Food is life for Tjaden. When it is scarce, he loses his strength and power.

Characters of All Quiet on the Western Front

Paul Baumer- (Narrator).  Goes from being a kind compassionate young man, to being almost careless due to the horror of war.

Katczinsky- (Kat) Pauls Best Friend and is also in his company.  Kat is 40 in the beginning of the book and has a family at home.  He is also very resourceful for finding food, etc.  

Himmelstoss- Known as one of the strictest disciplinarian, from the No. 9 Platoon but doesn't seem too scary when he is on the front line

Kropp- One of Pauls classmates and serves with Paul in the second company.  Other than Kat, Kropp is also one of Pauls close friends.

Muller- One of Pau'ls Classmates who joins with him

Tjaden- Pauls friend in the second company, and is not a fan of Himmelstoss because of how mean he was to Tjaden in basic training

Kantorek- pressures Paul and classmates to enlist in the army, strict schoolmaster in high school who knows actually nothing about war

Kemmerich- Pauls friend who dies from gangrene after his leg is amputated, and it shows the meaninglessness of death in war. 

Behm- First of Pauls Classmates to die

Detering- One of Paul's close friends who is constantly homesick for his wife and farm. one of the only elder soldiers who even has something to call theirs back home

Duval- The French Soldier Paul killed with his bare hands in "No Man’s Land."  Causing Paul's most traumatic experience in the war

Leer- One of Pauls close friends in the second company.  And the first in Paul's class to lose his virginity

Mittelstaedt- One of Pauls Classmates who become a training officer and loves tormenting Kantorek

All Quiet on the Western Front

All Quiet on the Western Front is about a young German soldier Paul Baumer while he is in World War One.  While overall I can tell the book is meant to be focused on the anti-war perspective.  While all growing up, Paul's teachers encouraged him and his soon to be fellow comrades to become soldiers and fight for Germany.  All of his family and people back home don't understand what the soldiers go through on the front line.  Throughout the book, Paul more speaks of how his life has been stolen from him. Even though he may not be dead, all his comrades fighting with him are dieing and inside his soul is dieing away.  Even though he gets a chance to go back home on leave, Paul cannot seem to feel comfortable back at home.  He is losing his mother to cancer and he cannot connect with anyone back home. Even though he is still a teenager, he calls himself an old soldier and feels like he knows more than a 40 year old man that has not been apart of war. As time goes on in the book he learns that while at first he thought he had mortal enemies with the people he was shooting at, he is just like his enemy.  Both Paul and his enemy are humans fighting for their fatherland. This didn't really hit Paul until he was caught in a shell-hole where an enemy entered and he had to kill him with his bare hands.  It killed him inside to watch this man that he could relate to so much die in his arms because he killed him.  All Quiet on the Western Front is meant to give the feeling of what soldiers went through, still go through, and how it all affects them.  It also gives you a better understanding of how war is not always the right answer.

Berlin, Germany

Berlin is the largest city in Germany, its a state in Germany, and is actually the capital of Germany also.  This is what made me so interested in researching and learning more in depth about the state.

It is directly in the middle of the state Brandenburg.  Its population is 3.45 million people.  Around one third of the city's area is composed of forests, parks, gardens, rivers and lakes.  The area of Berlin is recorded at 892 sq km. In US terms that would be a little over 344 square miles.  Berlin is the capital of the Federal Republic of Germany and is the seat of the President of Germany, whose official residence is Schloss Bellevue. The Senate of Berlin consists of the Governing Mayor and up to eight senators holding ministerial positions, one of them holding the official title "Mayor" as deputy to the Governing Mayor. Something interesting about a connection between America and Germany is that Berlin is a "Sister City" to Los Angeles, California.  The state is made up of 41.3% of buildings and open space, 0.7% of Business and industry, 11.4% of recreational areas, 15.3% for transportation, 4.7% of agriculture, 18.1% of woodland, 6.7% of water, and 1.9% of other types of covering of land.  The total annual state budget of Berlin in 2007 exceeded $28.7 billion including a budget surplus of $112 million. The figures indicate the first surplus in the history of the city/state. In 2009, the nominal GDP of the city/state Berlin experienced a growth rate of 1.7% and totaling about $117 billion. Berlin's economy is dominated by the service sector, with around 80% of all companies doing business in services. The unemployment rate had steadily decreased over the past decade and reached a 13-year low in 2008. As of April 2010 unemployment was at 14.2%. Industries that do business in the creative arts and entertainment are an important and sizable sector of the economy of Berlin. The creative arts sector comprises music, film, advertising, architecture, art, design, fashion, performing arts, publishing, R&D, software, TV, radio, and video games. Around 22,600 creative enterprises, predominantly SMEs, generated over 18.6 billion Euro in total revenue. Berlin's creative industries have contributed an estimated 20% of Berlin's GDP in 2005.

Not only is Berlin different from most places in Germany because it is in the center of another state, it is also a city. And not only is it just a city, it is a city within a state.  Personally for myself I probably would never want to live there because it is so busy and populated, but it would be an interesting place to visit at some point in my life.

Resources Used:
Berlin-1 September 14, 2011
Berlin-2 September 14, 2011
Berlin-3 September 14, 2011
Berlin-4 September 14, 2011
Berlin-5 September 14, 2011

3 German States Decribed

Brandenburg

Economy, Main Industries, Trade Partners, and Income per Capita: Investitionsband des landes brandenburg and Brandenburg Economic Development Board are main banks in Brandenburg.
Energy, Steel, Mechanical Engineering, biotechnology, tourism, and Rolls Royce are all main industries in Brandenburg. New Hampshire is a main trade partner with Brandenburg.
GDP per capita is Euro 50 billion total.

Large Cities, Small Cities, Countryside, Location, Number of Inhabitants and Size:

Brandenburg is one of the sixteen federal-states of Germany. The capital is Potsdam. The population is 2,503,273 and 11,381 square miles. The GDP is 53,89  billion euros.(2009) It lies in the east of the country and is one of the new federal states that were recreated in 1990 upon the reunification of the former West Germany and East Germany. It has 15 protected areas. Consisting of 11 nature parks and 1 national park. It has 14 rural distracts and 4 urban.

Brandenburg is divided into 14 rural districts:

1.    Barnim 2.    Dahme-Spreewald 3.    Elbe-Elster 4.    Havelland 5.    Märkisch-Oderland 6.    Oberhavel 7.    Oberspreewald-Lausitz

8. Oder-Spree 9. Ostprignitz-Ruppin 10. Potsdam-Mittelmark 11. Prignitz 12.   Spree-Neiße 13. Teltow-Fläming 14.  Uckermark

...And 4 urban districts:

1.    Brandenburg an der Havel

2.    Cottbus

3.    Frankfurt (Oder)

4.    Potsdam  capital

Protected areas in Brandenburg

Brandenburg is known for its well-preserved natural environment and its ambitious natural protection policies which began in the 1990s. 15 large protected areas were designated following Germany's reunification. Each of them is provided with state-financed administration and a park ranger staff, who guide visitors and work to ensure nature conservation. Most protected areas have visitor centers.

National parks

Lower Oder Valley National Park (106 km²)

Biosphere reserves

The Spreewald, a biosphere reserve by UNESCO

Spreewald Biosphere Reserve (474 km2/183 sq mi)

Schorfheide-Chorin Biosphere Reserve (1.291 km2/0.50 sq mi)

            River Landscape Elbe-Brandenburg Biosphere Reserve (533 km2/206 sq mi)

Nature parks

Barnim Nature Park (750 km2/290 sq mi)

 Dahme-Heideseen Nature Park (594 km2/229 sq mi)

 High Fläming Nature Park (827 km2/319 sq mi)

 Märkische Schweiz Nature Park (204 km2/79 sq mi)

 Niederlausitzer Heidelandschaft Nature Park (490 km2/189 sq mi)

 Niederlausitzer Landrücken Nature Park (580 km2/224 sq mi)

 Nuthe-Nieplitz Nature Park (623 km2/241 sq mi)

 Schlaube Valley Nature Parke (225 km2/87 sq mi)

 Uckermark Lakes Nature Park (895 km2/346 sq mi)

 Westhavelland Nature Park (1.315 km2/0.51 sq mi)

 Stechlin-Ruppiner Land Nature Park (1.080 km2/0.42 sq mi)

Brandenburg is bordered by Mecklenburg-Vorpommern in the north, Poland in the east, the Freistaat Sachsen in the south, Saxony-Anhalt in the west, and Lower Saxony in the northwest.

History, Cultural and Interesting Information:

Brandenburg in the medieval and early modern times was one of seven electoral states of the Holy Roman Empire. With Prussia it became the original core of the German Empire. It was governed by the Hohenzollern dynasty from 1415 to the end of WW I. In 1618 Brandenburg was combined with Prussia to make Brandenburg-Prussia, and in 1701 the state was the Kingdom of Prussia. In the early middle ages Slavic people were said to live there, but later was driven out by the Huns and Avars. Emperor Otto I was trying to establish margraves to have control over the Oder river. In the 12^th century the German crusade against the Wends was starting to happen, Albert the Bear took over Brandenburg and made it his own. Brandenburg converted to Protestantism in 1539, when this religion was on the up rise. Way later, after WWII, Neumark became part of Poland.

Before 1871

 Before 1918

Before 1948

Resources: 

Brandenburg-1 Sept. 7, 2011
Brandenburg-2 Sept. 7, 2011
Brandenburg-3 Sept. 7, 2011
Brandenburg-4 Sept. 7, 2011
Brandenburg-5 Sept. 7, 2011

Brandenburg-6 Sept. 7, 2011

Brandenburg-7 Sept. 7, 2011

Brandenburg-8 Sept. 7, 2011

Brandenburg-9 Sept 7, 2011
Brandenburg-10 Sept 7, 2011

Mecklenburg-Vorpommern

Economy, Main Industries, Trade Partners, Income Per Capita: Agriculture, fishery, fish processing, food industry, ship building, and tourism are main industries. Mecklenburg-Vorpommern trades with France and the United States.  Their Economy includes inovation, quality and tradition which are the three main pillars of Economy to them.  Three-Forth of the people work in the service sector.  Mecklenburg-Vorpommern is one of the top three destinations within Germany. Income per capita is 32.6 billion euros total. 


Big Cities, Small Cities, Countryside Location, Number of Inhabitants, and Size:

Mecklenburg-Vorpommern it is located in northern Germany has a population of  1.6 million and its 8,947.5 square miles. the gdp is € 31 billion 2005 survey The capital is Schwerin, its called the “state of a thousand lakes” has 3 out Germany’s 14 national parks.Mecklenburg-Vorpommern is among the top three destinations for inner-German tourism. Mecklenburg was a constituent state of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) upon its formation in 1949. In 1952, the East Berlin government abandoned "states" in favor of districts. The largest city “Rostock” has about 200k people. Significant industries in MV include lumber, logistics, agriculture, food processing, and the service sector.

Sixth-largest in area but only fourteenth in overall population among Germany's sixteen Bundesländer, it is bounded to the north by the Baltic Sea,

Mecklenburg-Vorpommern's state capital is Schwerin. The largest city is Rostock with approximately 200,000 people. Other major cities include Greifswald, Güstrow, Neubrandenburg, Stralsund and Wismar.

Germany's two largest islands, Rügen and Usedom, are part of the state as well as many smaller islands such as Hiddensee or Poel. Due to its clean air and it idyllic setting, medical tourism has become a notable tourism sector in the region

Mecklenburg-Vorpommern since September 4 2011 divided into six rural Kreise (districts) and two independent urban districts

1.    Landkreis Rostock

2.    Ludwigslust-Parchim

3.    Mecklenburgische Seenplatte

4.    Nordwestmecklenburg

5.    Vorpommern-Greifswald

6.    Vorpommern-Rügen

...And 2 Urban are

1.    Rostock (HRO)

2.    Schwerin (SN)

History and Other Cultural Information:

Mecklenburg-Vorpommern had human settlement after the ice age in 10,000 BC. 2,000 years ago Germanic people were recorded in the area. First off, Mecklenburg and Vorpommern use to be two separate states. Mecklenburg became duchy of the Holy Roman Empire in 1348. In the middle ages it was ruled by Pomeranian dukes. In Vorpommern, it was under the Swedish rule from 1648-1815, until it became a part of Prussia. This area remained Prussian Province until 1947. In 1945 the two places were united as one under the Soviet Union, after the Potsdam agreement was made and western allies handed Mecklenburg over.   

Resources:
MV-Sept. 7, 2011
MV-Sept. 7, 2011

MV-Sept. 7, 2011

MV-Sept. 7, 2011

MV-Sept. 7, 2011

MV-Sept. 7, 2011

MV-Sept. 7, 2011

MV-Sept. 7, 2011

Hessen

Economy, Main Industries, Trade Partners, Income Per Capita:
Hessen's Economy is one of the highest and largest. It's main industries are textile, machinery, chemicals, metal goods, electrical products, transport and development.  About 30,000 people work in research projects.  The income per capita is 209 billion euros total. 


Big Cities, Small Cities, Countryside, Location, Number of Inhabitants, and Size:
Hessen, it is located in Germany and it has an area of 8150 square miles and  just over six million inhabitants.Hesse is one of the largest and healthiest economies in Germany. Its GDP in 2009  about 300 billon US$.This makes Hesse itself one of the largest economies in Europe and the 31st largest in the world. Some large companies headquarters in Hesse inc. After figures among the GDP per capita, Hesse is the wealthiest State in Germany. The principal cities of Hessen include Berlin, Frankfurt am Main, Wiesbaden, Darmstadt, Offenbach, Hanau, Gießen, Wetzlar, and Limburg in the greater Rhine Main Area, Fulda in the east, and Kassel and Marburg an der Lahn in the north. The most important rivers in Hesse are the Fulda and Eder rivers in the north, the Lahn in the central part of Hesse, and the Main and Rhine in the south. The countryside is hilly and there are numerous mountain ranges, including the Rhön, the Westerwald, the Taunus, the Vogelsberg, the Knüll and the Spessart.

Most of the population of Hesse is in the southern part of Hesse in the Rhine Main Area. The Rhine borders Hesse on the southwest without running through the state, only one old arm – the so-called Alt-Rhein – runs through Hesse.

Hessen is the greenest state 42% covered in forest. Population 6,067,021

Hesse has one of the best transportation networks in Europe. It has motorways, high-speed train, and waterways lines cross Hesse. Frankfurt International Airport  is Germany's largest and Europe's third largest airport. Death penalty in Hesse is still present in Hessian constitution but it's not applied at all.

Hesse is divided into 21 districts and 5 independent cities (with their abbreviations, as used on vehicle number plates):

1.    Bergstraße (Heppenheim) (HP) 2.    Darmstadt-Dieburg (Darmstadt) (DA) 3.    Groß-Gerau (Groß-Gerau) (GG) 4.    Hochtaunuskreis (Bad Homburg) (HG) 5.    Main-Kinzig-Kreis (Gelnhausen) (MKK) 6.    Main-Taunus-Kreis (Hofheim am Taunus) (MTK) 7.    Odenwaldkreis (Erbach) (ERB) 8.    Offenbach (Dietzenbach) (OF) 9.    Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis (Bad Schwalbach) (RÜD) 10. Wetteraukreis (Friedberg) (FB) 11.  Gießen (Gießen) (GI) 12. Lahn-Dill-Kreis (Wetzlar) (LDK) 13.  Limburg-Weilburg (Limburg) (LM) 14.  Marburg-Biedenkopf (Marburg) (MR) 15. Vogelsbergkreis (Lauterbach) (VB) 16.  Fulda (Fulda) (FD) 17.  Hersfeld-Rotenburg (Bad Hersfeld) (HEF) 18. Kassel (Kassel) (KS) 19. Schwalm-Eder-Kreis (Homberg (Efze)) (HR) 20. Werra-Meißner-Kreis (Eschwege) (ESW) 21. Waldeck-Frankenberg (Korbach) (KB)

Independent cities:

1.    Darmstadt (DA)

2.    Frankfurt am Main (F)

3.    Kassel (KS)

4.    Offenbach am Main (OF)

5.    Wiesbaden (WI)

Rhenish Hesse refers to the part of the former Grand Duchy of Hesse-Darmstadt located west of the Rhine river and now part of Rhineland-Palatinate. It is a hilly countryside largely devoted to vineyards; therefore, it is also called the "land of the thousand hills." Its larger towns include Mainz, Worms, Bingen, Alzey, Nieder-Olm and Ingelheim. Many inhabitants commute to work in Mainz, Wiesbaden, or Frankfurt.

 History and Other Cultural Information:

Hessen emerged as a Landgraviate in 1247. After the death of Phillip of Hesse in 1567, the state was then divided in 4 sections to his 4 sons: Kassel, Marburg, Rheinfels, and Dormstadt. In WWII all major cities in Hessen suffered severe damage. Some interesting facts are that Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe was born in Frankfurt, and he was a very well known German Writer, Biologist, and Theoretical Physicist. Also, the Brothers Grimm was born in Hanau. 

Resources:

Hessen-1 Sept. 7, 2011

Hessen-2 Sept. 7, 2011

Hessen-3 Sept. 7, 2011

Hessen-4 Sept. 7, 2011

Hessen-5 Sept. 7, 2011

Hessen-6 Sept. 7, 2011