Crowds fill streets celebrating Armistice ending World War 1. Street cars move through the crowds. Many people wave American flags. Mounted police maintain order. Crowd filling space in front of S.S. Kresge Company 5&10 cents Store. Large American flags hang from front of the Central Savings Bank, at 14th Street and 4th Avenue (Union Square). People gather around a large monument displaying many figures. A group of people realize they are being photographed and face the camera smiling. One man lifts up a small boy dressed in soldier uniform, holding a flag and saluting. Several men carry a wood slab with effigy of defeated Hun on it. Scene shifts to large open area, where crowd is gathered around a multistory copy of the Statue of Liberty. A group of women in white dresses (possibly nurses) stand in front of a seated Army brass band. Scene shifts back to Union Square, again with crowd around the large monument and American flags draped over windows of the Central Savings Bank. Trick photography creates ethereal image of statue of liberty in the scene. Next, lines of people with banners and flags move near area of trolley cars. Another group gathers near camera, as mounted policeman moves behind them. Trinity Church steeple can be seen in far background. Several men in blackface makeup carry a coffin containing detritus of war. View from building overlooking avenue filled with people. American flags fly from building window sills. A flag displaying "104" (104th Regiment?) and numerous stars, hangs from one window. (World War I; World War 1; WWI; WW1)
View of picture of 1908 McLauglin-Buick and 1915 sedan auto. Map of Europe with German Iron Cross superimposed. Newspapers running off presses. Headline on paper reading, 'Arch Duke Assassinated.' Headline reading, 'Germany Declares War; All Europe is in Arms.' Headline reading, 'Germany Invades France', superimposed over German troops marching in background. Headline, 'French Resist at Marne.' Headline, 'Lusitania Sunk' with picture of the ship. Newspaper presses running. Printer reading paper with headlines 'U.S. Declares War.' Paper reading, 'U.S. At War.' Headline, 'U.S. Troops Land in France.' Billboard sign, 'Beat Back the Hun With Liberty Bonds' superimposed over picture of troops marching in background. Ships under construction. Destroyer underway.
German Mobilization showing advance of soldiers through streets of Germany, preparing to head to the war front. German officers and Chief of Staff Paul Von Hindenburg and Erich Ludendorff in Germany. Group of men listening to a person speaking. Dignitaries in a conference. Crowd move on streets.
Opening scene shows international diplomats gathered at the 1919 Peace Conference in the Galerie des Glaces (Hall of Mirrors) at the Palace of Versailles, France. Next is an exterior view of the U.S. Capitol Building and then of the Congress in session inside. U.S. Army troops, with full field packs including bedrolls, are seen embarking on a troop ship bound for France. Others with full field gear are seen boarding a troop railroad train. A train filled with soldiers who wave to friends and family as they depart a railroad station. U.S. troops march along dirt road after arriving in France. French soldiers stand amidst piles of coal being shoveled into rail cars. French troops seen from the rear, advancing along a road, in large numbers. Next, they are seen from the fromt and them from the side. French artillerymen riding in horse-drawn wagons, pulling 75mm field pieces ("French 75s"). German Field Marshal August von Mackensen and aides walk casually past a relaxing group of German soldiers sitting on the ground during World War 1. Suddenly, a motorized column of German World War II armor is seen moving along a dirt road. Closeup of a German Panzer II tank (German Pz.Kpfw.II Ausf.F) is seen, passing the camera. A momentary glimpse of several German Messerschmitt Bf 109s in formation.
Civilian people assembled to hear the war news from a British soldier (British "Tommy") during World War I. The soldier reading newspaper aloud to group of men, women, and children. A group of civilians pose beneath a German propaganda trademark sign, 'Gott Strafe England' (God punish England).
World War I battlefield scene filmed from camera in British trench. Line of British soldiers returning across battlefield, back to British trench. Several German Army soldiers are in front of the line, being marched forward under British guard. The German soldier prisoners enter the British trench, one holding his hands up as he enters. Close-up view of German prisoners in British trench, under British guard.