During the Great War, in Austria, an officer was shot on the orders of his superior von Pennwitz. Out of revenge, his widow becomes a spy in the pay of France, preoccupied with removing the person responsible for her husband's death. In charge of a mission to von Pennwitz, she suddenly finds herself face to face with her husband, who is still alive. It was a ruse of war to deceive the enemy. It is only at the armistice that the couple will be able to live in peace.

Muichkine, a young Russian prince, returns home to St. Petersburg from a mental institution, determined to spread decency and kindness in the harsh and cruel world. He becomes betrothed to an innocent young girl while trying to save a less-innocent woman from her own travail, but jealousy and his own naivete conjoin to bring about unimaginable tragedy.