The greatest surprise of 1989 was how fast the European communist regimes collapsed. No one saw it coming, this fall of dominoes in Eastern Europe. The failure of communist regimes had become obvious long before 1989, but nobody – specialists, westerners, people from the communist countries and not even dissidents – thought that the last decade of the 20th century would get to know a communist-free Europe. For many, it is enough to explain to fall of communism through its lack of legitimacy. „These regimes were illegitimate from the start and their fall was to be expected” – this argument, even though it is somewhat legit, is not enough. Yes, the European communist regimes were illegitimate, but they still manages to survive for 40 years. And then, why was it that in the 1980s, these regime came toppling down, one after the other? According to specialists, the main reason was the economic failure, obvious not only to the public, but also to the communist leaders themselves. We add to this causes of political, geopolitical, social and ideological nature. Regarding the regime’s illegitimate nature, the argument is valid only on a theoretic level: with only one exception, that of Czechoslovakia, the communists got hold of power through falsified elections and soviet threats. But, in fact, all European communists regime were, in a few years, accepted by the population, thus winning some sort of legitimacy. In most cases, it was an economical legitimacy, gained through satisfying the population’s material needs. The best example is Kadar’s Hungary. After the repression that followed the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, Kadar initiated a reform plan that revitalized the Hungarian economy. In a few years, Kadar’s image wasn’t that of the man who had betrayed the country in favour of the Soviets, but that of a reformer who guarded the people’s welfare and prosperity. A few th