The basic ideas of historical materialism were conceived within the context of the political and social situation obtaining more than a century ago. Thus it may be legitimate to ask which of the views of Marx and Engels (who will henceforth be considered here as speaking with one voice) have turned out true in terms of the historical development which has taken place in the meantime. Clearly the present state of pauperization of the proletariat and the degree of class consciousness and of revolutionary activity in the Western countries do not correspond to the expectations of the classics. The same is true of the current situation in the Communist countries, where according to the ideas of Marx and Engels all kinds of power structure, social antagonism and alienation should have been abolished. On the whole, the actual political and social circumstances in our world hardly correspond to the state of affairs expected by Marx and Engels.