All Quiet on the Western Front vs. The Storm of Steel | Polandball/Countryball Literature & History
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- čas přidán 20. 05. 2021
- 📢Why is Erich Maria Remarque’s All Quiet on the Western Front so popular? Does Ernst Junger’s The Storm of Steel deserve to replace it? And are brothels really the best place to find female companionship? You can help us make more videos like this one on: 👀
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I think storm of steel is better because it’s not fiction, it’s the experience of an man who wanted to feel and experience that what he had to go through.
Also I think its more important to understand what the veterans had to go through and not to say all was bad.
Also when I read about such wars I prefer historical over fiction because it’s history and the 1. World war is the really the first war my country fought in as a united country.
(Yes I am German)
May all soldiers Rest In Peace.
And also I am probably going to read both books
Last Summer I read both books and tried to compare them, though not as well as you have done.
I prefer Storm of Steel (though the version I read was a later one translater to my native language) because it is non-fiction and displays the war pretty much how Jünger experienced it: bravery, surrender, comeradery, despair, hope and destruction. Though Jünger does seem to be a one-of-a-kind soldier, his accounts offer a better opportunity for the reader to interpret the book, the war and the author in his own way than All Quiet, where the author's message "the war was not worth it" is clearly understood.
I can highly recommend: Thomas Dinesen's: "No Man's Land" (In English: Merry Hell!: A Dane with the Canadians.) which are his memoirs from the war. He writes in the same raw style as Jünger does, about his journey from Danish Civillian to a highly decorated soldier in the Canadian Army. The book covers many of the same subjects as Storm of Steel, but shows the war from the side of the Entente; a man who really, really wants to join the war.
All Quiet on the Western Front fucking broke me. It is the book that turned me into a staunch pacifist. Oh my god, the ending.
I've personally enjoyed and appreciated Junger's Eumeswill and Glass bees so, in a way, I'm going counter chronologically and the great war is coming soon-ish.
From what I've read of his later years I'm kind of cheering for his work tho I reckon his younger books might have some kind of, I don't know, "Wagnerian heroic bloodlust and drama" (does it make sense?) which I understand but feel is, if even slightly, over simplistic.
I mean, the Kaiserschlacht was the swansong of the Imperial German Army and I don't think it could have really been "the decisive battle/offensive to win the war", but hey, it's just my opinion and I'm not an expert.
Honestly it's amazing to me that Ernst Junger fought in WW1, fought in WW2, lived through the cold war, and saw Germany reunited, before dying.
Reunification was probably one of the best days of his life.
@@jekabsojarsulskis9740 I don't think so. As he himself said the worst day of his life was the day WW1 was lost. He wasn't a fan of the states that came after the German Empire (although he wasn't really a monarchist, he valued tradition and the German Identity)
@@lorddodge2867 I think it has more to do with the fact, that after ww2 many people saw how close he was to a Nazi and didn't want anything to do with him
@@dimitriosdrossidis9633 ?
@@dimitriosdrossidis9633 "He was close to a nazi" Are you dilusional? He hated the nazis, as did a majority of the nationalist and prussian officers, in fact here are some quotes from the wiki:
"As a famous war hero and prominent nationalist critic of the Weimar Republic, the ascendant Nazi Party (NSDAP) courted Jünger as a natural ally, but Jünger rejected such advances. When Jünger moved to Berlin in 1927, he rejected an offer of a seat in the Reichstag for the NSDAP. In 1930, he openly denounced Hitler's suppression of the Rural People's Movement.[14] In the 22 October 1932 edition of Völkischer Beobachter, the article "Das endlose dialektische Gespräch" ("the never-ending dialectical debate") attacked Jünger for his rejection of the "blood and soil" doctrine, accusing him of being an "intellectualist" and a liberal.[15] Jünger again refused a seat offered to him in the Reichstag following the Nazi Party's ascension to power in January 1933, and he refused the invitation to head the German Academy of Literature (Die deutsche Akademie der Dichtung)."
"He and his brother Friedrich Georg quit the "Traditionsverein der 73er" (veteran's organization of the Hanoverian regiment they had served during World War I) when its Jewish members were expelled."
"Jünger appears on the fringes of the Stauffenberg bomb plot. He was clearly an inspiration to anti-Nazi conservatives in the German Army,[20] and while in Paris he was close to the old, mostly Prussian, officers who carried out the assassination attempt against Hitler."
that last scene really gets me specially when you think it's a real life event
yeah honestly i knew nothing about all quiet on the western front before i read it. I thought the whole thing was a first hand account just published under a different name. that last bit shocked me
@@finnISHY no i meant storm of steel
when he lets the british guy lives
♥♥♥♥♥
@@thedeadwarrior1828 weird, I thought he killed the British guy. It fits so much more
@@alfredredl326 Why? A heavily wounded enemy is hardly a threat... and it shows both Ernst' character and shows something about the nature of war.
The thing that makes it both utterly horrible and strangely appealing, which perfectly describes mankind's strange fascination with war and why we can seemingly never leave it behind us.
As he jumps in there, he is a beast, a savage, an unfeeling killing machine, driven on by instinct, adrenaline, propelled onwards by a primal feeling of conflict and triumphm, the ultimate reaffirmation of his worth and his justification to exist, as he's filled by a sense of purpose, duty and being part of something much greater than himself, he is bloodthirst and rage incarnate... the true chaos of war enveloped him.
And yet, as he is given time to reconsider, to think, to feel beyond the manic beast that slumbers deep within every man, he is able to reasoning prevail... what threat is that man to him? He's clearly defeated, their lines overrun, most likely bound to be captured and taken prisoner. In a conflict to determine the destiny of nations it is about breaking the enemy's resistance... not to nessecarily erradicate the enemy and kill everyone who oposes you. It is first and foremost a conflict of will and only then a conflict of resources. And that is the calculating, cold and reasonable aspect of war.
War for all intents and purposes is a great catalyst in human history and an accellerator of many things, lots of progress is made in science and also in social norms and revolutions in that regard... women's rights would have NEVER gained as much traction as they did in the wake of WW1 when women were actively working in the factories and as field nurses in numbers unseen before. Medicine also tends to progress rapidly in the course of war...
All of this... means that War isnt all bad, despite it's terrible nature... it says something about human nature, the innate ugliness and the inner beast of human experience and that in all likelihood it will always be a shadow upon our heel.
Food for thought.
It’s always funny to me, if I told most people: Here’s two books on WW1, one of them is a dark negative account about and average soldier just trying to make it through, and the other is about a soldier who rises through the ranks and becomes an elite soldier, is wounded several times but always returns and fights to the end. Guess which one is fiction. Nobody’s gonna pick All Quiet.
You have a point
You're actually right. wow
Yeah, but Erich Maria was describing his experience, he was even called Paul when he was at war, but then he changed his name, and called his protagonist Paul.
Ernst was showing a cool dude that knows how to fight and Erich was showing a kid at war
@@BlackChungaChanga except that Remarque fought for about a month before being wounded and never seeing combat again. All Quiet is based some on his own experience, but is largely based off various experiences of people he knew, all woven together into a fictional story. My point is they both went in young and naive, Jünger saw far more of the horrors of war and came out significantly more optimistic about the whole affair. It shows an interesting difference in personalities.
@@BlackChungaChanga Junger developed into that "cool dude" throughout the book. He was like 18 or 19 when he joined. He then rapid went on to be commissioned as an officer and ended up winning a 1st class iron cross and the Pour le Mérite (highest award for Germans at the time, very rare; also awarded to The Red Baron). Truly a meteoric military career.
All Quiet be like: "That poor french men, we are two of the same"
Storm of Steel be like: "Bludgeoned that french guy with a shovel, I dont feel anything"
the two moods
*Bludgeoned that British guy. Jünger doesn’t see many French soldiers in his account.
Too accurate lmao
Storm of Steel emphasizes the moment. All Quiet is reminiscing on the horrors of the past
Jünger had at some point a mini truce with the british they where opposit to because the trenches on both sides where beeing flooded by rainfall.
So no he was not just a bloodthirsty maniac.
And he showed real admiration for his enemies on multiple occasions. However he also didnt hestitate to throw grenades in dug outs when the occupants didnt surrender fast enough, or they had not time to waste.
Dicotomy of the warrior.
“That one man of all often appeared in my dreams. I hope that meant he got to see his homeland again.”
-Ernst Junger about the British Soldier he spared.
The British soldier that spared Hitler: 0_0
Ok that got me to cry a little bit
I dont remember where i read It but Jünger also spared Tolkien.
@@axelgamer5342What? No? How would anyone even know who it was? The chances of that are incredibly small
@@Rokaize "also",, not that specific soldier.
All Quiet: "Ah sweet! Man-made horrors beyond comprehension."
Storm: "Well, I can comprehend these man-made horrors just fine so, idk maybe you have a skill issue or smth."
He was Just a human so still was scared, He didnt Like war but He liked the experiences.
😂😂😂
Lmao imagine Remarque struggling to read some sort of eldritch horror fantasy text, while Junger reads it just fine as if its any other foreign language.
Damn, let that sink in. Ernst Jünger witnessed World War 1, World War 2, the division-, and even the reunion of germany with his own eyes.
the man saw the rise and fall of 4 German states imagine that
he did'nt just witness he fought in both
He witnessed germany at its peak and then now. Sad to think about seeing your nation get crippled like that
@@jensjensen9035 nah current germany is ok
@@drnota472 In no way whatsoever is modern Germany ok
My favorite part of SoS is how straightforward Jünger about describing certain things. Like the part near the end when he gets shot is the chest and falls to the bottom of the trench, then when someone helps him up he writes something along the lines of ‘I could feel the blood drain from my lungs through the hole in my chest, I was relieved as it made breathing much easier’
The cause of these differences might lay in the fact, that Remarque wrote most of his novel with the help and stories told him by fellow comrades. Remarque served like only a couple of weeks at the actual frontline, whereas Jünger had not only first hand experiences - he accomplished really crazy recon-missions himself and saved his brother on the battlefield -, but was stationed at the direct frontline for months if not years.
A lot of German war memoirs are extremely punctual and to-the-point like that. Rudel's Stuka Pilot is another good example, it's very much "This happened, this happened, that happened, it made me feel this way, then this other thing happened..."
@@MalikCarr Same with Infantry Attacks by Rommel. But strangely there is actually a sense of poetry and beauty in a lot of these works as well imbetween the rationality.
The meticulous way of describing things shines bright in his books about insect hunting or his Lsd trips. Even in his political essay "Der Waldgang" he is quite on point in describing political situations and changes. His conclusion on the other hand is nebulous and elitist as it can be.
@Streigl problem?
The main problem I have with "Storm of Steel" is that it tends to overshadow Jünger's later work and life. WW1 and his experiences in the trenches in many ways only laid the foundations for one of the most interesting personal and literary biographies of the 20th century.
Not to mention, Storm of Steel is also incomplete. Ernst Junger wrote a massive war diary during WW1, and Storm of Steel only captured a small part of his war experience. For instance, when the video at 2:58 says that Ernst Junger did not talk about sex in his book, his unedited war diary actually talked about his romantic liaison with a local French woman and his constant sexual urges. Luckily, his unedited war diary was just published in Germany a few years ago. Sadly however, it has not been translated to English yet.
@Koshiro2k3 I'm intrigued, any recommendations for some of his later works?
@@mistasomen Pain is a good one. It’s a philosophical work.
@@cameron4562 thanks for the tip. Weird, can't find it in German, only in English.
@@mistasomen The Forest Passage
Jünger’s accounts remind me of war as it is described in the Iliad. Sure there is tragedy, but also a slew of other events and emotions that can only be experienced and understood by the soldiers who fight.
@Pinko Slink Youre a fool if you think war is good, but there is a case of it being glorious, or at least beautiful in a morbid way.
@Pinko SlinkIt'd be funny if you're commenting this as a westerner since that is how the west fights its wars these days.
@@fenixman2 war itself is neutral
@@abnerdoon4902 The West can fight this way because they curbstomped your ancestors in any other way before lol
@brandovlogs yes it is because war can be waged for any reason under the sun war itself is neutral
The injured British guy: “Wheew thank god I had a random picture of some guy’s family!”
**Proceeds to commit war crimes without consequences**
Nope. The picture was of his family. Junger could see that the soldiers face matched the guy in the photo.
@@Cooldude-ko7ps how do you know?
@@unpapelcascaron7463 I don’t. Just a reasonable assumption
It seems like you never got outside or you simply think that most Englishman look similar, listen to mate plastic surgery is popular in Asian countries but not in England that much maybe but still in that time people don't do it...
What struck me most about Storm of Steel was Junger's growing awareness of just how screwed Germany was. It starts with shortages of eggs and other high-quality foods (even potatoes are a rare luxury). Then observations of how well-equipped their enemies are. Then, finally, after the Kaiserschlacht, when he sees that the full might of the German Empire, with the eastern front resolved, is still not enough to break the Entente--that's when he realizes the war is lost. He understood that, I think, better than almost anyone else in Europe at the time.
I have to say I prefer it to "All Quiet," if for no other reason than Junger's meditation on the triumph of the human spirit in the face of overwhelming material force. Even if his men die, he says, they will have won because their will did not break.
What an awful, but very imperial German kind of moral.
@@olenickel6013 Awful? why.
Its amazing how touching the book is considering that it is hardly more than an impartial recollection of events.
In the latter battle scenes he vividly illustrates how the British force moving on them was better equipped, more artillery etc and that the situation was pretty hopeless
@@leafboy3967 Awful because he is a pacifist, he would rather be chained and enslaved rather than fight for the freedom and glory of his own nation.
All Quite on the Western front
War is Hell: 💀
The Storm of Steel
War is Hell: 🗿
It’s so common to hear a lot of anti war stuff, which is totally reasonable and understandable, but to hear someone’s whose actually pro war is so fascinating.
It is interesting how both have their reasons and is shaped by different kinds of people but it is weird how it isn't looked at more often in literature or works of fiction.
War is when a society is brought to its breaking point. It's when it develops fastest and is essentially an accelerated process of natural selection. Technology, culture, the economy all change to meet the existential challenge that war is, or they break. It's not just good for personal development, but also for societal development.
@@Myname-cb9ru ...You do know that the Darwinian line of thinking led to the very preventable outbreak of WWI partially, right? Especially in Germany, with unsubstantiated fears that Germany "needed to solidify its place as a world power" rather than "slowly decline", when in fact Germany's constant attempts to expand its empire and its influence drove Britain and France away from friendly relations with Germany. Pre-WWI, German society was developing well economically, and it's commonly believed that a constitutional monarchy would have occurred naturally in Germany given the demands of its Social Democratic Party and Liberal Party, meaning its political situation was also relatively stable (despite divides being present).
To deem war an "accelerated process of natural selection" is to oversimplify war. Prussian military theorist Carl von Clausewitz summarized it succinctly: "War is a continuation of politics by other means". This is how most forms of war are typically waged, as an advancement of ideals or goals that does not typically result in the complete annihilation of one side. War does not always act as a definitive "end all be all", but what you're looking for in your definition is when a war becomes a TOTAL WAR, the commitment of all resources available to a society along with the civilian population. Total war - unlike any other form of war - is staking the foundations of a society on a conflict they believe to be imperative. This was precisely the nature of WWI and precisely the reason why Germany losing this war led to massive societal upheaval in the Interwar period.
Then Russo-Ukrainian war says otherwise. Do not be naive about human nature
@brandovlogs they aren't inherently evil.
Your channel is criminally underrated, man. Best wishes from Italy
Is it fine if i do the same but from finland
@@skullyboi1215 sure, but only because you fucked up Stalin during the Winter War.
same, from egypt ❤️❤️
ave cumpa!!!
so contento di trova n altro italico com a me qua!!!
Ah un uomo di cultura vedo
Joshua Graham reference 5:58
You are now idolized by The New Vegas community
Yooo man i thought to myself "where i hear that reference before" but now i remember ty mate
Yeah
We can't expect god to do all the work
czcams.com/video/kkc4rqPk_Us/video.html
the fact that junger saw the kaiser abdicate, the weimar republic overthrown, the soviets and allies march into berlin, the country partitioned and then reunited again all in the same lifetime. what a guy.
Polska feels pain of much sadness
Strange, since it's a german book on a world war
Being Polska is suffering.....
@@russiasgreatestspinmachine4096 polska was under austrian german and russian opression/rule
@@finnishboo4192 i know, that's why i said it
'German book?
So Germany is much suffering?
Polksa cannot hide tears of joy, is so movings.'
I read All Quiet two years ago and i’m reading storm of steel now, I felt this video was made for me
Nichts neues im Westen
@@crowmaster221 unt stahlgwitter
@@crowmaster221 Im Westen nichts Neues
@@hedgeknight3194 In Stahlgewittern
Nichtsstahl westerngewittern im
It should also be noted that Remarque was conscripted and only served for just over a month, and based most of his novel on letters he was sent by friends.
Meanwhile Junger enlisted and served for the entirety of the war, with exception of his two stints of being wounded near the start and near the end. Junger received 4 awards for his service, including the German version of the Medal of Honor, called the Pour le Merite.
I love both works, but comparing the two really is comparing a war hero to someone who didn't even want to be there in the first place.
i think that actually provides an interesting contrast and show the different experience they both had, though i think junger became slightly disturbed and probably brainwashed with propaganda i still appreciate his work as much as remarque’s.
It makes a lot more sense when you consider the source material. All Quiet is a distillation of many shitty and soul-crushing experiences while Storm is a narrative of one man's highs and lows across the war.
all quite on the western front is a work of ficiton which resulted from a collection of many soliders accounts. It also represents the majority of german soldiers more than jungers book, since most of the german soldiers were conscripted/joined because of blind nationalism, peer pressure or naivity regarding war. Jungers book probably represents better the view of a professional soldier
@@Daniel-jm7ts also I think when you were talking about the school boys that were enlisted. See Germany didn't do a full conscription of every fighting age man they did it later in the war these were barely trained conscripts with barely one month of training that doesn't create soldier that creates cannon fodder
It's actually fascinating to see how Jünger was one of the least affected by the propaganda. Jünger was a nationalist but he wasn't really enthralled by his country's propaganda, he had his own idea of nationalism. As a result of this, he didn't fall for the nazi's propaganda during their rise and during WW2.
Ernst Jünger was an interesting man to say the least.
what i love about when Junger describes the scene of him sparing a british man, is that he doesn't embellishes it, he just says what happened, like he didn't sat with the soldier and shared a cigarette, or tended to his wounds or talked to him, he just saw no purpose in killing a man that was like him and wasn't a threat to anyone, so he just moved on, he still had work to do and his nation to protect, so he just keep on going, that was just amazing
That's pretty interesting. It also implies Storm of Steel isn't merely propaganda, but a "warts and all" tale of conflict.
@@nathanseper8738Have you read it? It isn’t propaganda. It’s actually pretty candid. He comments on a lot of his own mistakes and failings in the book. He gets some of his own men killed since he’s in a leadership position. And he openly admits it. He has a rollercoaster of emotions throughout the book from extreme excitement and adrenaline from close quarters violence. To breaking down and crying over the loss of his men. It’s a really wild and fascinating book.
@@Rokaizethats why i prefer jungers, its the full range of emojions a professional soldier could exp in ww1. Plus its not fiction
A very interesting book related to this is Remarques follow up „der Weg zurück“ - „the way back“. It’s describing a similar group of soldiers as in all quiet on the western Front after the war; constantly struggling with the new world that arose, the old elites just leaving without taking responsibility and their personal development that makes return to civilian life hard. But it doesn’t leave out the good parts, after all its a book about not constantly being in danger anymore. The relief is there, but it’s drowned by many other things.
I can’t recommend all quiet on the western front enough, it’s probably one of the best and most famous works of German literature. But the way back is worth a shot too.
"Der Weg zurück" is also connected to All Quiet on the Western Front, as the main character knew the protagonist of the first book.
@@ChipitaDraws Also some minor characters as Tjaden appear in both books.
The protagonist there is called Ernst too
Man, this is wild. I subbed to you because of the Victoria 2 guide, and here I am watching some great polandball content. Great job man.
same
same
same
same
same
That part of storm of steel is certainly interesting. Compassion, where I'd expect none.
We push, they push, and sometimes we push so hard the clouds begin to part and show us the world beyond the war. Just out of reach.
Yes, I have only read the 5th edition but throughout the book I cant think of a single time he talks about a a other person in a negative way. In one of his first encounters with British solders he mentions how impressed he was at their bravery.
@@leafboy3967True. He’s like the ultimate “honorable” warrior archetype. He never killed out of hatred or to just cause pain. He’s just doing his job.
There is another instant where the German and British trench sections begin to flood, each side comes face to face then begins to share supplies like cigarettes. They enjoy themselves until the rain clears enough for another trench section to open fire on them. Each side rushes back to their trenches, apologizing to the other.
Storm of steel's most absurd moment of joy was when Ernst went in a scouting mission, he got thrown off by a mine, he gets up, his pals seeing him and bullets buzzing in. Ernst takes off his coat(he was hot), " NOW THE LIEUTENANT IS TAKING OFF HIS COAT YOU HEAR???" (referring to the Frenchies)
Or when at the trench, right before an enemy assault, all artillery breaks loose, they spot a hare just crossing amid the fire, and the whole platoon, just start shooting at the hare from the tension of the imminent fight.
Gosh I love that book.
You should read : Journey to the End of the Night
Its a famous french book about ww1
1st sentence:
we defended untill the british had evacuated only then did we surrender...
..which was 10 minutes
@@hashbrown_blitz8869 we said WW1.
@@hashbrown_blitz8869
The door is that way
@@hashbrown_blitz8869 But then the British saved us later so we could go back to maman et papa
If "All Quiet" is the "Apokalypse Now" of WW1 literature then "Storm of Steel" is it's "Starship Troopers".
Thats discrediting the talent and meaning behind storm of steal
I think he's referring to the book not the movie, Starship Troopers the book is actually read in military academies. Plenty of Marine officers I have met read it religiously.
Evrybody and their mothers: all there is, is All Quiet on the Western Front
Callmeezikiel: No, there is another.
Me: you mean there is another side to the story that’s been out for 100 years that nobody’s told me about?
@@JanitorScruffy That explains a lot.
@@JanitorScruffy To be honest starship troopers the book is if nothing else, interesting philosophy wise, however it is horrible in how its combat and emotional moments read, unlike Storm of Steel where both of those are described far more interestingly
Ernst Jünger's crowning achievement in WW1, described in the last part of the book, is receiving the "Pour le Mérite", otherwise known as the Blue Max, the highest Prussian/German decoration in existence at the time. For a long time until his death, he was the last living recipient of the military class of this decoration. (There was also, and continues to be, a civilian class which was still awarded after 1918, unlike the military class.)
(Take the following anecdote with a pinch of salt. It was told to me by a professor of history, but I can't source-check it atm). Apparently a regularly banquet was/is held for recipients of the PLM. When the bearers of the military class PLM had mostly passed away, it was thought it could be done away with for them. But Ernst Jünger, being Ernst Jünger, continued to insist it be held for him and him alone, and so it was. For several decades.
I would have said the same
@@deviousalemanni4235 And honestly you would've earned it.
So practically in one book the protagonist thrived in the war while in the other the protagonist just got beaten up by it
Keep in mind the book where the person thrived was non fiction and the other was fiction.
@@kadenvolan3557 Also keep in mind the only thing that's really fiction in the books is that the main character died, Almost all the rest of it was the writers own experiences. Hell he even mentioned all the side effects of PTSD when no one knew it existed. (Back then it was called shell shock Which they believed was caused because of a lack of moral fiber. and even that was only discovered in 1915).
@@matthewmac5787 Well, some people suffer from war more than others. It can be seen even in modern military service: some people fool around and have fun while others have mental breakdown because it's so different to civillian life
@@kadenvolan3557 You cannot really believe that most soldiers of WWI "thrived" in it. How detached from every singe source of soldiers and the gruesome reality of war can one be?
@@hobbylostv5418Ernst certainly did and wrote a book about it.
Earnst Yunger was an example as what is known as the born soldier. He had fought for the french foreign legion prior to the war when he was 17. I think, all things considered, his account is among the most accurate depictions of war. It can be fun, fulfilling, and desirable. Most so when you are winning.
How can you incorrectly write the name Ernst Jünger?
@Jeremiah Grigsby: YES
Earnst Yunger? Picture me shocked by your butchering of his name
I really wish more schools would put Storm of Steel in their library, let alone their reading list. There's just something more 'real' to it than All Quiet. Maybe because it's written mainly in the moment rather than as a retrospective projection through the lens of fiction. But idk
Junger experienced far more of the war than Remarque. Remarque spent something like 6 weeks in the trenches. Junger, with several medical leaves out of being wounded and such, fought from late 1914(or was it early 1915) to late 1918, he saw most of the war.
Maybe because it was a real account where all quiet on the western front was written by a guy who didn’t even spend a full month in combat
@@microchip9982 not saying that it is, but Jünger spent over 3 years in combat and saw some of the worst fighting of the war. Remarque experienced two weeks in a reserve trench before being wounded by shrapnel yet he is qualified to write a fiction on the war?
I think schools don’t include it because of its view on war and conflict.
Because Storm of Steel was written by an actual warrior and a soldier.
Can we stop and think about how Junger was so old he saw the birth and death of the USSR? The stories he must have had...
Along with the rise and fall of so many other things as well.
Thank you for making this! I love reading books and never heard of "Storm of Steel". After watching this video it makes me want to read it now
It is a really good book and worth the read but finding the right version is hard
@@burrellwilliams2658 can you recommend me a English translation?
Ernst junger deserves a movie or series
He really does but i don't think any movie could do him justice. In Storms of Steel especially where the most remarkable aspect is its lack of an agenda would not be sustained in a film.
@@leafboy3967 So a miniseries?
"It's an easier matter to describe these sounds than to endure them, because one cannot but associate every single sound of flying steel with the idea of death, and so I huddled in my hole in the ground with my hand in front of my face, imagining all the possible variants on being hit. I think I have found a comparison that captures the situation in which I and all the other soldiers who took part in this war so often found ourselves: you must imagine you are securely tied to a post, being menaced by a man swinging a heavy hammer. Now the hammer has been taken back over his head, ready to be swung, now it's cleaving the air towards you, on the point of touching your skull, then it's struck the post, and the splinters are flying -- that's what it's like to experience heavy shelling in an exposed position."
Would it be too much of a pun to say that only that quote has hammered home the feeling, for me?
Just read this tonight before I looked up this video. Definitely stuck with me immediately as a remarkable description of what it must’ve been like. Probably my single favorite passage from the book thus far, so it’s cool to see it quoted here. It’s the kind of thing that gets overlooked so often because Jünger spends less time dwelling on the horrors, but you can clearly see in this and other excerpts the effect the war has on a person.
Both great books. But Storm of Steel's account of that 1918 Offensive is absolutely phenomenal
cool it is janovich!
Jünger=gigachad
Remarque=gigavirgin
@@rekoken2911 why?
@@rekoken2911 I believe Remarque was totally in the right to hold the views he had. Ernst Junger was just something else
@@leafboy3967 sure but I've heard enough "waaaa war bad people die very sad i go cry" stories, they're done to death
@@rekoken2911 because that's exactly what war is about
2:05 WW1 soldiers: *exist*
Syphilis: it's free real estate
People are just built different. Jünger is not a monster, he’s just tough, if you look at his biography he was really a sweet man who was surprisingly wild given his political leanings. I read that he helped Jews during his time in France during World War II, I think his job was working in intelligence and he saw a bunch of stuff that he just didn’t report. I like All Quite but it’s nice to see a different perspective.
I like Storm of Steel more because it really shows just how much down time and sheer physical work the soldier of Germany had to do. It spends a lot of time emphasizing the time spend in the bunkers and trenches just hoping to live another day
Junger is still one of my favorite clinical discussions on war
legit as he's talking about his buddies by name describing their deaths
What I felt was that most books on war characterize it the way modern society wants to see it, Jünger however writes it as it is, human in all respects. He acknowledges the opportunity war brings and the progression it forces but I myself never read it as him being pro war, but simply not being anti war can make a man viewed as pro war nowadays. I recommend Storm of Steel over All Quiet, both are good but Storm feels so much more human, there is happiness and sadness, joy and fear, laughter and weeping and it all tells the story of a real man and his real deeds. Truly one of the most fascinating reads of my life.
Junger just accepted that war was an aspect of who humans are. "War as an Inner Experience" is another great book by him. More of the philosophy, but good stuff.
As someone who grew up in Germany, I can see why Remarque is more popular. All Quiet is not mandatory to read in every class in school but its often promoted.
Except for textbooks there is no reading in history class, so its left to German teachers if they want to deal with it. Remarque is the better writer and the fact that All Quiet is fictionalised makes it treatable literature.
Furthermore depending on the age of their studends teachers find themeselves or the students ill-equipped to engage with something like SoS critcally. German curricula are very careful with positive depiction of war.
For the sake of time, only pro-war poems get the treatment often with a focus on how positivley framed comradery is a result of psycological pressures created by society and the war. To say they only liked the war because they got time to hang with their friends.
But that's my Exp. Every state/teacher does differently.
Sounds like brainwashing.
@ambiguitiy1207 it is
@@ambiguitiy1207 It's not
@@ambiguitiy1207 it's not
Are you gonna make tutorials on *Victoria III* like you did on *Victoria II?*
Ernst Junger is one of the most underrated writers ever
the reason i prefer Storm Of Steel is because it is straightforward with its happenings and is still kind of anti war by not being like: „the british soldier was going to die so I shared a cig with him and used part of my torn uniform as bandages“
but instead: „I moved past the soldier and continued exploring the enemy trench“
like he couldnt just stop in an active trench with enemies inside it
Sure AQOTWF is definitely anti war but even though Juenger describes war as something „everyone should experience“
it doesnt glorify any actions showing people that war is still very brutal
I actually think storm of steel is better and provides perspective on those with genuine conviction
Louis Barthas account of the war, Poilu, is a more anti-war. That might serve as an interesting comparison to All Quiet. The drama in accounts are not as intense as fiction, so All Quiet is better as a story, but a personal account of events would always be more visceral.
I read "In Stahlgewittern" in school and enjoyed it a lot. I spent my entire free time reading it and didn't stop until I had finished.
Its an amazing book.
Junger fought in combat for several years of the war, as both an enlisted man and an officer. Storm of Steel is an autobiographical recounting of his experience based on his meticulous diary from the time. Remarque was on the front for perhaps two weeks at most. All Quiet on the Western Front is a fictional novel about a German soldier, at best loosely inspired by Remarque's encounter with combat. You tell me which author has a better claim to an accurate depiction of the experience of war.
I would say both
Two weeks at the front is plenty enough time to change someone and their perspective on life. Not only that, but Remarque interviewed other soldiers and his book is also inspired by those experiences. The two authors aren’t in competition for who “truly” experienced war, it’s their messages on war that are. You clearly favor Junger’s “test of civilizations” view, which is cringe.
@@firebird4491nope, it's not. Especially when he was far away from the actual Frontline and never actually saw direct combat. You clearly favor Chomsky's appeasement which is cringeworthy.
@11 No? Really? You're willing to say that two weeks at the front isn't enough time to change someone? You think if you spent two weeks in a trench in Ukraine you wouldn't change at all? Hell, did you even read Storm of Steel?
I have no idea why you would exclusively associate a basic anti-war perspective with Noam Chomsky. Also, your claims on Remarque's war experience are inconsistent with the facts that he was seriously wounded from shrapnel, experienced war trauma, and claimed to have taken a lot of inspiration for his book from his time in the war. He didn't have to be in the front trenches for this to be valid.
@@firebird4491 yes he did. Not every experience in war is comparable at all, you cannot compare the life of a military cook or repairman at a factory faraway from the frontline to that of the special forces or a tank crew, and being a solider in general takes time, and it requires actual experience. He didn’t get to see the meat of it and it shows because it proliferates through his lack of understanding on how trenches and life in them worked.
The good thing about Junger was that he was more willing to show you other faces of trench warfare, not just all the misery and despair, but also change and opportunity aswell as innovation. He cites alot of grenade use in combat aswell as pointed out how important trench raids were, and that it wasn’t just oh charge into enemy machine gun with no foresight like Disney’s lemmings (funfact, lemmings aren’t actually that stupid and neither were ww1 commanders)
Yes he did, otherwise he would’ve been reliant on here-say from other people and groups. Sure you probably grew up thinking that this was the lost generation and that it swore them off war but lest we forget that among this generation were people like ADOLF HITLER, who had seen more of the frontline as a scout and corporal, hence why prior to becoming fuhrer, he was known as the bavarian corporal.
Read both. Both have their merits. Junger was a soldier's soldier. Despite serving in the German army in WW2 he didn't embrace Nazi ideals. Interesting character.
"Fun Facts" about Jünger:
He was one of the first people who ever tried LSD. He got it from its inventor, the Swiss chemist Albert Hofmann and they kind of became buddies and had psychedelic sessions together.
Jünger also wrote about a piece of technology he made up for a novel in 1949 which he called the Phonophor. He described it as some kind of mobile phone with internet-like abilities which also serves as a personal ID and as a surveillance device for states/governments. Weirdly similar to modern smart phones and upcoming "digital identities"
As insane as this dude's obsession for war seem and as (at least) very difficult his political views were, he's been quite an interesting and complex person.
i already love your "series?" of compairing two contrarily different books and in my opinion they are the best thing you produced so far till now :)
Kat's death is the saddest thing i've ever read
Here in slovakia we have All quiet on the western front in schools as a needed book for our graduation tests.
Really such a shame we germans have nothing on that reference material in school. All about the 2 WW but not WW1.
@@saxogrammatikus4195 auf den Gymnasialzweig in der 10 war es bei meiner Gesamtschule im Deutschunterricht Pflichtlektüre
@@deathtrooper7760 Aber nicht in Real oder Hauptschule wahrscheinlich auch nur in deinem Bundesland.
@@saxogrammatikus4195 nur im gym leider was eine Schande ist weil viele der gymies es nicht wertschätzten und ein paar meiner mates von real hätten es zu gerne im Deutschunterricht behandelt.
You have a shtty government then in Slovakia who wants to make your youth weak. Replace them and put them down.
Storm of Steel is much more rich and brilliant than All Quiet.
virgin french sympathizer vs chad strumtruppen
I have watched all quite the black and white film and found it impactful, but the writing in Storm of Steel original translation much more interesting.
Bro lived to see germany unite, then dies. But in my opinion, joy in war, Bravery and all that bad stuff is why storm of steel is better (for me atleast)
That vicky 2 music... Happy Victoria 3 announcement day!!
i need more of this, i never thougt i'd be interested in books
It’s also telling that Remarque only spent about three weeks on the front before he was wounded and spent the rest of the war in Germany, while Jünger was there for three years and wounded thirteen times
Lads, sorry about having to say this, but they announced Vicky III. God is real
My friends Are working as extras in the new all quiet on the western front movie and they say it is looking pretty good.
Theres going to be a new one?! Now im excited
Can't imagine what a Storm of Steel movie would look like
Me and my class have read All quite on the Western Front in Social studies.
I recommend Storm of Steel, if only for its presentation of a differing perspective of the German war effort.
I've read both and can't say one is better than the other - they are different. Both are important. The books reveal two very different kinds of men: 'All Quiet...' is more relatable for most people; however, 'Storm of Steel' is written by a consummate warrior - one who likes and is good at war. Remarque went on to have a turbulent life and, like many many others, was plagued by his experiences. Junger lived a long happy life as he felt no crippling guilt or shame, and was buoyed rather than submerged by his experiences. Junger was not a sociopath either - he was of a rare breed that both sides relied on.
3:00 Actually, he did talk about his fear of contracting diseases from brothels in his diary, but that was edited out when it was published
A scene from All Quiet that stuck me the most was the moment when Paul was stuck in a hole while a french soldier was dying beside him from a wound from his bayonet. And during that scene, Paul kept pleading to the frenchman's corpse to forgive him and even said that he will tell his family about this.
I was sad by this scene.
But another book that i would recomend is the romanian novel Forest of the Hanged. Its more of a mix between All Quiet and the Storm of Steel (even tough its main character is fictional, it is based on the author's brother life on the front). I think there is an english translation of it. So go read it if you can
I've read Storm of Steel because it's simply different than other war memoirs or novels being that it talks about values, duty and pride, not about anti war, ptsd and other issues with war. I haven't been interested in reading All Quiet on the Western Front because it is just depressing and I know what to expect. Of course war is wrong, but I agree with Jünger in that war is just history. Crap, most of human history has been human beings killing one another for land, resources, glory, power, etc.
Pick up "War as an Inner Experience". It's one of his philosophical works.
I have not read All Quiet On The Western Front yet, nor have I completely finished storm of steel, but from my understanding, Ernst Jünger was neither pro war nor anti war. He simply told it how it was. Sometimes the soldiers enjoyed themselves in the trenches. It wasn't all 100% bleak. When the time came to kill, he felt nothing because he was desensitized to death.
I still find the last words in All quiet on the Western Front just so true. When Paul dies and the Field report just says: "Im Westen nichts neues" (Book title in German) Just Shows how the death of humdreds of men is nothing in war to the Generals and leaders, as if he wasnt there
I've read both. Very different, but both of them are quality books.
All Quite: War is pointless and only Destorys the human spirit.
Strom of Steel: War is sad but nessery to advance humanity.
Ernst Juenger prior to world war one served in the French Foreign legion. During the war he won the Germany's highest award the Pour le Merit. After the war he was a famous author and poet. During World War 2 Juenger served in various staff positions but was anti-Hitler and Anti-Nazi.
I'm Westen Nichts Neues is one of the best descriptions of the crazy behavior on a war.
There is a reason that the Militarists hated and the Nazis, prohibited it.
I reemember 2 years ago, I subbed Ezekiel because of Vicky2 memes
now...I am sure that subbing to him years ago is a very valuable investment
I remember seeing "all quiet" at school when I was young (the 1979 version of the film I think).
Storm of steel is something I heard a lot about since i'm a teenager. The funny thing beeing I have never read neither of them. Even if I once saw a documentary on Junger and his experience during the Great War.
I can only highly recommand you "Voyage au bout de la nuit" the Louis Ferdinand Céline masterpiece. This book is the mirror of Storm of Steel : as for the german the book is very personnal, even if it is a fiction. But the effect of war on the caracter is the opposite.
In some ways this book embodies the effect of the war on french mentality.
On a lighter note, I can't be more happy to be subscribe to this channel, it really shines !
I heard of Jünger and his book, but today I learned, that he died in the town where I went to school.
That last part reminds me of when I watched all quiete on the western front movie. The whole time I was shaking, short breathing, couching my airsoft M4. I was somewhat traumatized by it. But I’m glad I saw it, because it didn’t sugar coat it and helped me fully appreciate my life.
Hell yeah, 8hrs ago I thought "maybe it has something to do with Junger's Storms of steel" and here it is, even better than I anticipated (I love comparisons!).
Now, let's watch it
People are somewhat misunderstanding Storm of steal. Junger describes some horrible scenes and how he had a mental breakdown after his first battle, and then even after being a veteran of 2 years he vomited after seeing 3 men blown to pieces in a bunker and their remains splattered across the wall. He describes all the negatives of the war and paints a very ugly picture at times. But he also shows the more positive side, and does show how he enjoyed aspects of it. But he certainly didn’t love war nor was he a psycho by and means. You could argue had Junger been wounded after his first battle like Remarque was, he may well have had a much more anti war perspective. It was the fact he became hardened and used to it that separates his opinions from Remarque who only served for 4 weeks.
Also a huge part of it is the character of the men, frankly Remarque was a softer type of man, junger strikes me as a regular guy who rose to the occasion and grew tougher due to experience, he was a more hardy character.
It’s also important to remember he had a nervous breakdown and vomited after his first battle, similar to how Remarque felt. It’s just junger carried on to serve and became harder and harder
That last part of the book you read was soo emotional.
😭😭😭😭.
Picked up "All Quiet" in my schools library when I was in 7th grade and it was definitely my favorite book from my school days I still remember it 14 years later. Now I need to read storm of steel.
I hope you do, its quite an amazing book on many levels.
The germans gave Austria their full support, and France mainly joined not to help Russia but because they were scared of Germany becoming so powerful, and they wanted to win the support of their people by undoing the Franco-Prussian War. Germany did have reasons to go to war, protecting an ally.
I would believe a guy who was there during the entire war more than some other guy who was there for 2 months and tells me never to fight for my country
on the topic of how the British and Germans feel little animosity to each other, i watched a documentary where a British veteran stated that he was fine with the Bavarians but didn't like the Prussians.
Wonders of internet people, it is mind boggling. It was a long journey but technically I came here from watching a Turkish guy playing eu4. I don't know how it happened but 3 years passed and I am watching this awesome video now and I am glad that it turned out to be like this.
Also, I loved how the Ottomans looked worried and scared while everyone else was looking scary and angry.
I have read both, both are incredible work and deserving of recognition. They are also very different.
I remember being forced to read all quiet on the western front in HS. The two or three things I remember from the book were as follows; them debating about whether or not to eat or how much to eat before going into battle, as a wound to the gut is worse on a full stomach than an empty one. Two, him talking about how a soldier got stuck out in no man's land, wounded, and they could not retrieve him but were close enough to hear him, and how for days they had to listen to him cry and moan, and as time wore on, how his cries became more hoarse due to dehydration, and also fainter, until finally after 3 or 4 days it ceased.
And of course what you mentioned, the Russian POW camp, how one POW played a violin, but how it sounded so lonely and strange out in the open air, and not in a theater or auditorium. And of course how the prisoners stopped masturbating after having been in the camp for two weeks or so due to how starved and cold they were.
I have not read storm of steel, but I want to now.
I have one of the original English reprints of All Quiet on The Western Front from the 1920s. It was a gift from my late grandfather when I was young, guess I'll have to give Storm of Steel a read, see how well it compares to one of my all time favorites :)
Did you read it?
I normally abstain from writing comments but here I have to say you are damn underrated. You are showing the emotions the books try to deliver in your videos.
This is reminding me of the Vic2 tutorials. Some of the best I’ve ever seen!
Gotten to talk to quite a few combat vets from the Vietnam and Iraq/Afghanistan conflicts. I don't know any that are pro war per se but many did share sentiments with Junger in terms of their experiences. They've told me about times they were terrified, times they were bored (a lot), moments of joy or sadness while in the field. It's kinda strange to see someone fondly reminisce about a time his platoon was ambushed but the enemy fire was so ineffective that a guy felt secure enough to crack a one liner while firing a light AT rocket at the attackers.
I’m also glad that you pointed out that for some people, not just the generals, that the christmas truce would’ve been seen as an absolute insult and disgrace to their efforts. Most notably the French, Belgian and Serbian soldiers who likely had no such luxury to make truce with Germans and play football with them.
I'm so glad I found this channel! Keep doing this kind of content and it will just be a matter of time before the algorithm decides to blow up your viewer count.
Now it makes sense why the Christmas Truce was between the Germans and the British!
Love the emphasis of anti war in the All Quiet film expressed by kat:
"so why did you join?"
"dunno, they insulted us, it's our duty"
"what, did a Mountain in France insult a Mountain in Germany?"
I always found it silly. Mountaings are geographic features. France is a nation. Nation is a people. And people have destinies. Mountains don't.
That final anecdote almost made me cry. That is such a terribly sad but simultaneously beautiful thing.
I dont know why, but iv’e always felt that storm of steel is more realistic in a way
I hear the guy who wrote All quite and the western front was in the war for a few months. While Junger was there from beginning to end and almost died a few times. So yeah Junger is probably a bit more 'realistic'
@@easy8690 Yeah. Remarque served from 12 June 1917 - 31 July 1917. Junger served from early 1915 all the way through to the end bar the times when he was wounded and recovering.
Storm of Steel was also based on Jungers own experiences where as All Quiet was a work of fiction.
But most average soldier would relate to all quiet rather than storm of steel so I would stay all quiet is more realistic
@@tekinet7958🤦♂️
@@junioradult6219 bro liked his own comment 💀