In 1905, the German high command developed a secret war plan for a surprise attack to defeat the French army in six weeks. While the strategy was deeply flawed, it was regarded with near religious fervor in the military. It would become the basis for the start of World War I.

A Great War tells the story of two soldiers: Cuttner, an ambitious officer who uses the misguided war plan to further his career, even at the expense of his own troops, and Weis, a patriotic Jewish private who survives the bloodiest battles of the war before discovering the truth about how it was started.