AQOWF Journal #1

The description Remarque gives us in the novel "All Quiet On The Western Front" is very descriptive. One of the descriptions if of mustard gas. Mustard gas was a chemical compound used in WWI for poison. This was not a gas but an oil. When soldiers would come into contact with this gas, a strong irritation would affect the skin or if consumed, this gas would affect the lungs. Also, soldiers could receive small blisters. Mustard gas was introduced by the Germans in warfare against the British at Belgium, in July, 1917, and killed many casualties. It was dispersed as an aerosol by a bursting shell. In the novel, the soldiers are hiding in the graveyard near coffins when hundreds of bombs with mustard gas explode. All of the men had to quickly put their gas masks so they would not be affected.  The military training camps were very brutal to the men who attended these. The goal of these camps was to prepare the men for battle.