In this silent film, World War I threatens the lives of two small-town sweethearts.

After a prologue which shows director D. W. Griffith setting up a camera in the British front lines under the auspices of the British War Official Cinematograph Committee, meeting war correspondents and shaking hands with David Lloyd George, Prime Minister at No. 10 Downing Street in London, the story begins. In a little village in northern France, Marie Stephenson falls in love with Douglas Gordon Hamilton, the eldest of an American artist's four sons. The romance is threatened when Marie sees a street singer called the Little Disturber embracing Douglas, but he soon explains that his heart really belongs to Marie and the two are reunited. The Little Disturber finally accepts the attentions of Monsieur Cuckoo, while Douglas and Marie become engaged. With the outbreak of World War I, Douglas, Monsieur Cuckoo and the village carpenter join the French army, and while they fight on a nearby battlefield, the village is shelled and occupied by the Germans. After the deaths of her mother and grandfather, Marie, demented, wanders through the ruined village in her wedding gown until she finds Douglas lying wounded and unconscious on the ground. Although Marie believes him dead, he eventually regains his health at the Red Cross hospital and later infiltrates the German lines as a spy. In the village, the Germans brutally mistreat the townspeople, and Douglas' mother finally collapses and dies. Douglas returns to the village and hides in Marie's room, but is discovered by a German sergeant, who reports his presence to the brutal and lecherous von Strohm. The Germans are about to enter the room when the French retake the village and rescue Douglas and Marie.