War, an opportunity!

All Quiet on the Western Front (German, 2022)

Director: Edward Berger

Ancient Chinese philosophers, Lao Tze in particular, used to say, 'In War, everybody loses'. But on the other hand, Sun Tzu, the author of Art of War, the military treatise of the 5th century BCE, noted that amid chaos, there is also 'opportunity'.

In 1913, Henri La Fontaine obtained the Nobel Peace Prize for his outstanding work in peaceful internationalism. He asserted that the world, in the 20th century, had done away with wars and destruction. Believe it or not, the following year, Europe went into an essentially civil war which snowballed into a World War when the European colonisers sent their subjects to die in the greatest battle to end all wars.

Clive's plunder from 
Battle of Plassey (Palashi)
Auctioned at £3m

World War 1 never put an end to anything. Its effects are still felt today. In essence, Ukrainian War can be said to be an effort to end loose ends that were never resolved. As we can see, Russia and the USA, through NATO, are using the war as leverage to push forward their personal agendas and cement their hegemonic control of the world. The people on the ground suffer and lose their life and life-earnings, while others view it as an opportunity to enrich themselves and improve their own citizens' living standards. The war casualties are just mere collateral damage. Statistics.

All these talks about killing being a sin are easily justified. As in the Crusade Wars, killing for a just cause is just the caveat for leaders to gear their hot-blooded to sign up to serve the same flag they will be wrapped to be buried when they return home in a body bag.

This film is the adaptation of a 1929 novel by Erich Maria Remarque based on his experience with the Imperial German Army in WW1. Graphically, this anti-war drama shows how the low-ranking officers sacrifice their life and soul to serve their superiors. A simple comparison offered here is in the way these different officers dine. The soldiers on the battleground have to thrive on their rations and steal for the next meal when it runs out, while the generals are served top-class chef-prepared cuisines.

In war, not everyone loses. Some gain fame and glory, while many die. During Imperialism rule, many amassed fortunes that would last many lifetimes. One point to note is how a low-ranking soldier Robert Clive became Europe's richest man after the Battle of Plassey.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.