Rifles/Machine Guns

The basic weapons handled by soldiers on the front lines, rifles and machine guns are utilized at both distances and during hand-to-hand combat. They are particularly deadly against massed infantry assaults. For example, Paul recounts how heavy German defensive fire from machine guns mows down an entire row of French soldiers.

Artillery/Bombardments

A continual fixture in All Quiet on the Western Front, artillery batteries unleash bombardments on enemy lines in order to mentally and physically damage the enemy. The effect is tremendous. Artillery shells destroy trees, creating splinters that kill men; explosions rip apart soldiers; and the constant noise and threat of death is psychologically overwhelming. Before major infantry attacks, artillery bombardments increase in intensity.

Kemmerich’s Boots

At the beginning of the novel, Paul and his friends bring Kemmerich’s belongings to where Kemmerich is staying at a field hospital. Among those possessions...