Life on the Tatarsky farm flows slowly and leisurely. The young Cossack, Grishka Melekhov, falls in love with the married beauty Aksinya. His strict father, upon learning of this, forcibly marries him to another woman, Natalya Korshunova. Grigory, unhappy in his marriage, continues to see his lover in secret.

Grigory is called up for active military service for four years. Panteley, who has come to see his son off, tries to persuade him to return to his legal wife, Natalya. Grigory's regiment heads to the Russian-Austrian border. Soon, everyone is shocked by the terrible news of the outbreak of war with Germany. And in the fall, the Melekhovs receive a letter with news of Grigory's death.

Natalya Melekhova gives birth to twins. Aksinya's husband, Stepan, arrives home, and soon Aksinya joins him from Yagodnoye. In late October 1917, following the overthrow of the Provisional Government, power in the country passes into the hands of the workers and peasants. Russia plunges into the throes of a bloody redistribution. Almost all the Tatar Cossacks return to their farmstead without permission. Grigory also returns home. The Revolutionary Committee believes that he is the one rousing the people against Soviet rule. A wave of uprisings sweeps across the Don region, with the village of Veshenskaya becoming the center of events.

A chance encounter with Aksinya on the river rekindles long-forgotten feelings in Grigory. After a visit home, Melekhov prepares to return to his unit, where he is to assume command of a division. In Tatarskoye, the villagers commit a massacre of captured communist Cossacks. In May, the rebel troops begin to retreat along the entire coast. The population of the steppe farmsteads rushes to the left bank of the Don.

After a short visit, Grigory is forced to leave the farmstead again. It's not easy for him to leave the dark-browed Cossack woman who holds his heart. Daria tells Natalya about her fatal illness and, wishing to atone for her sins, tells her that she knew of Grigory's recent meeting with Aksinya. Three months have passed since Melekhov left for the campaign. Love and hate battle within Natalya, while a new life is being born within her.

Grief haunts the Melekhov family—Natalya dies after attempting to get rid of her child. Soon, unwilling to live with her illness, Daria drowns herself. Grigory is tormented by doubts about himself, his future, and the reasons that compelled him to go to war. Meanwhile, the Whites are defeated, and the Cossacks are forced to retreat. Aksinya travels with Grigory, but on the way she contracts typhus. They are once again destined to be together.

Prokhor Zykov, returning from the front, informs Aksinya that Grigory is alive, but has defected to the Reds. Before her death, Ilyinichna blesses Dunyasha for her wedding to Koshevoy. Grigory returns to the farmstead in the winter, but again not for long—Mishka threatens to arrest him. Melekhov leaves his father's house, only to return for Aksinya. But fate, this time forever, separates the two loving hearts.