Five miles behind the front lines between Langemark and Bixschoote, Paul Bäumer’s company is at rest. They have had very little sleep for the fourteen days since they relieved the front line and seventy of their one hundred and fifty men are dead at the hands of Russian gunfire. The cook, Ginger, has fixed rations for the one hundred and fifty and, after arguing with the lieutenant, grudgingly consents to give all the food to the eighty soldiers left, including double rations of smokes. As the narrator remarks, “Today is wonderfully good.”
The narrator is Paul Bäumer, a nineteen-year-old boy who is already battle-hardened in this first chapter. As they rest, Paul describes the group of German schoolboys who enlisted with him at the prodding of their schoolmaster, Kantorek. One by one he introduces the doomed group as Albert Kropp, “the clearest thinker”; Müller, who carried books and “dreams of examinations”; and Leer, bearded and a frequenter of officers’ brothels. These young men were in Paul’s school class, and the novel follows their lives. Along with these comrades, Paul describes several others who will become part of his wartime company: Tjaden, a nineteen-year-old locksmith, skinny but a big eater; Haie Westhus, nineteen, a peat digger with huge hands; and Detering, a peace-loving peasant with his wife and farm always on his mind. In contrast to these youngsters is a forty-year-old veteran named Stanislaus Katczinsky or “Kat.” He is “shrewd, cunning, and hard-bitten” with “a remarkable nose for dirty weather, good food, and soft jobs.” A cobbler in civilian life, he is older than the boys and assumes the role of leader and he seems to have a special bond of friendship with Paul.
While the company is resting, they play cards, read letters and newspapers, and smoke. Realizing how lucky they are for this respite, they do not discuss the war. Instead, Paul reflects on their differences from the new recruits; using the common latrine as an example, he cites their own lack of embarrassment and hints of their war-driven knowledge of “things far worse.” Clearly, the main focus of soldiers is their stomachs and intestines.
The mail catches up with the company and there is a letter from Kantorek, their former schoolmaster, who encouraged them to join the war effort with his tales of glory. Bitterly, Paul speculates, “There were thousands of Kantoreks, all of whom were convinced that they were acting for the best—in a way that cost them nothing.” Paul considers one story in particular of Joseph Behm, who was not meant for combat but was persuaded to join. Shot in the eye and left for dead, he crawled around No Man’s Land until he was shot again and killed. Thinking of the fragile Behm, Paul reflects on how their young, innocent world was destroyed at the first bombardment.
The scene shifts to the aid station, where Paul, Kropp, and Müller visit their buddy, Franz Kemmerich. Insensible to the amputation of his injured leg, Kemmerich puts on a cheerful face, yet fails to hide a serious physical decline. This visit is the first of many they will make to hospitals or dressing stations where Paul smells carbolic, pus, and sweat. Paul realizes immediately that Kemmerich will die, because he is used to seeing death now in a man’s face and eyes. Paul bribes the attendant to give Kemmerich more morphine while Müller callously tries to persuade their friend to let him have his English boots of soft, yellow leather. The boys know the orderlies will steal the boots when Kemmerich dies. Kemmerich doesn’t want to give up the boots, so they remain with him for now. But the school friends leave, foreseeing this first death among their group.
Back at the camp, Paul realizes he must write a letter to Kemmerich’s mother at home. Meanwhile, Kropp is angry because Kantorek has called them “Iron Youth” in his letter. Reflecting on this phrase, Paul thinks, “Youth! We are none of us more than twenty years old. But young? Youth? That is long ago. We are old folk.” This transition has already happened prior to Chapter One; the ex-schoolboy can already see and accept death on the face of his friend.
