Lesson Plans: Using Film in the History Classroom
All Quiet on the Western Front Curriculum Guide

Objectives, historical background, activities, and references

Topic: World / Germany and World War I
Based on the novel by Erich Maria Remarque

Drama: Black and White; 103 minutes

Awards: 1930 Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Director, Ten bests films of the year, 1930

All Quiet on the Western Front is a classic film on World War I. It is an anti-war film and can be summed up by the legend at the beginning of the film.

"This story is neither an accusation nor a confession, and least of all an adventure for death is not an adventure to those who stand face to face with it. This story will try simply to tell of a generation of men who, even though they may have escaped its shells were destroyed by the war…"

They film illustrates the horror of trench warfare. It allows the viewer to take a look at war from the enemy's point of view.

Historical Background:

• World War I was a war that took place between two European alliances. The Central Powers consisted of Germany and Austria-Hungary. The Allies consisted of France, Britain, and Russia. Smaller states and areas outside of Europe were also involved. Turkey was an ally of the Central Powers. The Russian Empire sued for peace and left the war after its Revolution in 1917.
• The Western Front remained in stalemate until the United States entered the war. The supply of fresh troops and military hardware and supplies favored the Allies.
• An armistice was signed of November 11, 1918 and the Treaty of Versailles was signed in June of 1919.
• Trench warfare of World War I lasted for three years and took several million lives. The line of trenches referred to as the Western Front ran approximately three hundred miles from Belgium to Switzerland. The front consisted of opposing trenches, sometimes only yards apart. The trenches were muddy and often flooded with water. The bodies of the dead and wounded as well as animals fouled the water. Contributing to the misery of the trenches were enemy snipers, rats, lice and stench. To wage an attack soldiers carrying rifles and packs had to go "over the top" of the trench. They then entered no man's land where they confronted an area littered with corpses, barbed wire entanglements, machine gun fire, and grenades and poison gas from the opposing trenches.
• Overall German casualties during World War I, including wounded and killed were 7,200,000; French casualties 6,200,000; British casualties 3,190,000.
• The Battle of the Somme took more than four months. It was an attempt by the Allies to break through the German lines. The Allies gained only six miles for their efforts. French and British casualties were approximately 96,000. The Germans lost 165,000 soldiers. U.S. casualties were 350,000.

 

Discussion Questions:

1. Elicit responses from the class on what they felt during the battle scenes. Did they want the Allied soldiers to win or did they want Paul and his German friends to win?
2. Why did the schoolboys think Paul was a coward?
3. How did Paul feel about the way his friends and family thought about the war?
4. What is the importance of the boots in the film? What was the author's intent on focusing on the boots?
5. Were other wars fought in the same way? Do the students know of the other important wars of this century?

 

Activities:

1. Have the students create maps depicting the countries involved in the war with a timeline of key events. Have the students draw the lines of trenches so they can visualize where the warfare took place.
2. Ask the students to ask their parents/grandparents if they remember the war and perhaps to conduct an oral interview of their recollections. They can share this in class.
3. You may want to compare and contrast the methods of warfare and their impact on the soldier and course of war. Compare and contrast different wars of the twentieth century.
4. Have them research and access some of the journal/diary entries written by soldiers of this war.

 

References for Teachers:

Barbara Tuchman's The Guns of August (1962) is an excellent account of the dramatic events of the first month of the war and the beginning of the military stalemate.
J. Ellis's Eye Deep in Hell (1976) is a gripping account of trench warfare.
L. Lafore's The Long Fuse (1971) provides an excellent account of the causes of World War I.
J. Joll's The Origins of the First World War (1992) provides yet another thorough account on the causes of the war.