The movie depicts the events from July until September of 1914 which led to the defeat of the German troops at the Marne. While Sebastian Haffner explains and comments on operations and decisions on the basis of situation maps, key scenes are depicted by actors. A main focus is thereby placed by Haffner onto the controversial mission of lieutenant-colonel Richard Hentsch who is said to have, during a war patrol to the various army high commands, contributed to the abortion of the operations significantly.
Otto Kurth
as Generaloberst v. Moltke
Friedrich Gröndahl
as Oberstleutnant Tappen
Alexander Hegarth
as Oberstleutnant Hentsch
Hans Daniel
as Kaiser Wilhelm II.
Hans Paetsch
as Reichskanzler v. Bethmann-Hollweg
Hans Häckermann
as Generaloberst v. Kluck
Dieter Wagner
as Generalmajor v. Kuhl
Ernst Fritz Fürbringer
as Generaloberst v. Bülow
Heinz Weiss
as Generalleutnant v. Lauenstein
Herbert Steinmetz
as Generaloberst v. Hausen
Siegfried Wischnewski
as Divisionsgeneral Joffre
Hans Wyprächtiger
as Brigadegeneral Berthelot
