The Good Soldier Švejk follows the character of Josef Švejk, whose absurdity and comical incompetence (or deliberate dumb insolence?)  find his way in the tensions of World War I in Austria-Hungary.  His enthusiasms of serving in the battle were met with a series of anecdotes which addressed the absurdity of a war no one understood. Some literary critics consider The Good Soldier Švejk as one of the first anti-war novels.