Walter Schnaffs's Adventure

The Prussian army's other soldiers are not like Walter Schnaff. Walter is a pacifist who despises the idea of killing while his comrades move into Normandy with the aim of conquering the French and winning the war. Walter's philosophy is put to the test when his unit is ambushed. When the enemy is closing in from all sides can pacifism win out? The horrific events of the Franco-Prussian War of 1870 are explored in Guy de Maupassant's short fiction Walter Schnaffs' Adventure which also raises significant issues regarding what it means to be a soldier.