Using trick cards, animations, graphics, and numerous statistics, the film attempts to prove that the economy of a major industrial nation like Germany is existentially dependent on raw materials from the colonies. It also tries to historically legitimize colonial possessions, from the Phoenicians to German colonies. Colonies, according to the central message, ensure the circulation of goods and commodities, increase national wealth, and ease Germany's burden of the reparations payments imposed upon it by the Treaty of Versailles.