In 1908, young Estonian politician Aleksander Kesküla (Üllar Saaremäe) escaped from Estonia, then part of the Tsarist Russia Empire, to Switzerland, where he enrolled in the University of Bern.

He devises a plan to overthrow Russia and build upon the ruins of the defunct empire Gross-Estland (Great Estonia).

In fall 1914, the German ambassador in Switzerland, Freiherr Gisbert von Romberg (Linnar Priimägi) informed his government about "an Estonian, Alexander Kesküla, who made a proposal to use Lenin in our plans against Russia."

Moreover, Kesküla had prior experience using foreign assistance to support rebels in Russia; in 1905, he received money from Japanese spy Akashi Motojiro to advance his interests in Tallinn, Tartu, and Riga.

The German Foreign Ministry viewed the Bolsheviks as a fringe group that lacked the influence to change hearts and minds in the Russian state (as in the film.)