In 1848-49, the fate of the Hungarian revolution and war of independence depended primarily on the events in Germany. Since the German revolution did not have a "Paris" or "Koblentz" its defeat and hence the Europe-wide dynastic restoration were inevitable.

The celebration of anniversaries tells a lot more about the present than the past. Because the pendulum of history swang into extremes in Eastern europe more often then elsewhere, the role of symbols has also been greater than in other regions. In the debates on the 100th anniversary of the revolution the relationship between class and nation was a crutial theme.

The author criticises the so-called revisionist school that in France and other European countries turned against the conventional analysis based on class. The theses of Furet on the history of "communism" are severely interrogated.

In the 1970s, István Bibó's views occupied a central place in the thought of the democratic opposition in Hungary. When the system change was completed the new "democrats" lost their interest in Bibó. The reason is that he4 always was a socialist and the orchestration of the contemporary political struggles in Hungary is deeply alien to his political culture.

On Stephane Courtois: Le livre noir du communisme, Robert Laffont, Paris, 1997. The "Black book ofd communism" was written for political propaganda purposes and thus enjoyed an outstanding career. The review compares the theses of this challenging book to the facts of history.