"This story is neither an accusation nor a confession, and least of all an adventure, for death is not an adventure to those who stand face to face with it. It will try simply to tell of a generation of men who, even though they may have escaped its shells, were destroyed by the war. . ." Title screens. 1914. War has broken out in Europe. A group of German college students are convinced to enlist after their teacher, Professor Kantorek, gives an impassioned speech about the honor of dying for their Fatherland. Paul Bäumer--sent to the Western Front where the fighting is most severe--is soon stripped of illusions about war being glorious. There is nothing but fear, pain, and the randomness of death. Paul is the sole survivor of his group and when he returns home, he denounces the war and his professor. Returned to the action, Paul tries to cope with the incessant fear that eats away at a soldier's insides, turning them hollow and empty.