Summary
In an audacious cinematic juxtaposition, the film opens by charting the disparate genesis of two epoch-defining figures: Wilhelm II, cradled in the lavish excess of Hohenzollern imperial legacy, destined to perpetuate a dynasty, and Woodrow Wilson, born into the austere piety of a Presbyterian manse, imbued with a fervent moral compass. The narrative then plunges into the brutal crucible of World War I, where Conrad Le Brett, an Alsatian forcibly conscripted into the German war machine, witnesses unspeakable atrocities. His moral core shatters when he slays a German soldier murdering an infant amidst a church desecrated by rape, leading to his own near-fatal wounding and subsequent care under the iconic nurse Edith Cavell and American nurse Amy Gordon in a Brussels hospital. A burgeoning romance between Conrad and Amy unfolds against the backdrop of war's grim realities, abruptly severed by General von Bissing's ruthless execution of Cavell for her humanitarian aid. The Kaiser's abhorrent decree, mandating the conscription of unmarried women for procreation, fuels further German barbarity, epitomized by Lieutenant Ober, who, having previously slighted Conrad's sister Vilma, returns to Alsace-Lorraine to murder their grandfather and rape Vilma. Her dying plea—that Conrad journey to America to vindicate Alsace-Lorraine's honor—propels him across the Atlantic. There, united in marriage with Amy, Conrad impassions President Wilson with his cause, securing the right for Alsatians to join American forces. His personal quest for retribution culminates on the battlefield where he personally dispatches Ober, ultimately returning to Amy after the armistice, a man irrevocably shaped by vengeance and valor, having secured a measure of justice for his ravaged homeland.
Synopsis
In a prologue, Wilhelm II is born into opulence to continue the Hohenzollern dynasty of his father Frederick III, while Woodrow Wilson is born into the modest manse of his father, a Presbyterian reverend who tells his wife that the boy must be brought up "in the fear of the Lord." Conrad Le Brett from Alsace-Lorraine is forced to fight for Germany because his land has been conquered. Conrad, seeing other soldiers take girls into a church to rape them, kills one who murders a baby, and is then shot and taken to a Brussels hospital run by famous nurse Edith Cavell. He and his American nurse, Amy Gordon, fall in love. After Cavell helps Amy escape the pursuance of General von Bissing, the German governor, von Bissing has Lieutenant Ober execute Cavell. Learning of the Kaiser's order that all unmarried women be given to soldiers so they can bear sons for the army, Ober returns to Alsace-Lorraine, where he earlier insulted Conrad's sister Vilma. Ober kills Conrad's grandfather and rapes Vilma. Conrad honors her dying request that he go to America and defend Alsace-Lorraine's reputation. He marries Amy and convinces President Woodrow Wilson that Alsatians should be allowed to enlist. Fighting with the "doughboys," Conrad kills Ober, and after the armistice, returns to Amy.
