Summary: All Quiet On The Western Front

The Effects of World War 1 The negative effects of World War 1 are endless. Despite some of the positive outcomes, the book focuses on the main points of how the soldiers felt emotionally, physically, and mentally. When reading the book, All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque, one can further understand the true sadness, physical pain, and mental exhaustion that the German soldiers actually went through. This changes our perspective about the war because we can oversee our American bias and understand the pain on both sides. When Paul says, “We were all at once terribly alone; and alone we must see it through,” it shows how although there were hundreds of thousands of soldiers fighting together, the pain and the suffering was
The soldiers experienced such physical, emotional, and mental pain that they became unfit for fighting. It is estimated that almost one third of soldiers that died didn’t die from the war, but from the pain the war caused aside from fighting, such as: famine, emotional sickness, and mental breakdowns. The author, Erich Maria Remarque, shows the reader new perspectives and gives them different ideas to focus on to illustrate the severity of the Effects of World War One. In perception, all of the endless pain was pointless. The war was at a standstill point; such unnecessary harm was caused for what? To prove that one country can kill more than another? To prove that one alliance can outlast another? The main idea is this: The war was a waste of time, money, technology, and life. The book shows how the soldiers suffered, which adds to the idiocy that caused the war to continue. After reading the book, it is apparent that the war only caused harm. The war itself lead to millions of lives being lost, countries being torn apart, an economic downfall- the list is endless. In the end, there is only one final question readers and historians have to ask to understand the war: Was it really worth it all? After reading the book, the answer is no. The mental instability, physical pain, and emotional sadness was not worth