Power. The word itself instigates a riddle of fright and attractive force. The attractive force for it. the attractive force for more. and the attractive force for seeking the absolute highest boundary of it. Those who thirst for it see visions of wealth. huge enlargements district. and above all. the ability to make whatever one wants whenever he wants. And those who thirst for it will seek it through whatever agencies necessary. whether it be a fisticuffs or a war. Necessity is the basic derivation for all ill will and aggression ; hence. power. and its corruptness. is the beginning of all war. Such corruptness is exemplified in the World War I novel. All Quiet On the Western Front. by Erich Remarque. through the eyes of the platoon leader. of the military functionaries. and of the highest degree of power in Germany at the clip. the Kaiser.

The bottommost degree of power represented in All Quiet On the Western Front is the platoon leader. who is given a battalion of soldiers to bully around under his opprobrious authorization. The authorization figure in the novel is Bodily Himmelstoss. who is to develop the freshly enlisted soldiers in the ways of war. He is described as a gloss of Louis Napoleon in the novel ; “a little undersized chap with a foxy. waxed moustache” ( Remarque 23 ) . Immediately the description of Himmelstoss triggers an image of a short. power-hungry figure. the figure that suffers from what many refer to as “small-man’s syndrome. ” His image is farther emphasized in the statement: “He had a particular disfavor of Kropp. Tjaden. Westhus. and me. because he sensed a quiet defiance” ( Remarque 23 ) . Himmelstoss’s disfavor for these soldiers is non straight related to the fact that he purportedly “sensed defiance” . but more so to his will to force the soldiers around.

He focuses his attempts on Tjaden. the “skinny locksmith… [ who ] is and ever will be every bit thin as a rake” ( Remarque 2-3 ) . To do up for his deficiency of size and strength. Himmelstoss attacks the thinnest. soldier of the battalion. who he assumes to be the weakest. However. when Himmelstoss loses his place of authorization. he is non so courageous. In the Front. during invasion. Paul Baumer finds Himmelstoss in the dug-out “pretending to be wounded. His face looks sullen. He is in a panic…He does non stir. his lips frisson. his mustache twitches” ( Remarque 131 ) . Himmelstoss is non a powerful adult male on his ain. but under the enchantment of a powerful place. he is corrupted. and abuses it to mask his ain failings. leting him to derive some signifier of power.

The following degree in the military building of power prevarications in the competitory military functionaries. With the increased degree of power comes an increased degree of corruption–and an increased degree of effect. Himmelstoss may hold instigated ill will. even hatred. from his platoon. but the corruptness of a higher military functionary may ensue in deceases. In a despairing attempt to go on the onslaught on France. mass bill of exchanges occur. and the functionaries instantly send the untrained recruits to the front line. Paul Baumer states that the recruits “are helpless in this inexorable contending country. they fall like flies. Modern trench-warfare demands cognition and experience” ( Remarque 129 ) . The functionaries. in order to look good by contending the war long and persistently. hotfoot these recruits into conflict. where they fall like flies. The functionaries carry out this inhumaneness once more and once more. but it is non merely for the interest of “looking good. ” but for the desire of acquiring promoted. for the desire of deriving more power.

The caput of power in Germany. and hence the 1 able to command all those below. is the Kaiser. Wilhelm II. His place is so improbably expansive and important. that he is seen about as a signifier of divinity. When Paul Baumer sees the Kaiser in individual. he is “really instead defeated ; judging from his images I imagined him to be bigger and more strongly built. and above all to hold a thundering voice” ( Remarque 202 ) . This false feeling of his emphasizes the camouflage of power. Under his camouflage. the Kaiser is viewed as giant. mighty warrior enthroned with gold and Ag. In world. he is a adult male unlike any other adult male in power. greedy and barbarous. A adult male so powerful. Tjaden believes “he has everything he can desire already” ( Remarque 205 ) . If he has everything he can desire. why does he prevail in the war? There is no bound to his demand for power. and so he pushes his functionaries further into conflict. as they push their soldiers further into bloodshed.

The war Wilhelm II creates is non merely lay waste toing physically. but instigates what is known as the “lost coevals. ” Paul Baumer describes his experience. being “lost” because of the war. He “will ne’er be able to be [ indifferent and hopeless ] once more. [ He ] was a soldier. and now [ he ] is nil but an torment for [ himself ] ” ( Remarque 185 ) . His booming life was thrown off in the war and gave manner to an apathetic zombi. and after his leave. he is emotionally in between war and life. in “No Man’s Land. ” An full coevals of soldiers. of human existences. of lives. is destroyed through emotion and terrible perturbation. And for what? For Kaiser Wilhelm II to seek that highest boundary of power.

Power is a perennial subject in All Quiet On the Western Front. in three different degrees: the mindless soldier. the draw a bead oning military functionary. and the boundless Kaiser. Each one urgently seeks power in an attempt to do themselves appear stronger. The quest for this is normally a corrupted 1. and corruptness creates effect. The more power one acquires. the more annihilating the effect. When. if at all. will the quest for power terminal? The corruptness is inevitable.