A Bulgarian village before the First World War. The young and ambitious farmer Enyo loves the beautiful but poor Tsveta. His brother and his wife arrange their engagement. The hunchback girl Stanka, daughter of the richest man in the village, is in love with Enyo. Because of her father's lands Enyo decides to end his engagement with Tsveta and starts building up his farm.

1197. King Kaloyan ascends the throne in hard times for Bulgaria. The country is still recovering from a century of Byzantine subjugation. He is forced to carry out a very flexible foreign policy in order to strength his positions. Pope Innocent III recognizes him as Emperor (Tsar), but a little later the fourth Crusade crosses the country under Emperor Baldwin. A new conflict is coming. Tsar Kaloyan wages the decisive battle at Adrianople and wins.

Bulgaria. 13th century. The people, driven to utter despair, rise in arms. They elect Ivaylo - a poor peasant but gifted military commander - as their leader. Ivaylo's army overruns the Tatar invaders and the royal troops. In a decisive battle with the royal army, Ivaylo defeats and slays King Konstantin Asen. To prevent a betrayal on the feudal nobles, who intend to open the gates of the royal capital to Byzantine army, Ivaylo sacrifices his personal happiness, abandons his sweetheart and agrees to marry the widowed queen.

Each individual member of a rural cooperative family is entitled to a plot of land for personal use. The large Sedmak family lives together, but the eldest son Kram wants them to fictitiously split up in order to get more land. Despite his parents' reluctance, Krum and his wife leave. Krum and his family maintain a separate household, although the whole family continues to dine together. Unaware of what has happened is his younger brother Nayden, who is in love with the cooperative chairman's daughter. One day the Sedmaks forget to lock the door, and the chairman Geras enters and sees them eating dinner together. The fraud is uncovered... The chairman forbids his daughter Yanka to meet Nayden. After the fateful dinner, there is a rift in the Sedmak family. Nayden leaves his father's house. Sandy and Kram confess their guilt. Yanka, after some thought, returns to Nayden. They leave together to study in the city....

A humble scientist from Padua proves that the Earth revolves and that it is not the center of the universe.

A bandit chief falls in love with a wealthy man's daughter.

The former partisan, officer Petko, became the chairman of the collective farm, establishing the cooperative economy, to overcome the resistance of kulaks and slackers who “ruined the economy“, and how with the help of friends Petko managed to unite people and establish work.

Mityo Ganev is a leader of the armed bandits. The authorities accuse the Communists of his robberies. The detachment commander, Chalaka, and Mityo Ganev have a meeting but fail to reach an agreement. The police burn out Mityo's house and send his mother into internal exile. Chalaka cuts him off from his logistical support base. Mityo agrees to join the partisan detachment. Mityo and Velyo hold up the paymaster of the army garrison. When they take the money, Mityo wants to give it to the family of the exiles. Enraged, Velyo hands the detachment over to the Colonel. Mityo kills the traitor. The police and he army launch a major operation against the partisans. In a fierce battle, Chalaka leads the detachment out of encirclement while Mityo covers their retreat. A bullet hits him.