Is General Friedrichs of All Quiet On The Western Front a true person?

*WARNING: Spoilers ahead for All Quiet On the Western Front*

Netflix’s adaptation of All Quiet On The Western Front is quickly becoming one of 2022’s must-watch films with its harrowing portrayal of the First World War receiving plenty of praise from viewers.

Like the literary work by Erich Maria Remarque on which it’s based, the film tells the story of Paul Bäumer and his young comrades as they naively join the German army only to discover the true horrors of war.

While the original book focuses almost exclusively on Paul’s experiences in the army, the new film adds a few new layers to the story with the inclusion of peace negotiator Matthias Erzberger and the ambitious General Friedrichs.

However, while Daniel Brühl portrays a real-life character in Erzberger, fans have been left wondering whether the same can be said of General Friedrichs or if he’s a character created purely for Netflix’s All Quiet On The Western Front.

General Friedrichs in All Quiet On The Western Front

Devid Striesow (German actor) plays General Friedrichs. As he accompanies Erzberger, the other German negotiators, to their rendezvous with their Allies counterparts, he is about a third of the movie’s length.

Friedrichs has a mustache that is both impressive and clearly evil. He believes Germany’s efforts to end the war are treacherous. This can also be a deterrent to his own ambitions to build a distinguished military career following the footsteps of his ancestors.

Friedrichs doesn’t care about his troops, and even though peace negotiations are currently underway, he orders more attacks against the enemy. This results in thousands of soldiers being executed for little or no gain.

Friedrichs orders a final attack on the last day of war as the seconds tick down to the armistice’s effective date.

Is General Friedrichs actually based on a real person or is he a fictional character?

General Friedrichs isn’t based on any real-life German general. He is a fictional character created to accompany the new adaptation of All Quiet On The Western Front.

Friedrichs may not be a historical figure but he was inspired to act by several real-life officers from both sides in the last days of the First World War.

As a result, the general’s inclusion in the film does mirror the spirit of the original novel which is a fictional story but was inspired by author Erich Maria Remarque’s own experiences fighting in WWI.

In an interview with Collider, the film’s director, Edward Berger, discussed the inspirations behind General Friedrichs and detailed some of the research that went into creating the character.

“[An] important part was the research of the generals doing the last attack and that happened actually a lot, either from Germans and Americans. American generals and officers commanded their troops into battle too,”He explained. “Just to fix a dent in the map or to go home and tell their parents, and wives, and brothers and sisters that they won the last battle, and there was a congressional hearing about it then afterwards also, why these people were sent to the battle.”

“You think that, ‘Oh, it’s almost over. Let everyone survive and let this be over.’ Almost thinking why do we have to?”The director continued. “I basically want you to feel like Paul when he stands there and the general says, ‘Let’s all go into this last battle.’ He just has his face, and it’s just dead. I wanted you to feel the same thing and just experience how it wears you down, and you become dead inside and some go through what he goes through, so that was intentional, yes.”

The last day of the First World War

As shown in All Quiet On The Western Front, fighting took place between the signing of the armistice on November 11 and the time it entered into effect at 11:01 am.

Generals hoped to win one more victory before the fighting stopped and battlelines were frozen.

Joseph E. Persico’s book 11th Month, 11th Day, 11th HourAccording to the states, this resulted to another 10,944 casualties in the final day of war. This included 2,738 men who were killed just hours before the armistice went into effect.

Henry Gunther, an American soldier, is widely recognized as the last soldier to die in WWI. He was shot and killed by German soldiers as they were preparing for the armistice to start.

General John Pershing, who was a commander with the American Expeditionary Force and allegedly blocked word of the ceasefire reaching his troops, is one of the most famous examples of generals disagreeing with the armistice.

Later, his supposed actions led to an investigation which saw him question by Congress. There was no conviction for wrongdoing..

All Quiet On The Western Front can be streamed on Netflix After release on October 28, 2022.

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