How was it possible for a political system which declared itself to be the representative of the workers' and peasants' power to define the mass movement of 1956, supported by a considerable part of working class, as a counter-revolution? Why and how far has the really existing working class accepted the consolidation of the sixties and seventies? How did later this pragmatic resignation cease to exist and why has the worker class too, become a supporter of changing the political system? The historian in his paper seeks to answer these and similar essential ques­tions.

The article by László Tutő describes a less known political trial of the Kadar era, the court trial against the "left wing" Csaba Kemeny. In his introduction, Tamás Krausz broadens the horizon of the affair and tries to determine the relationship of the Kadar regime to "left wing" opposition linked with the "Heller"-case.