- An upperclass war widow marries again. The new husband is also an officer, and soon he has to go to the next war. At the outbreak, she's the only one who does not cheer about it. And the terrors of war soon bring almost all of her friends and relatives, among them generals and high government officials to the same conclusion: War does not pay.—Stephan Eichenberg <eichenbe@fak-cbg.tu-muenchen.de>
- Countess Martha, daughter of an old warrior, General Count Von Althaus, although she lost her first husband in battle, has married another military officer, Baron Frederick Von Tilling. They have both become to hate war and all that it means and they live in the hope that there will not be any war in the near future. But their hopes were in vain, for it was not long before a war was declared and the husband was called to arms. His wife was sick at the time and her two misfortunes together, nearly caused her death. This conflict was of short duration, however, and soon they were happily united again. The hostilities were long enough though to arouse deeper disgust for war on Tilling's part, because of the manifold horrors he had seen on the battlefield. And Martha's great sorrow in having her beloved husband snatched from her in the hour when she needed him most, had made her the more bitter against war. Consequently, she persuaded her husband to resign from the service but no sooner had he written his resignation, than he was compelled to change his mind. His wife received a letter from her bankers, notifying her that her fortune was lost, and as they now had only his salary on which to live, he could not resign from the service. Thus the horror of war began to make itself felt on all sides, it being one of its evil results that swept away their fortune, through the failure of their bank. The last conflict still fresh in their minds, a new war broke out, and Tilling was called again to the front This time the strife was prolonged and desperate. Tilling's regiment was in the thick of the fray where the battles were fierce and disastrous. His regiment was finally routed, with terrific loss of life. The wounded were quartered in available places: barns, churches, railroad stations and the like. While Tilling was visiting one of these barns, it was struck with a huge shell, which destroyed the barn, killing most of its occupants and injuring Tilling as he sought to escape. He was rushed to the railroad station and sent by train to his home. Meantime, Martha, who had not heard from her husband for so long, feared that he had been wounded or killed, and started for the seat of war to search for him among the injured. She disembarked from the very train that carried her husband back to the city. She met the family physician who was at the front and, together, they visited all the field hospitals. She was horrified at the sight of so many maimed and dying men. When she failed to find her husband, she returned home and was overjoyed to find him there, alive, and his wounds not serious. Happiness now reigned supreme for this happy family. Martha's sister, Rosa, became engaged to her cousin, Conrad Von Althaus. All had forgotten war until alas, another of its inevitable terrible effects interrupted their contentment. Cholera, which had spread from the battlefield, attacked their house. First a maid contracted it and died. Then Rosa developed the dreaded disease and died. Her aged father was grief-stricken and after her funeral he died, but before the end he renounced his belief in war and prayed for peace, as Martha and her husband pledged themselves to the same cause.—Moving Picture World synopsis
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