Play depicting the problem of independent individual action as opposed to strict obedience to military orders.
Ernst Schlichting, descended from a well-known military family, has been "trained through centuries to obey." Realising that he can find fulfilment only in battle, Ernst, along with other officers, is impatiently awaiting the outbreak of war. News of a sudden African uprising in a German colony is greeted with jubilation. Against the orders of the Colonel, Ernst leads a small skirmish and as a result is demoted, transferred to a signal station, and admonished by the Colonel to obey.
At the military outpost, with his men almost dying of thirst, he vacillates between the desire to save their lives and his duty to obey his superior. Finally, he decides in favour of the men and launches a successful attack to reach a water source. Later, fatally wounded, he dies at headquarters, no longer hearing the words of the Colonel, who now acknowledges that there may in fact by instances where it is the duty of the officer to act upon his own responsibility.