Settlers from infertile parts of Yugoslavia, arrive to rich Slavonia and Baranja. There they are faced with the decree of the Communist government by which they will be left without the land that they received in the process of collectivization just a year ago. The peasants fiercely resist the government's decision. Milisa Matic is a peasant who fights against the establishment of peasant cooperatives because in that case many peasants would lose their newly acquired land. The Communist government has decreed the founding of cooperatives and Markan Radisic is in charge of their establishment. When Markan's son proposes to Milisa's daughter, the two men confront each other. In self-defense Markan kills Milisa, however the national court fails to find mitigating circumstances. On the way to prison he listens to the news on radio about the abolition of agricultural cooperatives.