Kraus is acid. Many of his pieces could be printed as current writing, especially those on the press creating news. There is a devastating piece on protective custody written in 1933. The play follows WWI from the shooting of the archduke to the last gasp of starving armies and still-thriving profiteers. The scenes wander through every corner of Austrian society, from the common soldier to Franz-Joseph himself. Hypocrisy everywhere, unethical false reporters, wealthy draft dodgers, propaganda-wielding schoolmasters. Woven throughout is The Grumbler, a stand in for Kraus.