The new government followed the Bolshevik method: the party established its revolutionary terror groups, such as the Lenin Boys, to "overcome the obstacles" of the worker's revolution.

"[6] With their support, József Cserny organized a group of some 200 individuals known as "Lenin Boys" (Lenin-fiúk), whose intention was to uncover "counter-revolutionary" activities in the Hungarian countryside.

[citation needed]Checkpoints were established in Budapest, and civilians were regularly arrested and taken away to be tortured with burning cigars, water cure, and nails.

[7] In addition to mass executions and arrest for "crimes against the revolution", the communist also used the red terror as an excuse to appropriate grain from peasants.

József Cserny was arrested and tried in November 1919; the Hungarian Bar Association refused to defend him at trial, so a lawyer was appointed by the court.

After the downfall of the Hungarian Soviet Republic, the Red Terror was answered by a wave of counter-reprisals once the Party of Communists leadership fled.