Chapter Three; Page 41: A Childish Reason for War

Firstly, I would like to point out how difficult I found blogging to be. I initially thought it would be a quick thing to write using little thought, basically summarizing the book. I was wrong. I also thought this book was going to be an easy read, one where you could read through it once and understand the majority of it. Again, I was wrong. There were many times in just the first few chapters where I went back and read and re-read parts. One particular part that caught my eye was in chapter three, page 41. The author, Remarque, has added  a quote from his old teacher, Kantorek, "Give 'em all the same grub and all the same pay, And the war would be over and done in a day."

When I first read this through, I thought little of it. But the second and third time, I started to think a little deeper about it. What he is really saying isn't that you could give them food and money and the war will end, but that if we were all treated equally, there would be no reason for war. This also implies that the reason for war is inequality. And inequality, as we have discussed in class, leads to imperialism. When one country has something better, such as weapons, railroads, and steam engines, everyone else wants to out do them, and look better. This is actually quite childish, if you think about it long enough. It's all about countries being jealous of the others possessions, power, and strength. And that jealousy is enough to lead to a world war, and kill millions. 

I found this picture, of a hospital from world war 1. As you can see, there are probably 50 or more hospital beds, all occupied with soldiers. This truly shows the impact of the war, and relates to the quote, showing what inequality truly can do.