This government commissioned film -- made on the occasion of the forty year anniversary of queen Wilhelmina's reign -- chronicles the lives of two Dutch families from 1898 to 1938 against the backdrop of the social and political events of the times. It shows the emergence of trade unions, the troubled years of the First World War, the development of aviation and Schiphol airport, the Dutch East Indies and the lives of the Dutch royal family.

The first 'official' Dutch sound film was presented as a historic document on the history of the Netherlands, highlighting the importance of prince William of Orange's role during the Eighty Years war. His story is told in a series of short episodes, spanning his sudden rise to prince of Orange in 1844 to his murder by Balthasar Gerards in 1584.