 The Great War (World War I) has brought devastation, heartache, and hardship to the Ukrainian people. Their soldiers, likewise, have faced horrors from the enemy and threats from their own officers. One recently demobilized Ukrainian solider, Timosh, returns home after surviving a train wreck, and arrives during a celebration of Ukrainian freedom. But Timosh begins to challenge the local authorities, and then, at the All-Ukrainian Congress, he calls for the soviet system to be adopted. In Kiev s Arsenal munitions plant, where Timosh has worked, feelings are running especially high.