Enrich Maria Remarque: A Militant Pacifist

Enrich Maria Remarque: A Militant Pacifist

The First World War was a horrible experience for all sides involved, no one was immune to the effects of this global conflict, and each country was changed in many ways. Erich Maria Remarque was drafted into World War I at age 18. In 1929 Remarque’s first book All Quiet on the Western Front was published. Throughout the book, the death and destruction caused by battle is clearly shown. Remarque's novel is a statement against war, focusing dramatically on the extreme effects of war on the humanity of soldiers.

Biography

Erich Paul Remark was born on June 22, 1898 In Western Germany. In 1913 Remark began to attend a teachers college called Osnabruck’s Lehrerseminar. During his third year when he was eighteen he was drafted into the war. After finishing basic training in the war he was assigned to a reserve battalion. His mother became very ill, so he was often allowed to visit her. In June 1917 he was reassigned to a trench unit. Remark was soon injured by grenade splinters and rushed to St. Vincenz hospital in Duisburg during 1917-1918. His mother died while he was in the hospital. After a year in the hospital he returned to Osnabruck for further training. The war had ended before

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he returned to active duty. After the war he changed his middle name to Maria after his mother.

Remark went back to college after the war. He graduated and started his two-year substitute training