All Quiet on the Western Front
monition ! SPOILERS forAll Quiet on the Western FrontUp for 9 Academy Awards , Best Picture NomineeAll Quiet on the Western Frontincludes both real and fictional characters , but it ’s undecipherable which camp out the General Friedrichs WWI officer ( Devid Striesow ) fall under . All Quiet on the Western Frontfollows the story of Paul Bäumer ( Felix Kammerer ) , a German teenager who sky-high engage in World War in 1917 only to discover the true horror of the western front . Director Edward Berger endeavour for naturalism and accuracy in his adjustment of the classical novel by Erich Maria Remarque , even adding elements that were n’t in the original book , such as the subplot of Matthias Erzberger ( Daniel Brühl ) . The moving-picture show has received international plaudits , including 9 Academy Award nominations , let in Best Picture .
All Quiet on the Western Fronthas a powerful anti - war content which is seen through the experience of those in the fight and those giving the orders . General Friedrichs is in the latter class and represent the chesty and indifferent commanders who turn the war into such a deadly affair . Unlike the movie’sreal - life case Matthias Erzberg , who seeks to end the nitwitted loss of life , Friedrichs is a leader who cares more about the resplendency he can put to his name than the countless soldier he is miss every daylight . Just like the movie itself , General Friedrich represent some Sojourner Truth and fiction inAll Quiet on the Western Front .
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General Friedrichs Wasn’t A Real WW1 General
WhileAll Quiet on the Western Frontinvolves tangible consequence and mass , General Friedrichs ' WWI military case is not one of them . Like Paul himself , he is a fictitious character in the movie whose story in 1917 - 1918 represents a tangible demographic of mass during the state of war . Technically , General Friedrichs was not in the originalAll Quiet on the westerly Frontbookeither and is a eccentric created exclusively for the movie , but his stubbornness and personation as a dye - in - the - wool nationalist are very accurate to many who held such ideals during WWI .
Part of the movie ’s substance about the pointlessness of war is convey through characters like General Friedrichs who are set up men to their deaths every 24-hour interval yet have a complete gulf from the factual conflict . The movie often cuts from the bleak brutality of the soldiers on the front lines to the policeman enjoying extravagant meal and kvetch about the food . Friedrichs himself likes to suppose he ’s a young soldier likeAll Quiet on the Western Front ’s Pauleven though he will never actually fight . He laments that when the war is over , he will have no purpose and thus is willing to commit men to a pointless last to reach some of the glory he seriously want . It never pass off to him that the valet de chambre actually doing the fighting have no desire for such glory .
The Inspirations Behind All Quiet On The Western Front’s General Friedrichs
From the very beginning of World War I , the leadership on both sides of the war directed their troops according to outdated tactics and finish , including the theme of “ entire triumph ” and frontal assaults . The pauperization to utterly carry off their opponents feel in the former and the failure to describe for new technology , such as the machine gun , in the latter is part of what led to the astounding amount of casualty from WWI and the nearly willful deprivation of biography as the westerly front stagnated into a standstill for theprivate German soldier .
InAll Quiet on the Western Front , General Friedrichs ' WWI coming embody both of these thought by his insistence that the truce is " betray out the mother country " and his virulent insistency that Germany be seen as warriors , no matter the casualties of those who were squeeze to fight . The use of outdated manoeuvre is particularly true in the cruel irony of Paul ’s last struggle , in which he dies trying to rectify trench from the French — and realizes that this trench was one he and his beau halt earlier in the motion picture . This is telling that the German soldier are essentially right back where they initiate after experiencing a massive passing of sprightliness while charging the Gallic machine guns .
How Much Of General Friedrichs' Story Really Happened?
General Friedrichs ' WWI taradiddle is , unfortunately , also a mirror of the reality of the last day of the scrap . His insistence on continuing to fight mighty up to finalAll Quiet Western Frontbattlescene , moments before the armistice takes outcome , is like to many commanders in the conflict ’s final hr , as several did the same to claim any last bits of territory before the battle lines were frozen or for glory and prestige . One such commander is American General John Pershing , who reportedly prevented word of the cease - fire from reaching his troops . accord to Joseph E. Persico ’s book11th Month , eleventh Day , 11th Hour , due to leaders such as Friedrichs and Pershing , there were 10,944 end on the last day of the war , with estimates of over 2,000 deaths in the net hour of the battle .
General Friedrichs is one of the most infuriatingcharacters inAll placid on the Western Front , with the divide between his unrealistic expectations for the state of war and the consequences of his illusion surfacing as one of the most tragic aspects of the picture . His folly in pointlessly sending Paul to his destruction is one of the key points ofAll unruffled on the Western Front ’s anti - war themes , as it emphasizes the futility of all warfare . It make history all the more painful to know that while General Friedrichs was n’t a tangible somebody , he might as well have been .
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