History Literature / StormOfSteel

* BilingualBackfire: Many of the German soldiers spoke French more or less fluently, which sometimes caused some comic situations. Jünger mentions one time when he and a friend, Clement, visited the barber in a French village and Clement was getting a shave. One of the French villagers waiting in line said to the barber: "Eh, coupe la gorge avec!" (Why don’t you just cut his throat with it!). To the villager's horror, Clement calmly replied: "Quant à moi, j’aimerais mieux la garder." (If it’s all one to you, I’d just as soon hang on to it.’).

* LifesavingMisfortune: Jünger get hits in the calf by a shrapnel bullet and hospitalised while away from the front during the Battle of the Somme. This ends up saving his life as the rest of his company was sent to the front the day after his injury, where it destroyed by a British attack, with most soldiers being killed and the few survivors captured.

* ReportsOfMyDeathWereGreatlyExaggerated: Jünger reports back to HQ only to learn from superior officer that he has been reported as dead several times in the book.

* AlliterativeTitle

* {{Gorn}}: Jünger is unflinching in his descriptions sometimes, and it can get pretty nasty. In one instance, he and some of his comrades have to remove the body of a soldier who died from an abdominal wound from a house they intend to use as a base. While they're trying to drag him out, though, they accidentally drag him across a broken wooden beam which jams into his stomach wound, and their efforts to tug him free only make the wound bigger until it just rips him open completely. Cue the guy's guts spilling onto the floor. Ick.

* NotSoDifferent: Jünger frequently mentions that he views all of his opponents, even the French, as as being no better or worse than him and his companions; just soldiers on the other side. His first up close look at an enemy soldier is a very sobering moment for him. Until then, he'd only been exchanging fire with them across No Man's Land.

* AwesomeButImpractical: One officer, Eisen, is said to go around festooned with weapons of all kinds; more than he needs. He has all manner of guns, knives and grenades strapped to his body. At one point, in an attempt to draw a knife, he accidentally [[PineappleSurprise pulls the pin]] on one of the many grenades he keeps strapped to himself. Fortunately for him, it was a dud.

* IJustShotMarvingInTheFace: Narrowly avoided when a soldier toying with the pistol Jünger keeps on his nightstand accidentally fires it off, barely missing the author's head.

* FriendlyFire: A common problem during trench warfare, at least according to Jünger. In particular, there was an episode where some German soldiers got drunk, wandered out into No Man's Land, and ''shot at their own lines''. This even applies to ''grenades''; during one particularly chaotic battle with the British, Jünger's friend Bartels accidentally throws a grenade into the midst of his comrades. In another instance, the perpetually luckless Hock accidentally fires the wrong color flare during a bombardment, resulting in the German artillery shelling their own side.

* {{Gorn}}: Jünger is unflinching in his descriptions sometimes, and it can get pretty nasty. In one instance, he and some of his comrades have to remove the body of a soldier who died from an abdominal wound from a house they intend to use as a base. While they're trying to drag him out, though, they accidentally drag him across a broken wooden beam which jams into his stomach wound, and their efforts to tug him free only make the wound bigger until it just rips him open completely. Cue to the guy's guts spilling onto the floor. Ick.

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* YouDirtyRat: Jünger considers rats verminous pests, and they're so numerous at times that he and his companions make a sport of devising creative ways to kill them.

* TheLawsAndCustomsOfWar: Discussed indirectly, and shown in Jünger and his comrades' treatment of captured enemy soldiers. At one point, they capture a group of Indian soldiers fighting for the British, and are astonished when the Indians believe the Germans intended to murder them. They do not harm them, of course. In another instance, the Germans treat a captured British officer respectfully.

''Storm of Steel'' (German title: ''In Stahlgewittern'') is the UsefulNotes/WorldWarI era memoirs of [[ImperialGermany Imperial German]] soldier Creator/ErnstJunger. It details Jünger's experiences fighting on the Western Front and gives detailed accounts of life in a time when trench warfare was common. Adapted from Jünger's wartime diaries, it begins with him arriving on the battlefield and ends with him being awarded the coveted Pour le Mérite (also known as the Blue Max). Along the way, he both wins and loses many battles, gains and loses friends, finds respect for his enemies, and very nearly loses his brother to enemy fire. The book was published in 1920 and has been translated into English numerous times.

* ImperialGermany: Who Jünger and his friends are fighting for, natch.

* YouDirtyRat: Rats frequently plague the soldiers in the trenches. Jünger considers them verminous pests, and they're so numerous at times that he and his companions make a sport of devising creative ways to kill them.

''Storm of Steel'' (German title: ''In Stahlgewittern'') is the UsefulNotes/WorldWarI era memoirs of [[ImperialGermany Imperial German]] soldier Ernst Jünger. It details Jünger's experiences fighting on the Western Front and gives detailed accounts of life in a time when trench warfare was common. Adapted from Jünger's wartime diaries, it begins with him arriving on the battlefield and ends with him being awarded the coveted Pour le Mérite (also known as the Blue Max). Along the way, he both wins and loses many battles, gains and loses friends, finds respect for his enemies, and very nearly loses his brother to enemy fire. The book was published in 1920 and has been translated into English numerous times.