Emperor Franz Joseph I, in Vienna, Austria. People stand beside a carriage on the road. The Emperor steps out of the carriage. Austrian soldiers salute him.
The Imperial coach arrives for the coronation of Emperor Charles I (Karl I) of Austria (King Karoly IV, of Hungary) in Budapest, Hungary. Crowd lined up at the ceremony. Crown Prince Otto looks out from inside the royal coach. Empress Zita, steps from the coach on the opposite side. Two men in ceremonial regalia talking to each other. An attendant looking after Crown Prince Otto. The attendant moving the crown prince to the back seat and covering him with a coverlet. Emperor Charles is seen mounted on a white horse.
Wrecked houses and buildings at a mountainside along a lake or sea in the Austria-Hungary empire soon after end of World War I. Close views of rubble of homes. Civilian men walk on the street with their luggage and belongings on horse-carts.
A busy avenue in Vienna at night. Vienna tram 59 moving towards Lainz. Christmas lights decorate the streets of Vienna. Store signs displaying brands such as Bally, Julius Meinl and Regent Schuhe (Light only reads “Regent Schu”). People passing by a Viennese women’s fashion store “Lady Moden”. A bus passes by. Men and women window shopping in one of the shopping arcades near Stephansplatz. Mannequins and bags on display in storefronts. A Christmas tree light design decorates a building. A group of Hungarian refugees flee Hungary at nighttime. A young man crosses a stream over a fallen tree at night while holding his bag with his teeth. Another man helps the young man stand up after crossing. Hungarians running towards the Austrian border during day. Refugees reach the Austrian border by dawn. Two men supporting a tired old man to the Austrian border. Man removing his shoes after his arrival to Austria. A Hungarian family from Budapest arrives in Austria. Austrian immigration policeman greets the family at gate. Policeman directs the family to the refugee camp. Hungarian family joins other refugees inside camp. Man, woman, and their daughter kiss the cheeks of a young child held by father as refugees families reunite. Hungarian refugees are interviewed inside their room in the camp.
Professor Archibald Cary Coolidge of Harvard University, special assistant to the Department of State, assigned to the American Commission to negotiate peace after World War 1. He is seen in this sequence, with members of his staff, headquartered in Vienna, Austria, from where they assessed postwar political conditions in Austria-Hungary and neighborhood countries, and made recommendations for the U.S. participants at the Paris Peace Conference, 1919. The sequence begins with staff members walking from the Hofburg (Hofburg, Michaelerkuppel 1010 Wien). It is January, and snow is on the ground. Professor Coolidge holds gloves in his left hand and warms his right hand inside his coat in Napoleonic manner, as he chats with others. Staff members are predominantly military officers and include both U.S. Army and Navy personnel.
During the Second Balkan War, King Nicholas I of Montenegro converses with Austria-Hungary embassy staff personnel. King Nicholas walks away. A soldier salutes him. Officers stand at side.