In All Quiet on the Western Front what prejudice does Paul have against small men?

In an early chapter of All Quiet on the Western Front,
the men have returned from the front and are eating together.  They reflect on the
nature of war and their training (or lack thereof).  They then talk about Himmelstoss, the man
who is charge of their training.  They hate Himmelstoss because he is really hard on all the
men--Himmelstoss continually puts them through physically gruelling tasks and then berates them
verbally when they falter.  The soldiers do not respect Himmelstoss though because he himself has
never actually fought in the war.  Here, Kat says that small men are always like this:  they must
be overly cruel to make up for what they lack in physical stature.  Kat says that rulers around
the world are like this also, and that the smallest men end up in charge of great things like
wars.  Paul agrees.