As a staunch opponent of submarine warfare, which was prescribed by the imperial military as a recipe for victory, Theodor Chindler is politically sidelined. His speech to the Reichstag in 1916 finally leads to his political isolation within the Center Party, which suspends him. Frustrated, the MP returns home to his family, where he learns that his daughter Margarete has been temporarily arrested by the police together with Clemens Koch because of Social Democratic protests. Maggie's parents reject her request for support to build a new life for herself in Berlin.