Paul Baumer and his fellow soldiers refer to World War I as "the theatre" and "the front." For the soldiers, these words were inextricably linked. Combat is called "bombardment" or just "action." Because the war was so horrific, the soldiers called it by many names to escape the images that haunted them after each battle.
The German soldiers call the Allied forces by many names: "Yankees," "Charlies" and most commonly "enemies." For Paul and his fellow soldiers, the British, French and American soldiers were all enemies. Calling them the enemy was more than a deep association; it was a way to dehumanize them.
The German soldiers employ metonymy when talking about the German nation and leadership. "The Kaiser," "the Reich," and "the Fuhrer" are all used to mean Germany as a whole and the political leaders and military leaders.