TheRussianRevolution(1917)ledtothebreakupoftheoldTsaristRussianEmpire,toindependencemovementsinareasinhabitedbyvariousethnicminorities(Azerbaijan,Georgia,Armenia,etc.),andtoalarge-scaleCivilWarbetweentheRed(Communist)ArmyandtheWhite(Anti-Communist)Army.Inotherwords,sheerchaos,verymuchlikethatexperiencedbyYugoslaviainthe1990s.Inthischaos,variousterritories,suchasAzerbaijan,wereoccupiedatvarioustimesbyGerman,Turkish,andBritishtroops,thelattermotivatedbySovietRussia'swithdrawalfromWW1againstGermany.Thisfilmpresentsavery"orthodox,"evenStalinistinterpretationofthetraumaticeventsaroundtheoil-richcityofBakuin1918,inwhich(nosurprise)therealvillainsareportrayedascertainleftistRussianpoliticians(playedbyZharov,Savchenko,etc.)whowereopposedtotheCommunists.