Égi Bárány plot
Following the chaos of the civil war that ensued after the fall of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Béla Kun seized power in 1919 through a revolution, establishing the Hungarian Soviet Republic. However, this regime was overthrown during the rise of fascism in the struggle between the Reds and the Whites. The communists attempted to maintain control of the countryside, and a unit of the revolutionary army spared the life of an eccentric priest, Father Vargha. He returned and led mass murders. A new power, represented by the Whites, ostensibly avenged the people but simultaneously imposed a new and more effective form of oppression.