Willian Jennings Bryan, campaigning for President Wilson, as a private citizen, in 1916 (after having resigned as Wilson's Secretary of State). He stands in a car decorated with patriotic bunting and an American flag, in front of modest house in a rural area. Bryan is accompanied by several associates. A popular Wilson campaign photograph (coming loose at the top) is attached to the car door . The writing under Wilson's picture is not legible. As Bryan sits down in the car, his wife, Mary, is seen next to him. (She had been blocked from the camera while he stood.) The car drives away. In complete change of scene, a crowd is seen completely filling the lawn and grounds of "Shadow Lawn," President Wilson's Summer White House, at Long Branch, New Jersey. They have come to celebrate his renomination as Democratic candidate for President. Camera pans over the crowd. Next, President Wilson is seen standing on a step in the center of the garden, acknowledging and accepting the nomination.
Variety of events in World War I years. German merchant submarine Deutschland (a British blockade buster) in 1916 in the United States (then neutral), departing New London, Connecticut on November 21, 1916 headed back to Germany carrying silver bullion. The submarine had just completed repairs following a collision with the tugboat T.A. Scott Jr. when first attempting to leave New London on November 16, 1916. The North German Lloyd Shipping Company submarine Deutschland is seen leaving the dock at New London, Connecticut. The officers on the submarine Deutschland wave. Periscope of submerged submarine is seen slicing through calm water. Sailor on an Italian destroyer blows general quarters call on bugle. Another sailor brings a telescope on deck. Next, crew members fire their deck gun at periscope in the water. Change of scene the shows the destroyer making way, leaving visible wake, astern, as crew members load and fire depth charges from the ship's stern. View of a submarine underwater. Exploding depth charges raise huge columns of water. Underwater view of submarine shows columns of bubbles nearby. View of Austro-Hungarian Battleship SMS Szent Istvan (Saint Stephen), capsizing and rolling after it is torpedoed off the Dalmation Coast of the Adriatic Sea by Italian torpedo boats on June 10, 1918. Survivors being rescued in small boats. View of a merchant vessel at dock and in a harbor. View of survivors of the May 1915 Lusitania disaster, with belongings, arriving in a harbor. Men and women with children posing. Two small girls pose among the group of Lusitania survivors.
Various Balkan League leaders. King Peter I of Serbia talks to another man. They sit on chairs in an elaborately decorated tent. They sit in a horse carriage. Men stand in the background. The Tsar of Bulgaria, Ferdinand I, in view. He sits in a carriage. Men riding horses. Troops lined on a street. Men stand on the balcony of a building. King Carol I of Romania walks with the Queen. They walk through a garden and stand near a bench.
The Cuirassiers Regiment (Reggimento corazzieri) honor guards escort a Royal Carriage carrying King Peter I of Serbia and King Victor Emmanuel III, in Rome, Italy, during World War 1. They proceed past the Quirinal Palace (Piazza del Quirinale, 00187 Roma RM, Italy). The procession also moves past the Fontana dei Dioscuri, fountain in the Piazza del Quirinale, and into the entrance of the Quirinal Palace (Palazzo del Quirinale). Several other carriages follow, also with the Cuirassiers Regiment escorts.
Attendants spread a cover across a balcony above the main entrance of the Quirinal Palace (Palazzo del Quirinale) in Rome, Italy, during World War 1. Then, King Peter I, of Serbia, King Victor Emmanuel III, of Italy and his Queen (Elena of Montenegro) appear on the balcony. A huge crowd of people cheer them from the plaza below (Piazza del Quirinale),
A Slav festival in Serbia. People climb stairs to enter a Greek Catholic Church, where a priest is seen waving a container of incense, as part of the ritual. (Narrator notes that the theme is protection of native cultures, including protection of religion.) The Priest slices a large piece of bread for the Mass. Next an accordion is seen and dancers assemble for the "Kolo" (a Serbian national dance). View of dancing, that marks end of the festival. Scene shifts abruptly to a sailboat race in Malaga, Spain. Narrator says it "suggests the idea of normal living with a prosperous new Europe." Film shifts to mountains of the high Tatras, in Czechoslovakia, where Ski troops of the Czech army demonstrate their abilities.