Zsigmond Kemény wrote his pamphlet Forradalom után („After the Revolution”) a year after the Hungarian Revolution of 1848-1849. In his work he analyses the years of the Revolution and the political events of the 25 years preceding it. According to his perspective, the Revolution had led to a national catastrophe that may render the future of the Hungarian nation as uncertain. The aim of this essay is to investigate the means by which Kemény seeks to re-interpret the political events and leaders of the time between 1825 and 1849 in order to restore the Hungarians’ historical continuity, broken by the Revolution. In the analysis I shall examine the semantic layers of the notion ‘revolution’ used in the pamphlet, Kemény’s collective views of the future and his opinion of Lajos Kossuth.

Zsigmond Kemény wrote his pamphlet Forradalom után („After the Revolution”) a year after the Hungarian Revolution of 1848-1849. In his work he analyses the years of the Revolution and the political events of the 25 years preceding it. According to his perspective, the Revolution had led to a national catastrophe that may render the future of the Hungarian nation as uncertain. The aim of this essay is to investigate the means by which Kemény seeks to re-interpret the political events and leaders of the time between 1825 and 1849 in order to restore the Hungarians’ historical continuity, broken by the Revolution. In the analysis I shall examine the semantic layers of the notion ‘revolution’ used in the pamphlet, Kemény’s collective views of the future and his opinion of Lajos Kossuth.