Violence In Erich Maria Remarque's All Quiet On The Western Front

Gandhi once said, “I object to violence because when it appears to do good, the good is only temporary; the evil it does is permanent”. Gandhi suggests that trying to achieve something through means of violence will always cause permanent damage that belittles the positive effects. In history and in All Quiet on the Western Front, a novel following the life of a soldier by Erich Maria Remarque, the leaders and soldiers during World War One did not consider Gandhi’s warnings; they fought for the temporary good they believed in while oblivious to the evil they were causing. Even though the Countries during WWI thought that promoting nationalism and supporting their allies in the war is beneficial, the war’s terrible effects on soldiers’ mental health and the impoverishment of entire countries and made the benefits insignificant.
Throughout WWI, countries joined the war …show more content…
When Serbia denied Austria-Hungary’s request to conduct an investigation on Serbian land, AH declared war on Serbia. Russia then declared war on AH to protect the people of Serbia. As a consequence of the Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance, treaties that required countries to assist each other during a war, Russia, France, Great Britain, Germany and Italy joined the war shortly after. Due to alliance systems originally intended to give countries extra assistance, all major world powers were dragged into what is now known as WWI because of a minor conflict between Serbia and Austria-Hungary, the assassination of two people. As both sides of the war gained more alliances, the countries needed to build largest army possible, so they started creating a strong sense of nationalism, pride for one’s country, through the use of propaganda. In All Quiet on the Western Front, a schoolmaster named