l

f'.r,

World History:
Studies by Soviet Scholars (1)

I.Zhukov

I
J

Methodology
of History

"Social Sciences TodayHE

ditorial Board
USSR Academy of Sciences
Moscow, 1983

\b
ztf5t3
\

983

EDITORIAL dOUNCIL
FEDOSEYEV P . N. , AcaQ.em i cian ,
GRIGULEVICH I. R. ,

NA.ROCHNITSKY A.L. ,
Acad e m i c ian

Chairman

Corre spond ing Jlemb _e r , USSR Academy of

PIOTROVSKY B . B. ,
Academ ic ian
PRilfA.KOV E.M. ,
Acad emic ian

Sc iences , Deputy Chairman

. MAIOBOV E.I., Executive Secretar

SEMYONOV V.S
D.S c . (Philos.

JI.embers

SHAPOSHNIKOV V.S.

AFAUASYEV V . G . ,
Academi c ian

KHROM.QV S.S. ,
D . Sc.(H i s t . )

ARBA.TOV G . A. ,
Academ i cian

KOMI(OV G . D.

D . Sc.(His t . J

SHIRYAEV Yu.S. ,
Corre spond ing Member,
USSR Acad emy of Sciences

KOSTYUSHKO l. I. ,
D.Sc . (H i s t . )

BOGOMOLOV O . T. ,
Acad emi9ian
BROMLEY Yu. V. ,
Academic ian

FROLOV I.T. ,
Correspond ing Member ,
USSR Academy of Sc iences
GAPOCHKA M. P.,
Cand . Sc . (Philo s . )
GROMYKO An.A. ,
Correspon d ing Member ,
USSR Acad emy of Sc iences
GURYEV I.E . ,
Cand . S c . (Eccn. )
GVISHIANI J . M. ,
Acad emician
KAPUSTIN E.I. ,
Correspond ing Member ,
USSR Acad emy of Scienc e s

KOVAL B.I. ,
D.S c . (H is t . )

IKHV INSKY S.L. ,

Academ ician

TRUKHANOVSKY V.G. ,
Corre spond ing Member ,
USSR Acad emy of S c iences
UDALTSOVA Z.V. ,
Corr e sp ond ing Member ,
USSR Acad emy of S c iences
VINOGRA.DOV V.A. ,
Corre sp ond ing Memb er , .
USSR Acad emy of Sciences
VOLSKY V.V.
D.S c . (Ec on. J
ZHILIN P.A. ,
Corresponding Member ,
USSR Acad emy of S c ienc e s

'
TIMOFEYEV T.T. ,
Corresp ond ing Member ,
USSR Acad emy of S c i enc es

KOVALCHENKO I.D . ,
Correspond ing Member,
USSR Acad emy of Sc iences
KRIVTSOV V.A. ,
D.S c . (H ist . )
KUMA.NEV V.A. ,
n.sc.(Hi.s t . )
KUZNETSOV D.V.
Cand.Sc.(Hi s t .

Consulting Editor Q f
th e "World Histor
y: StUdies by Sov
iet
Scholars" series
z. Udalysova, Cor
responding Member
of the
USSR Academy of
Sciences.

MARKOV D.F. ,
Corre sponding Member ,
USSR Acad emy of Sc ienc e s'.

tedby M.Gono
haruk and F.Bele
l;yubsky.

MASLOVA N .I.

Published in Eng
lish, French and
Spanish.

KHACHATUROV T.S. ,
Acad e m i c ian

; MCHEDLOV :M. P. t
D.S c . (Philos.J

KHR.APCHENKO M.B. ,
Academ ic ian

MOMJAN Kh. N. ,
D.S c . (Philo s . )

Soc ial Scienc e s Today , 1983

Rep r in ts aut hor i s e d w i th wri t t en p ermi ss ion

from t he Ed i t or ial Board

Ed itorial O ffice: 33/12 Arbat , Moscow ,

121002, USSR

INTRODUCTION
CONTENTS

z. Udaltsova
Section I.

Introduction
fic Discipline
HistorY as a Scienti

cal Science
The Subject of Histori

of the Human Pest

ion
The Theory of Cognit

Historical
Battle of Ideas in
Partisanship in the

Science

'.5,

11
23

38

ns
Socio-Econoic Formatio

59

$0.

.
Social Progress
Section III.

s
History and Our Time

the history of

tem and on the regularities of the national liberation

movement in the developing countries.
The theoretical problems concerning the scien ce of
history :t'igured largely in the historian's scientific in

12

lif'e. He was awarded the Karl Marx Gold Medal of the USSR

terests, especially in the last twenty-five years of his

1??.

Academy of Sciences for his distinctive contribution to

the developnent of social sciences.

Academician Zhukov was not only an outstanding re

The Historical Fact

Conclusion.

on

191

ratory
The Researcher's Labo

The Historical Source

ly 1930s with the publication of a series of papers on the

current social development and ideology of Japan. ese
international relations, the break-up of the colonial sys

Soci al Revolutions
Periodisation
tory-into Periods (the
The Di.vision of His

of History)

(1907-1980), the eminent

were followed by generalising studies

cal Process
e of the World Histori
Section II. The Law

torical Laws
sociological and liis

Academician Evgeny Zhukov

Soviet scholar, began his career as a historian in the ear

173

searcher. He was also an outstanding organiser of scienti

fic work. As the head

:ror many years o:r important acade

1E!

mic centres (Director o:r the Pacific Ocean Institute, De

1 95;

:t'rom 1968 onwards, Director of' the Institute of World His

puty Director of the Institute of Oriental studies and

tory), as well as o:r the USSR Academy of Sciences' Section
of the Science o:r History, Zhukov exerted a considerable
in:t'luence on the planning, organisation and content o:r in
vestigations in this area. He actively contributed to suoh
major publications as the World History (in several volumes)
- 5 -

As Chairman of the
ical Encyclopaedia.
e.nd The Soviet Histor
did much to streng
he
s
ittee of Historian
USSR National donm
study:l.ng human
torians
cooperation of his
then international
history.

n Zhukov sent to
death, Academicia
Shortly before his
tory.
Jlethodoloq of His
ript of his book
press the manusc
s.
its main section
a translation of
Below we publish
e
history of scienc
the author, the
In the opinion of
of
unt
umulated a vast amo
t few decades acc
has over the pas
ore set
ref
the
He
on.
lisati
requiring genera
factual material
s mate
comprehending thi
of theoretically
him sel f the object
works
ing
lis
era
gen
resul s of
mi g up some of the
rial, of sumn
ans.
by Soviet histori
ry as a Scienti
of the book "Histo
The first section
ject
teristic of the sub
opens with e charac
fic Discipline",
al
tmder11.nes that
history. The author
of the science of

the labour activi

and
n
pment of productio
though the develo
ial move
tial cause of soc
the basis and ini
ty of people are
l proica
tor
his
t. The
exhaust its conten
ment they far from
.
cess is much richer
ical process mani
world-wide histor
The unity of the
It
ial.development.
genera l laws of soc
fests itself in the
es
pos
s unity presup
to assume that thi
would be incorrect _
l
ms in which genera
for
te
ce of the concre
absolute coinciden
of
ty
not lead to identi
mselves . They do
laws manifest the
s as
ces
pro
l
ica
tor
his
in all cases. The
this development
comits
all
of
dy
t a stu
understood withou
a whole cannot be

interacti on.
ponents in their

our of he popu
h the social behavi
In particular, bot
cal
choice by a histori
given epoch and the
lar masses of a
y
gel
lar
position are
individual social
personality of his
fron
con
the epoch: the
spiritual life of
determined by the

erited. social con

inh
s
and the tradition
tation of ideas
oubtedly
are therefore und
ture as a whole
sciousness and cul
e of history.
ect of the scienc
part of the sub
no
the question has
a presentation of
Of course, such
cs
nom:l:
eco
when
stic approach
with the plurali
thing in common
of
one
as
onl:.v
erlying basis but
d not as the und
are treate

-. 6 -

the factors of the historical process. Pluralistic concepts

do not contain a profound explanation of no matter what
historical phenomena, since they inevitably lead to subjec
tivism. Authors who take such a stand arbitrarily "choose"
the factors which, in their opinion, play a role in the gi
ven concrete case.
In the final analysis the empirical and the logical
coincide. But only in the final analysis since world history
is an extremely complex process of human development, is
anJrthing but a straight-forward one. If the logical (i.e.,
the general law of development)

and the historical (i.e.,

the empirical manifestation of' thie development in all the

complexity of individual modifications) were to t'ully coin
cide there would then be no special subject.of the history
of oience,

history and science would then coincide. But

in reality history has its specific character. It is engag

ed in investigating the very complex,

and far from concrete,

ways in which the general laws o:f development manifest them

selves, and mankind is

advancing. Investigation o:f these

variants, disclosing the reasons for the appearance and spe

cific features and the tendencies under way (if reference
is to the present day, to prognosticating development)--this
is o ne o:f the important spheres of history as a science.
The development of historical thought, the n ew methods
of research make it possible to see the new even in mate
rial repeatedly studied. The object of historical investi
gation is not something that has become fossilised for all
time and is immutable.
In the next chapter Academician Zhukov examines the
theory o:f knowledge of the science of history. History is
made by people, but it is also written by people. On the
social stand o:f the s cholar depends a correct or incorrect
understanding of the events analysed by him and, according

ly, their objective or unobjective interpretat ion. Histori

ans who adhere to historical materialism and are united by a
common world outlook,

a common ideology and,

consequently,

a single methodology of hi storical cognition do not nece

ssarily give identical evaluations of certain historical
facts end phenomena. This is by no means a weaknes15 or in-

- 7 -

auf'fictnt "exactnea.s" of the Marxist science of history.

higher forms of its existence. This logical category is em

The author stresses that the very division of the sciences

bodied in_ a diversity of forms of concrete social organism

into "exact" and "inexact" is beneath criticism. The bat

which are at the same level of hi_storical development. The

tle of opinions is evidence of the constant gro.vth of Marx

plurality of actual variants inwhich the same socio-eco

ist historical thought which is impossible without a con

nomic formation can appear makes it possible to speak of it

frontation and comparison of various views, without scien

as "unity in diversity". Contradictions in this unity, and

a constant internal struggle (the motive forces of t he for

tific debate and argumentation.

mation's development) cannot be :-ounds for doubting that

Zhukov discusses in detail the content and interac

it is a

tion of the principles of the historical method and determi

single system, that there is a close interconnec

tion of its various components.

nism, underlying the Marxist theory of knowledge, underlines

the necessity of workl.ng out specific research methods (con

Zhukov stresses the inadmissibility of a dogmatic and

ducive to the realisation of these principles) and the role

doctrinae

of hypotheses in the structure of historical cognition.

mations. It should be clearly realised that if there are no

"chemically pure" processes in nature then all the more they

Zhukov's book is polemical in many respect a. He cri

are abacent in society. Throughout world history we observe

tically analyses the standpoint of opponents. He devotes

that simultaneously existing socio-economic formations

a special chapter "The Battle of Ideas in the Science of

do

History" giving a retrospective picture of historical thought

.not coincide,

are diverse

in character. In all anta

gonistic formations the survivals of the more archaic social

in the 20th century and enabling him to underscore the ac

relations were present. History abounds in "obliterated"

tive, creative and optimistic character of the Marxist ap

forms of socio-economic relations characteristic of one or

proach to the study of the past.

another type of social organisation. Sometimes it depends

The central part ot the book is devoted to a charac

on the temporary coexistence of structurea--the relics of

teristic of the regularities of the historical process. The

author

approa.ch to the history of socio-economic for

the departed socio-economic formation with more advanced

shows that the theory of socio-economic formations

relations of production, with the new, predominant

is the corner-atone of the materialist understanding of his

struc

ture, which represents the mode of production, determining

tory.

the formation of the given society. In all cases it must be

The successive change of socio-economic formations

remembered that each antagonistic socio-economic formation

is a general sociological regularity. Its discovery has turn

is a living, developing oganism, that passes through the

ed history into an objective science able not only to re

natural stages of inception, growth, maturity and decline.

cord or reproduce the course of social development, but also

The non-coincidence (both in time and in apace) of concrete

to explain it.

forms in which a specific formation takes shape is quite

possible and natural.

The concept "socio-economic formation" is a multi

dimensional one. It springs from the indivisible unity of

The category "socio-economic formation" enables the

three component elements:

researcher not only to establish the real content of the

1) the productive forces;

society he is studying and to correctly understand the di

rection ot its development and the nature of int ernal con

2) the relations of production corresponding to them;

3) the superstructures arising on their basis.

flicts. It also enable him to find the given s ociety's place

in the world historical process.

Each socio-economic formation is a very definite his

torical stage.in mankind's advance from th
a-

lower to the
r

- 9 -

Zb.ukov conSistently examines the possibility of aP

Section I.

History as a Scientific Discipline

plying the category "socio-economic formation" and the abi

lity o:r this category to explain things at various levels
o:r research,

in particular when considering history .in

"chronological" or "spatial" terms.

The third section of the mo no gra ph treats of the

problem of the researcher's professional skill ("The Re
searcher's L abo ra to ry" ). In the c bapt ers "The Historical

THE SUBJECT OF HISTORICAL SCIENCE

Fact" and "The Historical Source" Zhukov stresses the nec

essity of high pr ofessionalism, of mastering the form o f
presen tatio n, and that thy should be tied in with the wo rld

o utlook of th e hi sto rian .

The athor c oncludes his work with an investigation

o:r the numer ous mutual links o:r the epoch and the science
of history. From the vi ewpoint of Marxists history and

oc::r:zlaa

poraneity have never been divided. On the contrary, they

have always been organically fused and indivisible: in the

History is a science which d elves into the variety of

forms of social d evelopment and makes it possible to under

Like every science,

stand complex paths traversed by mankind.
history. cannot exist without systematising objective know

general sense cont emporan ei t y 1s the continuation of the on

ledge, without theoretical ge_neralisation of empirical mate

the very essence of phenomena under
rial and examination of

of history,

phenomena.

going historical process; in th e particular,

a kno wl edge

of its l aws facilitate the conscious regula

tion, management of the modern advance of soci ety.

Zhukov's study discloses the unity and continuity of

th e Marxist conception of human history and show also cre
ative character of the work of Soviet hi st orians .
z. Udalt sov a ,

D irector

of th e I nsti t ut e
of W orld History of be USSR
Academy of Sciences,
Cor responding Member
of the USSR Academy of Sciences

study by way of disclosing the inner laws governing these

It was only with the appearance of Marxism that man

kind's past became an object of scholarly studies and has

acquired reliable objective criteria and methods of research.

whether
Of course, before Marx :thinkers often asked themselves

i
human society d evelops chaotically, in a free-wheeling fash.
people,
country,
Does each
!l, or according.to definite laws.
d evelop independently of other countries, peoples,
tribes, or do they, despite all their d ifferences, have .!&
thing in common? Many thinkers have raised such questions.

tribe

Answers have been given, at times quite interesting and noteworthy.

Representatives of pre-Marxian historical schools re
peatedly put forward various hypotheses in an attemp,to elu
cidate both the be.haviour of large popular masses in signi
ficant historical d evelopments and the role of outstanding
individuals.
Many prominent historians of the early 19th century
realised the existence of social classes and even recognised

- 11 -

'the class struggle:

But no one could correctly answer the

question: why did the classes emerge, what hid d en springs

influence people's actions and inspire them to struggle, to
advance various slogans, political and social ideals?
lopment of knowledge as a major element of the historical
Since the concept of the invariability of human

nature was predominant before SaintSimon, the transition

However, he failed to

explain why knowledge d eveloped, and finally,

The totality of these instruments and

means and the capability of using them constitute the con

cept of prod uctive forces.

The latter are of specific, sa

"

the social relations within which

Marx wrote:
individuals produce,

the social relations of production, change, are transformed ,

with the change and d evelopment of the material meaps of pro
The relations of prod uction
d uction. the prod uctive forces.
in their to.tality constitute what are called the social re

to the idea of evolution, to the recognition that human

ideals change was a step forward.

which he exists.

lient significance in the life of mankind .

The prominet thinker H. Saint-Simon regarded the d eve

process.

instruments and means at his d isposal and with the aid of

returned to

the tenet about the specific features of man's striving for

lations, society, and specifically, a society at a d efinite

stage of historical d evelopment, a society with a peculiar,
2
d istinctive character."

perfection.

The Marxist und erstanding of the historical process

The tendency to interpret the concrete d evelopment of.

some or other societies by arbitrarily chosen reasons was
current in pre-Marxian historical science.

For example,

stems from the fact that with the perfection of the means and
instruments of labour and the development of material produc
tion

for a long time attempts had been made to explain the spe

mankind , stage by stage, traverses the path from primi

tive to higher, more progressive forms of social being and

cific character of the evolution of certain societies and

consciousness.

even whole civilisations by the peculiarities of their re

social

ligious views, the complexities of their hierarchical struc

only by the d efinite economic interests of this or that so

ture, the specific stability of communal and tribal relation

ships.
'

Marx was the first to provid e a scientifically substan

tiated answer to crucial questions of the stud y of the past.

or

Marx discovered that the emergence of any

political institution or idea may be explained

cial stratum upholding particular institutions and ideas.

In his opinion, "the anatomy of civil society is to be sought
in political economy". 3
The discovery of the materialistic conception of histo

Developing his principles of hi.Storical analysis he proceeded

ry, whereby the objective cond itions of the production of ma

from previous achievements of advanced social thought.

terial wealth create the basis of man's entire activity is

Lenin

repeatedly emphasised that Marxism was not "sectarian" in

character,

that it was not a certain self-centred, ossified

theory which emerged asid e from the mainstream of the deve

lopment of world civilisation.

On the contrary, he pointed

Marx's greatest merit.

This d iscovery laid the foundation

of historical science and provided a scientific approach to

the study of history, in Lnin's words, "as a single process
which, with all its immense variety and contradictoriness,
4
It has made it possible to

out, "the genius of Marx consists precisely in his having

is governed by d efinite laws11

furnished answers to questions already raised by the fore

1
most minds of mankind 11

al-historical process.

"
Marxism elaborated t he solution of problems which for
centuries had remained without acceptable explanation.
basic features of this solution are as follows:

The

the ways of

meeting the societal man's needs and, to a great extent, the

need s themselves are d efined by the characteristics of the

- 12 -

scholarly analyse social d evelopment as an objective, natur

What underlies the Unity of the world -historical process,

d espite its diversity?
The d efinitive condition-for the existence and d evelop
ment of any people, any community, as well as society as a

- 13 -

n of basic vital re
whole, has always1been the satisfactio
food, clothing and hous
quirements, first and foremost, for
science is to elucidate
ing.- One of the tasks of historical
affect social rela
how various ways of meeting these needs
d.
shape
are
ions
tions and how these relat
of human society,
The study of the progressive evolution
of peoples
past
the
of
es
the eliciting of the regulariti
lopment has
deve
al
soci
of
e
and countries at a similar stag
in the pro
s
stage
t
fican
enabled scholars to discern signi
s'of the
level
ite
defin
gress of mankind corresponding to
precisely
is
It
ction.
development o social material produ
the most general
the change of these levels which shows
movement.
trend of the society's forward
the primary cause of
However, being the foundation and
t of production and man's
social progress, the developmen
st its entire content. The
productive activity do not eXb.au
r. Engels pointed out at the
:historical process is much riche
uling those pseudo-Marx
end of the last century while ridic
other relations in society
ists who d id not like to see any
situation is the basis, but
except economic: "The economic
rstructure--political forms
the various elements of the supe
constitut
results, to wit:
of. the class struggle and its
ul
orious class after a successf
ions established by the yict
even the reflexes of all
battle, etc., juridical forms and
of the participants,
these a,ctual struggles iii the _brains
cal theories, religious views
poli ical, juristic, philosophi
into systems of dogmas--also
and their further development
the course of the historical
exercise their influence upon
onderate in determining
struggles and in many cases prep
n of all these elements
their There is an interactio
of accidents (that is,
host
ss
in which, amid all the endle
rconnection is so re
inte
inner
of things and events whose
can regard it as non
we
that
f
mote or so impossible of proo
ment finally as
move
omic
econ
existent, as negligible), the
cation of
appli
the
ise
serts itself as necessary. Otherw
er than
ee.si
be
ory would
the theory to any period of hist
of the first degree.115
the solution of a Sif4ple equation

- 14 -

Nuting the primary, detrminative role of economics,

Engels underscored the necessity of a dialectical .approach

to the analysis of the historical process, and proper con

sideraion of
tent.

the interdependability of its form and con

The superstructure is by far not a passive element:

it is determined by the basis and, in turn, is capable of

exercising its own effect on the latter.

The united

march

of a social movement is directed by economic causes only in

the final analysis and is not absolutely straightforward.

A tremendous variety of specific concrete-historical forms

originate in its course.

The founders of scient.ific commun

ism have repeatedly elucidated this princip.le

Marxist his

torical science does not confine its ask to analysing ex

clusively dconomic aspects of social life.

For all the sig

nificance of this task, its solution fails to give an answer

as to the causes of the emergence of any concrete forms of

class struggle, and of social and ideological phenomena

accelerating or hindering the society's progress.

The content o politics is predetermined by the social

organisation of production, and the source of its particu

larly active role lies precisely in this.

Receiving its

pulse from economics and being dependent on it, politics,

by virtue of the widest "representation" of deep-seated

economic interests, often acquires a predominant position

in the life of society.

The unity of the world-historical process is manifest

in the most general laws governing social development.

would be wrong to regard this unity as an obligatory co

It

incidence of concrete orms.of the manifestatio of general

laws.

Marx wrote in Capital: "This does not prevent .the

same economic basis--the same from the standpoint of its

main conditions--due to innumerable different empirical

circumstances, natural environment, racial relations, ex

ternal historical influences, etc., from showing infinite

variations and gradations in-appearance, which can be ascer

tained only by analysis of the empirically given circumstan

ces. 11

The laws of social development do not lead to this

development being identical in every case.

- 15 -

It is impossible

i.

to cognise the historical process as a whole without study

History is made by pe ople striving to attain a definite

ing the interaction of all its components.

goal.

It goes without saying that this has nothing to do with

economic and natural conditions of labour.

the pluralistic approach whereby economics is given the role

bilities of a given society,

or the social environment he
.
In the final analysis, there will of necessity
belongs t9.

Pluralistic concep.tions do not give

an in-depth explanation of any historical phenomena, since

they inevi
. tably result in subjectivim.

occur, irrespective of his will, a so-called "correction"

The scholars ad

of the previously chosen path if the latter is erroneous.

hering to these positions arbitrarily "choose" factors which,

Such is the way.the principle

in their opinion, play a certain role in this particular

case.

cial development, for they have no substantiated initial

Solidarity with

pluralism inevitably leads to positivist vulgar empiricism

ruling out the possibility of generalisations.

man

to be and t.hat which is possible was elucidated by Engels:

"Men make their history themselves, but not as yet w.i th a

ty of productive forces and the relations of production in

collective will according to a collective plan or even in

It is precisely the development of the

In this case free

development, as well as of the borderline between that which

The cementing element in the life of

each society is the mode of production, expressing the uni

herent in them.

larity) such a choice may be a success.

necessary and the accidental in tr cess of historical

constitutes the main content of the

mode of production that

lng of the leading trend of social development (its regu

The problem of correlation and interaction between the

pluralism, is based on the recognition of the fact that the

historical process.

If the free choice

of a goal and the means to attain it is based on a know
ledge of' reality, or at least, on an intuitive understand

dom actually becomes a realised necessity.

Dialectical-materialistic monism, which is opposed to

activity of social

of economic determinism of

social development manifests itself.

They are unable to identify the regularities of so

data or stable criteria for the purpose.

An individual

cannot overcome either the existing level of material.poasi

of not the leading f'o:rce but only as one of the factors in

the historical pro9ess.

The essence of economic determinism consists in that

the freedom of man's will is actually limited by the socio

a definite, delimited given society.

the final count de.termines the

Their aspirations

state of society, the degree of its inner maturity and

strength, and opens up the propects and direction of its

clash, and for that very reason all such societies are go
verned by necessity, the complement and form of appearance

ly affects the relations of production corresponding there

self athwart all accident is again ultimately economic ne

f\lrther advance.

of which is accident.

The mobility of productive forces direct

cessity...

proaches that of pure abstract ideology, the more shall we

find it exhibiting accidents in its development, the more

The two constantly interact and influence each other.

to.

Both nature and society exist in motio and never remain

unchanged.
them.

Hence, a historic approach is needed to study

It is in this sense that Marx and Engels said that

they knew "only a single science, the science of history".7

The determining role of the mode of production in the

historical process, the revolutionising significance of the

productive forces do not at all mean that they automatically

influence the development of society.

The ultimate deter

miateness of man's activity by econmic factors (i.e. ,

economiq determinism) has nothing in common with fatalism.

- 16 -

The necessity which here asserts it

The further the particular sphere which we are

investigating is removed from the economic sphere and ap

will its curve run zigzag.

I,
r
I

But if you plot the average axis

of the curve, you will find that this axis runs more and

more nearly parallel to the axis of economic development

the longer the period considered and the wider the field

dealt with. 118

Men can choose both the goals and definite means of at

taining them.

lities.

The choice is made from a wealth of possibi

It may be correct or erroneous.

- 17 -

If the choice

happens to be ,erroneous, the' desired goal cannot be achie

ved.

This factor directly influences the historical proc

ess and may entail tangible, sometimes tragic, .consequences

fo one or another category of people.

Jl.arx wrote:

"World

history would indeed be very easy to make if the struggle

were taken up only on condition of infallibly favourable

c.hances.

It would on the other hand be of a very mystical

nature, if 'accidents' played no part.

These accidents

naturally form part of the general course of development

and are compensated by other accide'nts.

But acceleration

and delay are very much dependent upon such 'accidents',

including the 'accident' of the character of the people

who first head the m6vement."9

The role of the individual ftgures prominently at a

subsequent level of the problem's investigation and is

largely determined by the individual's ability to .take into

account the objective tendencies of social development, the

actual needs of society at a definite stage of its progress.

The individual may greatly influence the course of history.

Kan's initiative is a powerful accelerator of social pro

gress, particularly when it awakens the energy of a great

mass of people and channels it for solving .vital problems.

"Marxism iffers from all other socialist theories," Lenin

pointed out, "in the 'remarkable way it combines complete

scientific sobriety in the analysis of the objective state

of affairs and the objective course of evolution with the

most emphatic recognition of the importance of the revolu

tionary energy, revolutionary creative genius, and revolu

tionary initiative of the mB.sses--and also, of course, of
individuals, groups, organisations, and parties that are

able to discover and achieve contact with one or another

class.n10
It is common knowledge that outstanding personalities

in different epochs are justifiably called "great people",

whose number is small but the legacy they-have left behind

is rather tangible.

This is due, first and foremost, to

the fact that the_se outstanding figures acted not as lone

men of genius, but as the exponents of the interests and

stirrers of the act

. iv-ity of whole classes and social groups

.;. 18 -

at such a stage of historical development when these class._

es or social groups hold leading positions and are the ex

ponents of social progress.

Naturally, one cannot exclude from histo

rical analysis
individuals whose activity hindered
social progress.
Man
kind knows the names of the personalitie
s who have done
enormous harm and are guilty of the senseless deaths
of
many people and the destruction of mater
ial and cultural
values.
It should be noted that this categ
ory of negative
outstanding figures could not have
gone down in history
only due to their individual wishes.
Their destructive
activity was,.possible only because their
personal "evil

will" was realised in definite social condit

ions reflect
ing a reactionary counter-trend of social
progress and the
resistance to H on the part of the
class forces on the way
out and historically doomed.
Writing about Napoleon III,
Marx said that "the class struggle in France
created cir
cumstances and :relationships that.made it
possible for a
grotesque mediocrity to play a hero's part". 1
1
Hitler is
among the most loathsome personalities who
disgraced them
selves with monstrous crimes against
humanity and who deli
berately planned the annihilation
of whole nations and
drowned the European continent in
blood. However, it would
be wrong to explain this solely and exclu
sively by the per
sonal features of the maniacal Fiihrer.
Attempts of this
kind are being made by people interested
in removing the
responsibility for the perpetrated crime
s from the capital
ist monopolies and imperialist milit
aristic circles which
gave birth to nazism. And had there
been no Hitler, there
would. possibly have appeared another
stooge of aggressive
imperialism who would have tried to advoca
te a misantb:rop
i.c "programme" to enslave whole natio
ns and to attain world
domination.
Both the social behaviour of the
masses in any particul
ar epoch and the choice by a histo
rical personality of its
own social position are in large measur
e deteined by the
intellectual life of t.hat epoch, the clash of
ideas, and
the inherited traditions. Therefore, the
problems of social
QQ.nsciousness and culture as a whole are
no doubt part of
the subject of historical science

- 19 -

The history of culture (spiritual culture above all)

is a specific area of research into the past, an area in

whose investigation, incidentally, a noticeable lag is

still observable.

Of extreme importance is closer cooperation between

historia ns and philosophers, economists, literary crit ics
and jurists, which would make it possible to enhance
the

Cultural elements not only penetrate

deep into all the pores of a socio-economic system, but

also hold a markedly autonomous posit ion there.

Being

synthetic approach to major historical processes and phe

very closely linked with the field of social psychology,

nomena.

the cultural heritage is relat ively slowly influenced by

In the f inal count, the h istor ical and the logical co

even the greatest social upheavals, preventing rapid re

incide; but only in the final count, since world h istory is

structuring measures by inertia, as it were.

a n extremely complicated and by far not straightforward

However, by far not all the elements of the old, . so

path of mankind's development.

called traditional culture preserved from the pst have a

This applies,

in particular, to the vestiges

ty of its partial modificat ions) fully coincide, then h is

of religious and other idealistic ideas exerting an adverse,

retarding effect on the development and strengthening of

..

tory would not- exist as a separate subject, then h istory

and soc iology would coincide.

progressive world outlook, arid a new psychology correspond

ing to the revolutionary changes which have occurre d in

has its own specific features.

In fact, however, h istory

It examines rather complex,

intricate and by far not stra ightforward concrete ways of

the socio-economic sphere.

manifestation of the geneal patterns of development, ways

Attention to the historical and cultural processes tak

ing place in the society is a necessary cond ition for its
At the same time,
profound invest igation and understanding.

of mankind's forward movement.

Marx, Engels and Lenin repeatedly pointed to the abund

ance of var iants of social development.existing w ithin the

one should not take, oversimplified, mechanical approach to

the pr ocesses of cu-:).. tural development: .they should not be

framework of general patterns.

The analysis of these vari

ants, the identificat ion of the causes and peculiar ities of

attributable d irectly to -changes in the political and eco

For example, when analysing the l iterature
nomic spheres.

their emergence and tendencies, and (as concerns the present

epoch) the elaboration of development forecasts--such is one

of a definite society, one should study its "historical

background". But a mere synchronisation of creative work

of the major spheres of h istory as a science.

The devlopment of h istorcal thought, new methods and

techniques of research makes it possible to see the new

w ith the indicators of the level of socio-economic develop

ment is insufficient for making well-substantiated deduct
Deep-going cultural and. psychological processes defy
ions.

even in a repeatedly scrutinised factual material.

The ob

ject of historical research is not something fossil and un

understanding if they are only examined within narrow chro

It is necessary to study the effect of
nological bounds.

changed.

Archaeology has made many d iscoveries which .have

made it possible to look at long-known and seem ingly well

numerous contradictory'factors of a given historical epoch

in the conditions of which the struggle and competition of

studied monuments of culture from a different angle.

Stones

begin to "speak" and enable one to reproduce the picture of

temporarily coexisting socio-economic systems is in progress.

the remote past, sometimes with rather appreciable corrections

The study of the history of culture is of paramount import

ance for ascerta ining the connection between outstanding phe_

- 20 -

If the logical ( i.e. , the

general pattern of development) and the h istorical ( i.e.,

_
the empir ical manifestation of this pattern in the totali-

progressive part to play in the intellectual development

of society

nomena in cultural and, notably, artistic life and those

complex processes modern history is replete w ith.

In the later historical per iods any object which the scho
lar happens to deal with is in no lesser degree subject to

- 21 -

unexpected metamo ri}hoses, revealing previously unknown

data on it.

Kost skeptical remarks, and even accusations

of historical science of being biased are heard in connect

ion with the interpretation of facts and events which in

terms of time are the nearest to the historians.

And this

is not surprising because the most recent material the his

torian has to deal w.ith is to be given precision in most
cases.

'The source base of contemporary history is in the.

stage of organisation.

Finally, the behaviour of people

active in the contemporary scene may change providing the

basis for reconsidering former assessments.

THE THEORY OF COGNITION OF THE HUlllN PAST

The volume and complexity of the problems facing histo

rical science are continuously growing, which is certainly

affecting the framework. of the subject of historical science,
a framework which never remains unchanged.

The exceptional

scope of this subject sets great demands of historians: they

must have a good professional and general theoretical training.

V.I. Lenin, Co llected Wrks, Jloscow, Vol. 19, P 23.

.
.
2 K
. Marx and F. Engels, Collected Works, Vol. 9, Moscow,
,
1977, P 212.

K. Marx and F. Engels, Selected Works,

1969, P

Vol. 1, Moscow,

503.

4 V.I. Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 21, p. 57.

5 K.
Marx and F. Engels, Selected Works, Vol. J, Moscow,
1970, P
6

487

K. Marx, Capital, Vol. III, Moscow,

1971, pp. 791-792.

7 K.
Marx and F. Engels, The German Ideology, Moscow, 1968,

8
9

28.

K. Marx and F. Engels, Selected Works, Vol. 3, pp. 503-504.

Ibid., Vol. 2,.Moscow, 1969, P 421.

'

10
11

V.I. Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 13, p. 36.

K. Marx and F. Engels, Selected Works, Vol. 1, P 39 5 .

Cognition is not a passive, mirror-lik

e reflection of
objective processes and phenomena in
the thought of man.
Cognition is a complex process, with
its subject playing an
active role. "The reflection of natur
e in man's thought must
be understood not 'lifelessly', not
'abstractly', not devoid
of movement, not without contradictions,
but in the eternal
process of movement, the arising of
contradictions and
1
their solution."
Lenin's theory of reflection provi
des the most vivid
example of the application of diale
ctics that permeates the
entire materialistic outlook. Lenin
pointed out that "our
sensation, our consciousness is only
an image of the exter
nal world, and it is obvious that
an image cannot exist with
out the thing imaged, SJ.ld that the
latter exists independent
ly of that which images it".2 No matte
r what form conscious
ness may take, it reflects reality
that exists independently
of it. Such an interpretation of
the theory of reflection
presupposes that delusions and error
s, although in a diatort
e form, also reflect objective reali
ty. The subjective as
pect does not change the premise
that "cognition is the
eternal, endless approximation of
thought to the object.3
Historical cognition is no exception.
The comprehension of
history is a process composed of
a sum.of the individual ap
proaches of historians to the given
concrete material.
Any subjective opinion of a histo
rian is bS.S.d on -t'hat
-

23

material and is its specific reflection. "The epistemologi

cons
cal concept of reflection implies that the essence of
usness
conscio
ciousness (and knowledge) is engendered not by
d,
itself, but stems from that which is comprehended, cose
fonns the subject of investigation. Even when the subject
of cognition is cognition itself, the concept of reflection
of
retains its meaning, inasmuch as knowledge as an object
The
ation.
investig
of
ently
investigation exists independ

faot that the given object is a reflection of the outer

world in consciousness changes nothing essentially, because
the reflection of the outer world in consciousness is a pro

Cognition is a specific
cess determined by objective laws
of reflection of
type
every
not
since
on,
form of reflecti
ng man) is cogni
(includi
being
living
a
the outer world by

tion. "4

The specificity of cognition as a form of reflection

is manifested in the active position of the subject of cog
nition.
History is both made and written by people. The correct
or erroneous, objective or subjective, interpretation of the
events analysed depends on the civic position of the scholar.
Even if correctly evaluating some or other facts, phenomena

and processes, he presen e them in the light of his indivi

dual consciousness. Lenin pointed out that "man's conscious
ness not only reflects .the obJective world, but creates it. .
There is a difference between the subjective and objective,
5
but it, too, has its limits". Consciousness does not crea
te objective reality. In this case Lenin only emphasised the
creative role of the subject of' investigation in the process
of cognition He repeatedly explained it.

The activity of' a scholar in the process of cognition

is manifested, above all, in defining the task or direction
of' research, creating r applying theoretical prerequisites,
formulating hypotheses and verifying them. Even in the pro
cess of the most elementary, initial stage of work, consist

ing in the registration and systematising of facts to be in

vestigated, a scholar of history should reveal.a. certain
degree of initiatiye and his social position. Inasmuch as

- 24 -

'

the process of cognition is not a mechanical one, it gives

the subject of investigation the possibility of abstracting
himself theoretically when he investigates empirical mate
rial. This makes for a better objective comprehension and
interpretation of it.
In.practical research, the cognition of a phenomenon
is inseparable from the cognition of its essence. Any ap
proach to the object of study presupposes, from the very
beginning, the exposure of such aspects of it which express
its very essence.

he

task of investigation is, first and

foremost, to explain concrete historical phenomena. Too

general, abstract evaluations which only pretend to explain
them, should be avoided.
A question naturally arises as to the extent
of the
.correctness of a historian's interpretation of real
histo
rical processes and phenomena. Of course, scienti
fic cog
nition is distinguished by a certbin desree of relativ
ity.
Lenin wrote that "dialectics--as Hegel in his time
explained
--contains an element of relativism., of negation,
of scep
ticism, but is not reducible to relativism. The
materialist
dialectics of Marx and Engels certainly does contai
n relati
vism, but is not reducible to relativism, that
is, it re
cognises the relativity of all our knowledge, not
in the
sense of denying objective truth, but in the sense
that the
limits of approximation of our knowledge to this
truth are
historically cond.itional. "6

In scientific work the relativity of conclusions

is
determined, above all, by the fact that a schola
r is unable
to completely leave the bounds of concepts and
ideas inhe
rent in the epoch and society to which he belong
s. Neverthe
less, the socio-class contradictions, social
progress, prac
tical experience and the logic of research broaden
the field
of vision of science as a whole and the scientists
and scho
lars creating it. Some hypotheses that used to be
taken for
truth, are discarded, for they prove insolvent. Instead
,
new concepts are advanced which better correspond
to the
correct understanding of the manifold properties
and fonns
of the movement of matter. Transition process from
relative
- 25 -

to absolute knowledge is practically infinite.

entirety and development. But historical materialism and

Scholars adhering to historical materialism and united

t
by a common world outlook, common ideology and, consequen
pre
can
,
cognition
l
historica
ly, a common methodology of

sent different evaluations of historical facts and phenome

na. This 1n no way proves a weakness or insufficient "exact

ness"

of Marxist historical science. On the contrary, this

historical acience approach one and the same subject of

investigation from different standpoints. "Historical mate
rialism analyses the inner logic,

essence and general and

specific laws of society's functioning and development,

in

terpreting it as a consecutive change of socio-economic

structures,

that is,

regards the historical process in its

is a proof of its vitality and constant progress on the ba

logical aspect. The science of ;history studies social prog

10
ress in all multifonrdty of its manifestations."

guments and discussions.

to recreating general philosophical concepts in the sphere

sis of the development of Marxist historical thought, which

is impossible without comparing different views, without ar

Relativism in historical science is being overcome by

scientific progress. With the emergence and consolidation

of the moat advanced social structures'

there are more pos

sibilitiea of adequately reflecting the objective historical

process in scientific researcnes. At the same time, the re
lativism of scientific cognition remains,

which should in no

way be regarded as something detracting from its merit.

The

uninterrupted progress of science--both natural and social-

is the law of its existence
on a constant,
ledge to

This progress is based precisely

etsady transition from an insufficient know

fuller one. However,

one should not agree with

The methodology of history is far from being reduced

of historical science. The essence of the methodology of
history lies,

above all,

in establishing a correct approach

to the study of concrete historical material. This material

being multifaceted and virtually inexhaustible,

the first

task facing the methodology of history is to dete:nnine the

principles of "organising" the m0rial,

its objective se

lection and interpretation. Methodovgy is to help "clas

sify" direct objects of investigation and single out the
most essential. A historian has to deal with rich concrete
material in the course of society's development. This great

ly complicates his task and "prompts" him to describe "uni

the authors who claim, that historical science .is constantly

que" situations,

changing in such a degree that it is necessary to constantly

this "uniqueness" can sometimes be deceptive. A researcher

processes and phenomena of the past. But

rewrite history, ther.eby influencing the entire social prac

always comes across some particular material which,

tice. Hist should not be reswritten,

glance, seems to pertain only to the given concrete situa

but only complement

ed and interpreted, taking into account new, previously

8
It is therefore difficult to completely

at first

tion. The methodology of history fulfils its task only when

unknown sources.

it helps find and distinguish in the historical process

agree with the fo:nnula advanced by the Polish historian J.

.
9
Topolski--"moderate or dialectical relativism".
The use of

the dialectics of the general,

such a te:nn leads to exaggerating the role of relativism,

way: "At present,

which is present in the dialectics of historical cognition

as a definite,

but far from decisive,

noted that Topolski,

of course,

factor.

It should be.

does not deny the existence

of "objctive history" and, consequently, the possibility

of it truthful description and objective interpretation.
Both :Marxist theoretical sociology--historical materi
alism--and the science of history study society in all its

- 26 -

specific and individual.

G.V.Plekhanov fo:nnulated this premise in the followin

g

we must regard the development of the pro

ductive forces as the ultimate and most general cause
of
mankind's historical movement, and it is the developm
ent of
the productive forces that determine the successive
changes
in the social relations of men. Parallel with this
general
there operate specific causes, i.e., the historic
al
situation in which the development of a given people's
pro
cause,

ductive forces proceeds,

and which is itself ultimately

- 27 -

created by the 'development of the same forces in other pe

oples , i . e . , the selfsame overall cause . Finally , the in

fluence .of specifi causes is augmented by the operation

of Part icular cause s , i . e . , the personal traits of public

figures and other ' fortuit ie s ' , thanks to whi ch event s

finally assume their individual feature s . Singular causes

canno t bring about radical change s in the operation of

general and specific cause s , which , moreoV'e, determine

the direction and the bounds of the influence exerted by

particular cause s . " 1 1
Correct methodology allows a historian to overcome an

approach to concrete historical material as an amorphous

mass of fortuities and to reveal the inner logic of socie

ty ' s progre s . To find the genera.l in the historical pro
cess means to obtain a stable foundation for scientific

analysi s , a guarantee of genuine obj ectivity of historical

research.

The MarX:i st theory of cognition i s distingui shed by

th unity of the empirical and theoretical . However , one

should make a distinction between the historical method in

i t s broad interpretation and the concrete methods of his

t orical research. Engel s regarded this problem in the fol

lowing way :

"Marx ' world outlook i s not a doctrine but a

method. It doe s not provide ready-made dogmas , but serves

as the starting points for further inve stigation and a me

thod

1Q!:

this investigation . n 1 2 This stat ement emphasises

the creative character of the process of research. Marxism

Leninism is profoundly alien to all and sundry fonns of dog

matism and demands that the researcher be completely obj ec

tive in hi s approach to any historical material . At the sa

me time it provide s the researcher with the dialectics of

the historical method which helps find the stable and reli
able "starting point s " and a correct path in the labyrinth

of the processes and phenomena under study . It s use requires

a concrete analysi s of a concrete situation and a strict

account ot the specific feature s of the time and place of

these processes and phenomena . No fonnul a , even the most
correct ,

can serve as a simple "guide " to penet rating into

the e ssence of the subj ect under research. The methodology

- 28 -

of hi story is far from being a set of abstract schemes and

logical constructions existing outside the connection with

a historical study . The elaboration of methodological ques

tions canno t be a monopoly of "professional theori st s " .

Each conscientious historian canno t but strive to theoreti

cally comprehend and generalise the concrete material he

come s acro s s .

The revealing o f contr adicti ons i n

societ y a s a source
and impul se of i t s progre s s helps ascert
ain the degree of
import ance and independence of the
histo rical proce ss under
study and determine i t s leading trend
and qualit ative as

pect Lenin emphasi sed that a Marxist

"does not limit him
self to speaking of the ne cessi ty
of a proce s s , but ascer
tains exact ly what social -economic
fonna tion gives the pro
cess i t s cont ent , exactly what class
det ermines this e ces
sityn . 1 3 The range of probl ems group
ed unde; the general
concept "the methodology of histo
ry" ( law-governed pat t erns
in hi sto ry , its perio disat ion , unity
of the world histo rical
proce ss , the conce ptual apparatus
of a hi st orian , the place
and role of histo rical scien ce in solvin
g the t asks advanc
ed by prese nt-day reali ti e s , etc . )
requi res for their solu
tion the unity of theory and pract
ice . Thia . means that each
resear cher should combine hi s approa
ch based on and dete
mined by hi s world-view with relian
ce on the obj ective data
result ing from concre te inve stigat ions
.
At tempt s are being made in hi stori
ography to fonnulate
the e ssenc e of the methodology of
hi story in a more compli
cat ed way . For exampl e , J . Topol ski
proce eds from the con
tentio n that the tenn "hi story " has
three meanings , each
with it s own methodology . Histo ry
as a "historical event "
has " subj ect metho dology" . It s task
is studying histo rical
fact s and the cause s and laws of the
histor ical proce ss .
History as a "research functi on of
a histor ian" has "prag
mat ic method ology" ( select ion of the
sphere of re search ,
dete rmination of the source maerial
base , princi ples of
histor ical evaluation , interpretati on
, e t c . ) . Finall y , hi s
tory as a "re sult of re search work" ,
a sum of conclu sions
about histori cal event s has a specia
l , "non-pragmat i c me
thodology" which deals with an analy
ss of stat ement s and
- 29 -

conclusions formulat e d by a scholar and examine s the most

general regulariti e s following from his work ,

and als o the

principles of hi storical narrative . 1 4 In the s e definitions

one sens e s a certain underestinlat ion of the philosophical

asp e c t s of the Marxi st methodology of hi story . We believe

Men are not free to cho o se the productive forc e s .

Neverthe le s s ,

the mystic idea about the productive forc e s

a s something suprasocial , having n o c onne ctions wi th the
concret e ac tivity of man as a social being is ali en t o the

mat eriali st c oncep t i on of hi story .

it would be more c orrect t o regard the methodology of his

tory as a single , integral conc epti on ,

irre spective of . he

p o s sible aspect s of i ts funct ional appl icat ion .

This i s e ssential for the elaboration o f an int egral ,

In

systems approach to studying socio-economic formati on s .

re c ent years , a systems approach to the study of all social

Hi storici sm is one of the basic t enet s of the Jlarxist

organi sms has become qui t e wide spread .

It has become fashio

Leninist world outlook . It s principal re quirement is to

nable for bourgeo i s sociologi st s and hi st oriographers t o

c onsider all p ro c e s s e s and phenomena in their development

speak about " systems analysi s " whi ch i s int erpre t e d , how

and in conne ction with the concret e event s that engendered

them.

It is incompat iple with the sub st itut ion of abst ract

eve r ,

s cheme s with . the study of real pro c e s s e s and phenomena . For

the principle of hi stori c i sm nthe mo st important thing if
one is to approach thi s que stion sci entifically is not t o
forget the underlying histori cal conne ction , t o examine
every que st ion from the st andpoint of how the given pheno
menon aro se in hi stor and what were the principal stages
in its developent ,

and , from the standpoint of its deve

lopment , t o examine what it has become todayn . 1 5

Marxist hi storici sm interpre t s the progre s s of society
conse cutive change of soci o-e c onomic format i ons . The
the
as
basic component s of a socio-economic formation do not exi st
in i solation , as a sum of social fact ors and phenomena but
interact with each other , thus forming a syst em . The cogni

tion of the inner laws inherent in thi s or that socio-eco

nomic formation is imp o s sible if we do not approach i t as
a qualitati vely defini t e , integral complex . Any change s
going on within a formation and pert aining either to the
basi s or the superstructure ,

can be properly underst ood on

ly in the historical interacti on of it s element s ,

in their

unity.

A systems approach do e s not mean l evelling or " e quali-

ty" of all the . e lement s of a formation . The int erconnect ion

and interaction of the element s comprising a socio-ec onomi c
formation do not violate their inner hi erarchy . The produc
tive forc e s and production re lati ons are the decisive ,
t em-forming factor of its progre s s .

- 30 -

sys

from the p o si tivi st positions and has nothing in com

mon with mat eriali st dialect i c s .

Marxi st hi st ori cal science examines hi st ori cal proce s s

e s and phenomena in their development as an integral system ;

it re solut ely re j e ct s any one - si de d ,
them.

s chemat i c approach t o

Such an approach t o hist ory i s a violation of t h e very

principle of hi st ori ci sm , whi ch should underlie hi st ori cal

studi e s . Conse quently , the di scovery of hi s t ori cal laws ne
ver re li eve s a re searcher from the need of concre t e ly ana
lysing a concre t e situation . The very reali sat ion of a cog
ni sed hi stori cal law can be different in different condi
tions . The operation of a law depends on circumstanc'e s .

Com

binat ions of similar social fact ors in different condit ions

produce complet ely different re sult s . Henc e , the need t o use
many approaches and methods in re search .
The c omparat ive-hi stori cal method i s of great signifi
canc e . A compari son of i dentical phenomena in different re
gions but in one and the same socio-e conomic formation often
provi de s the clue t o underst anding of the principal fact ors
of the hi st orical proc e s s . Any hi st orical phenomenon exi s t s
not i n i solation ,

but as a c omponent part , a n element of the

histori c al proce s s ,

out side which i t canno t emerge . Natural

ly , a hi st orian has to deal al so with an individual event

or fact whi ch happened only onc e and did not last long .
this case ,

In

too , i t s interpre t at i on i s tangible only if he

take s due account of all the circumstance s of time and pla

c e . Only when they are duly studi ed ( and the c omparative
hi stori cal method contribut e s to thi s ) will it be p o s sible

- 31 -

to ascertain ihe cause of a historical phenomenon and its

( source and literature ) to be used by scholars is steadily

place among other facts and events connected with it .

increasing . And difficulties are piling up as far as both

The statistical method is now being widely used in his

torical science .

Statistics help us to reveal the regulari

ties of certain processes,

rised by mass indices .

particularly in areas characte

This method makes it possible to as

certain the dynamics of social and economic progress and

j udge about its ultimate determination .

But the decisive

the collecting and processing of this material are concern

ed .

The need arises to find accessible and expedient me

thods of utilising computers for historical science. With

1
out them it is well-nigh impossible to find and examine
within a reasonable time all variants of the interconnecti
on and interdependence of the phenomena under comparison .

condition of its use in any historical research is the ab

Nevertheless , machines cannot play an independent role .

their grouping . A resercher should always critically as

machine language .

sence of any bias in both selecting statistical indices and

The

information extracted . from materials should be coded in the

This requires special training of a his

ses_s the statistical material he comes across. For instance ,

torian and his cooperation with a mathematician. e impor

made public in many countries cannot be regarded as a com

cal science notwithstanding ,

i. t is known th,at the data of official population censuses

inasmuch as they often

pletely reliable historical source,

do not contain indices showing social differentiation ,

and

have artificially mixed-up figures of the dynamics of wages ,

prices ,

etc .

In recent years the statistical method has considerably

yielded to the mathematicisation of history. Mathematical

methods command the use of statistical material ,

just like

any other material subject to formalisation. The experience

of employing computers in historical research has already
been known for some time ,

and there is no doubt that it will

be perfected . Works by I . Kovalchenko , V . Ustinov and others

show that mathematical methods are applicable to research
in a number of problems of history ,
studies .

archaeology and source

The idea has been confirmed about the possibility

of formalising the basic classification concepts of archaeo

logical sources on the basis of the application of the theo
ry of sets and mathematical logic .

The isolation of formal

indications makes it possible to establish uniform and simple

classifications of subjects and archaeological types. The
study of historical sources,
cybernetics ,

notably texts,

with the help of

seems quite promising.

The use of the theory of information is of definite

significance for .historical science ( and for other sciences ,
for that matter ) .

The amount of materials of various kind

- 32 -

tance of the application of mathematical methods in histori

they will always remain an

auxiliary means in historians' work . Even a considerable

amount of material subject to formalisation does not alter
the fact that the application of mathematics cannot become
the principal method in historical research.
I . Kovalchenko justly_ notes that mathematical methods
can be used only within strictly limited bounds. "The broad
est application

mathematical methods in any fields of

knowledge does not create any new science by itself ( 'mathe

matical history ' ,

in this case ) ,

other methods of investigation ,

neither does it replace

as some people tend to be

lieve . Jlathematical methods allow a researcher to obtain

some quantitative characteristics of the indications under
investigation ,
ves .

n 16

but they do not explain anything themsel

The methods used in historical research cannot be re

duced to a sum total of definite rules. But regardless of
whether the logical or concrete-historical approach predo
minated ,

they are always of a comprehensive ,

integral cha

racter and have a common trend. In all cases their main task

is the inner organisation and systematisation of the materi

al under study.

This functional task has a special signifi

cance. Its solution is only possible on the basis of a syn

thesis of the scientific theory chosen by a researcher ( and
also his initial knowledge ) and the new data contained in
the empirical material being studied .

- 33 -

The so-called auxiliary discipline s (palaeography , nu

mismatic s , sphragistic s , heraldry , etc . ) play an important

erection of a new building . As construction work proceeds

succes sfully and the ne cessary material i s properly used ,

role in historical research. The development of the se dis

the nee d in auxilary structures passe s .

riety of methods employed in historical research largely

rians being unable for quite a long time to prove the vali

ral science s and borrowed from their practice in mo st diver

problem suggested by researchers . The p o s sibi lity of the

ciplines ensures a high level of source analysi s . The va

depends on their being a result of the development of seve

se combinations .

Howeve r , one canno t exclude the possibility o f hi st o

dity or groundle s sne ss of hypothetical solutions of the

t rustworthine ss of the given solation is retaine d . Recogni

In such special fields of hi storical science

aa

archae

ology , methods have become widespread that are borrowed from

t ion of such a probability ( or possibi lity ) should nec e s sa

rily be stipulate d in an appropriate way by the re searcher .

natural science ( for example , c 1 4 analysi s ) . But in all ca

In an y sciece , including hi st orical science , ways are never

replace the need for theoretical comprehension of material ,

and source s which can allow , at any time in the future , t o

straction , i . e . , that which compri ses the basi s of methodo

time s , to advance new one s . They reflect the general co

ses the methods employed in concrete investigations do not

which pre supposes the corre sponding level of scientific ab

logy.

Nturally , methodology should n9t be confused with

methods . Methodology presupposes theoretical comprehensi on
of material . Whereas methods mean a sum total of ways and

t e chnical means employed by the re searche r . Of course , the

methods of Marxi st hi storical science canno t but be connect
ed with methodology and subordinate d to it . But they vary ,
depending on the concre,te obj ect of inve stigation .
A historian an d hi_storical science it self are inevi tab

closed to revealing new , previously unknown obj ective data

clarify an d substantiate the exi sting hypothe se s , and some

cept of a hi stori an . What is required i s not only a thorough

verification of the trustworthine ss of the evaluati ons

( "theorie s " ) expre ssed , but also a proper comprehension of

the initial i d e ol o gi ca l ! posit ions of their authors .

In selecting hi storical material and advancing hypothe

ses of i t s possible, interp;r:etation , a hi storian utili se s the

data and methods accumulat ed by science . There is bound to

be a priori aspect in hi s investigation .

There should be no absoluti sing either the inductive

ly faced with que stions which are sometime s difficult t o

or deductive approach to mat e rial . Both of them can be used ,

tive material . More often than not , it depends on the lack

of the material on whi ch the researcher is working . The deduc

answer definitely , due to the insufficient amount o f obj ec

to a greate r or lesser extent , depending on the charact er

or incompletene ss of sourc e s , or, sometime s , on controver

t ive method i s "invi sibly" pre sent already in the re sear

searcher has to advance a hypothetical solution of the prob

tial position pre supposes a preliminary hypothetical asse ss

sial data related to the given subj ect . In that case a re

l em po sed . Historical hypothesi s is a nece ssary c omponent

che r ' s initial approach to the source , inasmuch as any ini

ment of the given source , while the hypothesis it self is a

of re search . Hypothesi s . i s a temporary , conditional , conj ec

result of the re searcher ' s general knowledge , out side the

thorough checking and is either rej ected or become s a quite

vestigation of a concret e source nece ssarily l eads the hi s

tural solution of the problem. HY,pothe si s is subj ected to a

source , and hi s general concept s . 0n the _ other hand , the in

definite , well-founded solut ion , i . e . , cease s to be a hypo

torian to conclusions that require an inductive approach .

"working " aspect in the process of hist orical re search, per

gate the causes of the phenomena under review. Solution of

the si s . In thi s context it repre sent s an e ssential auxiliary

forming the function of scaffolding , as it were , during the

- 34 -

A scholar studying the past constantly has t o inve sti

thi s t ask requires at first ascertaining all the inner and

- 35 -

. uter connections and dependence s of the given phenomenon .

Without establishing the causes of historical events and
phenomena it would be impossible to come to comprehend the
laws of social development at a higher level of abstraction .
Any event , even a fortuitous one , as it might seem , canno t
but have a cause . In assessing a historical process or
phenomenon , circumstance s are usually considered "fortui
tous if they do not have a direct impact on the essence of
the given process or phenomenon and do not belong to the
cause s conditioning them. But the se "fortuities" do not
emerge all by themselve s ; they are engendered by a number
of reasons which may not be connected with the obj ect under
investigation . They can be , and are , anife atations of quit e
definite awe which operate independently o f the laws under
lying the process or phenomenon under study . However , since
"fortuitie s" do exist , a historian should not ignore them
in his work . The "fortuitous" doe s not explain the essence
of the principal obj ect of historical analysi s , but it
should necessarily be t aken into consideration in inve sti
gating outer connections and circumstances which exert at
least some , indirect influence on the process being studied .
From this followe that both the "necessary" and the "fortui
tous " should be the subj ect of historical analysis .
Concrete research 'work plays the key role in the deve
lopment of Marxist historical scienc e . The constant raising
of the theoretical level of investigations is an indispen
sable condition of thi s qevelopment . Thia calla for an imp
rovement of a dialectical-materialist approach to the mat e
rial under inve stigation. Methodology should not be regard
ed as eomet?lng "external " with regard to a historian ' s
work . The enrichment of concrete materials should contribute
to a higher theoretical level , i . e . , bett er methodological
foundations of historical research.

1 V. I . Lenin , Collected Works , Mo scow , Vol . 3'8 , p . 1 9 5 .

2 Ibid . , Vol . 1 4 , p . 69 .

36 -

3 Ibid . , Vol . JS , p . 1 95 .
4 Th
. I . Oizerm an , lfain Philo sophic al Trend s , Mo scow ,
1 97 1 ,
.PP - 1 09- 1 1 0 ( in Russian ) .
5 V . I . Lenin
, Collec ted Works , Vol . JS , pp . 2 1 2 , 9S.
6 Ibid
. , Vol . 1 4 , p . 1 J7 .
7 Incide
ntally , the very divis ion of sciences into "exac
t"
and "inexact " does not withstand any seriou s criti
cism.
8 The past
JO or 40 years have witne ssed such essen tial
changes in the natural scienc s that it is pract
icall y
impos sible to use literature on these disci pline
s , which
was written some 20 or JO years ago .
9 J . Topol
ki , Swiat bez histori i , Warsaw, 1 972 , pp . 1 961 98 .
1 0 L.
F . Ilyichev , Philo sophy and Scien tific Progr
es s , Moscow ,
1 977 , p . 1 63 ( in Russian ) .
1 1 G.
V. Plekhanov , Selec ted Philo sophi cal Works
, Vol . 2 ,
Mo scow , 1 976 , pp . J 1 3-3 1 4 .
1 2 K.
Mar.x , F . Engel s , Werke , Vol . 39 , p . 428 .
13 V
. I . Lenin , Collec ted Works , Vol 1 , p . 401 .
14 J
. Topol ski , Metod ologia histo rii , Warsaw , 1 9
73 , p . 428 .
1 5 V. I
. Lenin , Colle cted Works , Vol . 29 , p . 473 .
1 6 I . Ko
D. valchenko , "On Applying .Mathematic al-St
ati stical
Methods in Histo rical Resea rch" , The Sours
e Studies :
Theoretical and Methodologi cal Problems , Mosco
w , 1 969 ,
pp . 1 1 8-1 1 9 (in Russi an) ; J . Kahk: , I . Kovalchenko
, "Quanti
tative Metho ds in Histo rical Research" , Socia
l Scienc e s ,
No . 2 , 1 976 .
.

consciousne s s . And in thi s lie the roo t s of "parti sanship

in science " , i . e . , the dependence of hi stori cal cogni tion
and i t s relat ed j udgement s on the class ideologi cal positi
on of the hi st orian . Parti sanship should not be j udged in
t erms of the personality of the given scholar and hi s pure
ly individual qualiti e s , t rait s , origins , p sychology , e t c .
W e must proceed from an analysi s o f the obj ective intere st s
of the social milieu t o whi ch the hi storian belong s . One
must not imagine , Marx wrot e , "that the democratic repre sen
PARTISANSHIP IN THE BATTLE OF IDEAS
IN HISTOR!CAL SCIENCE

tatives referenc e is to bourgeois democracy - .] are

indeed all shopkeepers or enthusiastic champions of shop
keepers . According to their educat ion and their individual
pos i t ion they may be as far apart as heaven from earth. What

The historian cannot abstract himself from hi s social

milieu and i t s dominant views Conse quently , one or ano
ther att itude to historical proce sses and phenomena , i . e . ,
their assessment , even regardle s s of the author ' s will , will
.

always be pre sent in any hist ori cal study . The Marxi st-Le
_nin i s t und ers tand ing of the par t i sanship of s c i ence holds
that there i s a definit e dependence between the socio-poli

makes them re pre sent a t ive s . of the p e t ty bourgeo i s i i s the

fact tha in the ir m in d s they do no t ge t beyond the l im i ts
which the lat t er do not get beyond in l ife , that they are
conse quently driven , theoreti cally , to the same problems
and solut ions to which mat e rial int ere st and social positi
on drive the lat ter practically. 11 1
In upholding parti sanship in science ,

Lenin trenchant

ly criticised those who artificially counterpose obj e c tivi

t ical class position of the hi storian and the degree of ob

ty in scientific research to the class sympathie s and anti

j ectivity , approximation t o the trut h , in hi s appraisal of

pathies of the re searcher. He wrote : "If a certain doc t rine

the hi stori cal process .

demands of everyone taking part in public life an inexorab

As every social science , hi stOTy cannot be indifferent

or neutral to the subj ect of i t s analysi s . Thi s applies t o
every stage o f re search , even the assembly o f factual dat a .
The science o f society pre supposef! research conduct e d from
definit e class positions .
Can a class position be obj ective ? Ye s , it can , if the
assessmerit of hi stori cal processe s , phenomena and event s
is made by the more progre ssive social forces , by the class
that is the Yehicle and ot ive force of social progress .
"Neutrality" in relation to so cial phenomena , i . e . , obj ec
tivi sm , inevitably leads to renounyement of a cri tical at
t itude to these phenomena , t o their apologia and , consequ
ent ly , to ret reat fom obj ectivi ty .
Marxism disc overed the social conditioning of human

- 38 -

ly obj e ctive analysis of realities and of the relat ionships

between the various classes ari sing from these reali ties ,
by what miracle can the conclusion be drawn from thi s that
they must not sympathise , are ' not entitled ' to sympathi se
with one or another class? It is ridicul ous , in this con
nection , even to talk of duty , for no living person .fil:!.
help taking the side of one ciass or another ( once he has
understood their int e rrelationships ) , can help rej oicing
at the suc cesses of that class and being di sappoint ed by
i t s failure , can help being angered by those who are hos
tile to that class , who hamper its development by dissemi
.
nating backward views , and so on and so forth. " 2 And so ,
part isanship in the social science is not artificially in
j e cted from without , but is organi cally intrinsic to the
process of re search inasmuch as it s subj ect is "living man " .

- 39 -

Obj ectivism , which bourge ois cri t i c s count erpose to

the Marxi st propo sition of parti sanship in science ,

usual

ly turns int o bourge ois parti sanship . The philistine not ion
of the "incompat ibility" of an obj ective analysis of reali
ty with parti sanship wholly ignore s the dialectic of social
development , and is premi sed on crude evolutionism in exa
mining social proce s se s . Every social phenomenon is intrin
sically contradic t ory ,

compo sed of element s imperatively

demanding that the subj e ct of research reveal his at titude

to thm . Georgi Plekhanov explained that reliance on reali
ty (without which there ca.n be no s cientific analysi s ) does
not mean passive acceptance of or reconciliati on with that
reality. He wrot e : "When the metaphysi cian hears that one
who serve s , society must take hi s stand on reality , he ima
gines that he i s being advi sed to make hi s peace with that
reality. He is unaware that in every e conomic reality there
exi st contradictorY' element s , a.nd that to make hi s p eace
with reality would mean making hi s peace with only one of
i t s e l ement s , namely , that which dominates for the moment .
The dialectical materialists point e d , and point ,

to another

element of reality , ho stile to the first , and one in which

3
the future i s maturing . "

Lenin gave an even more clear-cut fo:nnu lation of the

difference between obj ectivi sm (as count erfeit obj e ctivi ty)
and a genuine obj e ctive , clas s , materialistic approach t o
social phenomena .

Iri

the struggle with reactionary Narodi sm ,

which operat ed under the fal se flag of obj e ctivity in sci

enc e , he explained in detail the fundamental difference bet
ween obj ectivity and obj e ctivism .

"The obj ectivi st speaks

of the nece s sity of a given hi stoi cal pr0c e s s ;

the mat e ria

li st give s an exact picture of the given social-e c onomi c

formation and of the antagoni stic relations to which it gi
ves ri se . When demonstrating the nec e s sity for a given se
rie s of fact s , the obj ectivist always runs the risk of beco

ming an apoogi st for the se fact s : the materialist di scl os

e s the class cont radictions
and in so doing define s hi s
.
standpoint . " 4

- 40 -

Partisanship in hi st orica l scien

ce has nothing in com
mon with vulgar subj e ctivi sm .
Prtisanship has , in e ffect ,
a:lways been pre sent in the s cienc
e of hi st ory. "Prac ti cally
all titan s of 1 9th- century hi st
orica l thought , far from con
cealing their polit i cal convi ction
s , regarded hi st ory as a
weapon of their propaganda . They
were parti san hi st orian s
in the dire ct and pre ci s e meani
ng of the tenn Men of
diffeping polit i cal p ersua sions
, of differing so cial ide
al s , turned to the past in the
que st for argum ent s to sup
port their view s , de epen their
unde rstanding of the pre sent
and gain an insig ht int o the
future . ,_, 5
Partisanship in the socia l scien
ce s , hi st ory in parti
cular , has been the subj e ct of
cease le s s attac ks by a wide
range of ideol ogica l oppon ent
s . Some cri t i c s of Marxism s ub
scrib e
to the vulgar noti on that parti
sanship in the s o
cial ( in thi s case hi s t orica l
) scien ce means that the scho
lar is wri t ing hi story on the
ex.::- i icit orders
f hi s poli
t i cal party . Actu ally , parti
sanship , 1 . e . , the so cio-p oli
tioa l orien tatio n of one or
anot her hi st oric al work , is
de
tenni ned not by the subj e c tive
p o si tion of its author , but
by the obj ective condi ti ons
that shape hi s choi ce of ideo
logic al posi tion and gove rn
hi s crea tive work .

A cont radi c ti on DU.ght ari s e

betw een part isanship and
scien tifi c obj e c tivity--inde.e
d is bound to ari se-- if the
researcher disregards the real
re quiremen t s of progre s sive
socia l devel opment , or clash
e s with them . Henc e , part i san
ship of Marxi st socia l scien
ce , refl ec ting as it doe s the
views of the most progre ssiv
e clas s of mode rn soci et y ,
is
free of all bia s . I t i s t ruly
obj e ctive . Enge l s had every
reas on to poin t out that Marx
ism was ac quiring- supp ort ers
"in ever y country whi ch cont
ains , on the one hand , prol eta
rians and , on the o ther , unda
unte d sci ent ific theo re ti c i
ans . " 6

Bourgeoi s criti cs accu se the

Marxi s t s of "dogm ati sm" ,
the abse nce of any de sire to
make an impartial apprai sal
of
the fact s . Thi s is a hypo cri
t ical accu sati on , for it is
pre
cisel y bourge oi s hi s t oric al
scien ce that is dominate d by
sub j e c tivi sm . And i t is prec
isely bourgeoi s hi s t oriograp
hy

- 41 -

bilit y of obj e c t ively inter

that que stions the very possi
appea l for an "impa rtial
preti ng hi stori cal sourc e s . The
fore , large ly demag ogy ,
there
appra isal of the fact s " , i s ,
is "obj e ct ive " have no
and claims that bourg eois scien ce
foundation in fact .

I
relat e d t o "pure " subBourg eois obj e ct ivi sm is clo sely
ke d on the " s elf-c om
j e ctivi sm. Engel s sarca stica lly remar
furth er than i t s nose
plac ent ' ob j e ct ivity ' whi ch s e e s no
t s t o the mo st narrow
and pre ci sely for that reaso n amoun
shared by thons ans of
s
i
it
when
minde d sub j e ct ivity even
7
stioh subj e ct s . "
s been and is an
The scien ce of human hi story has alway
ict of progr essive
arena of ide ologic al struggle , of confl
y ( i . e . , the hist ory of
and reacti onary views . Hi stori ograph
di scipli ne that studi e s
hi st orical s ci ence ) i s a polit i cal
ht against a wide back
the devel opment o f hi stori cal thoug
int ere st s . This
social
and
deas
i
l
groun d of philos ophica
ic re search
graph
storio
hi
o
t
lends except ional import ance
nce of his
emerge
the
,
e
studying the deve lopment of scienc
o l ogical
de
i
ent
differ
torical concep ti ons refle c t ing the
.
s
p o sition s of the confli ct ing class force
ted progre ss in
Sovie t hi st oriography has made undoub
e of hi story by a
a s s e s sing the contri bution to the scienc
s . However., our mono
numbe r of Soviet and fore:i,g n hi storian
fully reveal e d
not
have
aids
study
graphs , t ext books and
int erinfluen
and
ction
intera
the
many significant fac t s o f
authors and
ent
differ
of
ce of hi storio graphi c c oncept ions
i on of
solat
i
in
ed
entire scho ol s . They are usuall y examin
spi
ding
"perva
the
of
each other and no t as manife stat ions
that
ed
remark
rit " of the epoch . A . M. Sakharov has j ustly
of cognit ion i s
s
s
e
c
pro
the
in
or
fact
pal
princi
the
" sinc e
o f s cience differ
i t s method ology , t h e devel opment stage s
principl e s of cog
in
,
search
re
of
method
in
from e ach other
8
other" .
each
ding
succee
nit i on and c onceptuali sation
hi stori cal scienc e
The signif icant progre s s of Marxi st
in the social i st
only
i s intern ationally acknowl edged . Not
talist count ries , the
world , but also in devel oping and capi

- 42 -

pre stige of Marxi st hi storiography is very high .

Some

schools of bourgeois and reformi st hi storiography owe their

very appearance t o the influence of Marxism-Leninism on
scholars who ,

though conscious of the weakne s s of their own

the oreti cal posit ions , are no t yet prepared to abandon their
idealist views . This finds particular refle ct i on in the
changing themes of hi st ori cal re search , more at t ention f o
cuse d on e c onomic hi s t o ry ,

the rol e of mas s movement s ,

and

the hi story of revolut ions .

At the same time ,

the bat t l e of ideas in hi story i s

st eadily be coming sharper , whi ch i s but an obj e c tive refle c

tion of the confront ation of the two socio-economic sys t ems .
Many bourg e o i s and revi sionist hi st oriographers claim
that their ideas are innovat ive . Charact eri stically , non
Marxi st ide ali stic theori e s and construct s in the philoso
phy of hi story are undergoing gradual change and are adopt
ing t o t h e t ime s . Re cogni t i on

O:t

oemi-Y.'3 cogni t i o n of indi

vidual Marxi st propo sitions have produced a seri e s of e c l e c

ti cal conceptions who se authors s e ek to uni t e the ununi tab
le , mat e riali st and idealistic int erpre t ations of the past .
For a long time H . Rickert and W . Windelband were the
mo st :prominent figures among bourgeois philosophers se eking
to undermine the mat erialist conception of hi story . Taking
as their premise Kantian dualism

they have sought to re con

cile acceptance f the alleged exi stence of unknowable hi s

t orical fact s , and the cardinal role of the hi st orian in
their int e rpre tation and asse ssment .
Acoordilll? t o Rickert , the science of hi s t ory is incon
ceivable without value cri t e ri a . Critici sing hi s subj e cti
vi st int erpre tation of axi ological j udgement s , Pl ekhanov
wro t e :

"Unddubtedly ,

every hi s t o rian arrange s hi s scientific

mat erial-- separaing the e s sential from the non- e s sential-

from the viewpoint of a certain value . The whol e que s t i on
i s : what is the nature of thi s value? It is qui t e imp o s sible
t o answer this que stion by asserting that ,
lar case ,

in thi s part i cu

the value concerned is in the cate-go-ry o"f cu;tu;l

value s . No t a t all . A s a

man

o f science--and within the fra-

- 43 -

l
mework of his science- -the historian c onsiders as essentia
of
n
connectio
causal
the
determine
to
that -which helps him
those events tha aggregate of which constitutes the indi
vidual process of deelopment he is studying ; and as non
essential that which is irrelevant to this theme . Consequ
ently , what is involved there is not at all category of
9
values spoken of by Rickert . 11
Weber ' s philosophical conceptio ns are based on
Kantian views as well . In contrast to the Marxist-Leninist
theory on socio-economic fonnations , he has advanced hi s
own conceptio n of artificia lly construct ed "ideal types of
society " . He denies the obj ective character of social regu
laritie s , proposing instead the se "ideal tyPes" as a sub
Max

j ective surrogate for historica l conceptual isation.

Unlike the Rickertian s , bourgeois scientists of the

positivis t school work from the principle of the impermis
sibility of any value judgement s in the study of the past ,
for thi s , they allege , dooms science to subj ectivist rela
\ivi sm. At the same time , however, the positivist s identify
the facts of history with the facts of. natural science ,
which reduces hist ory to the level of a mere recorder of
event s .
On the whole the cont emporary non-Marxist historiogra
to undermine the principle of obj ectivity of
strives
phy
and to- affirm the priority of the sub
knowledge
historical
. The American hist orian Henry
cognition
j ect in historical
be clear that history as
should
Steel Commager remarks,: tiit
o
what happened , over some thousands r tens o f thousands of
years , has no inherent philosophy. It is only in historio
graphy that we can discover some philosophy. History

has no philo sophy , but historians do . What ever philosophy

is found in hist ory has first been put there by some hi sto
rian--or perhaps by some philosopher . When the hi storian
purport.a to discover some laws or principles of history ,
they are laws and principles of his own making or his own
discovery and application ; when the philosopher reads some

purpose into hi story , it is hi s own reading . " Thi s extreme

ly subj ectivist position rej ects any attempt to penetrate
- 44 -

the essence of the hi storical process and understand its

implication s . But Commager goes further, negating the very
concept of hi story : "There is nothing that is in fact l:!!.
as there are atoms , rocks , or chemical s . These things

exist in Nature ; they would be there if man passed away

from the scene . But hi st ory doe s not exist in Nature , but
merely in man ' s imagination , and it is not there unless man
is there to imagine it and formulate i t . It is a sophisti

cated concept whereby man organi zes hi s collectiv e memory

and imposes order and meaning on an incoherent past . n 1 0
Such is the extreme , and lucidly formulate d , rej ection not
only of scientifi c knowledge , ut of the science of hi sto

ry as such.

There is any amount of pronouncement s on thi s subj ect .

.
I
Some exaggerat e the fact that the student of the paFt does
not have a broad experimental basi s , allegedly the only
guarantee of scientif ic obj ectivity . Many boureois scholars
are inclined to "reduce " hi story to the level of a "pariah"
far removed from modern Western sociology with i t s "strict
ly scientifi c " mathemati calised conclusio ns . We have , in
short , a curious "rearrangement of concept s " : the data the
researcher puts into the computer is tacitly accepted as
obj ective , "cleared " of the influence of the researcher ' s

personal ity. Even bourgeoi s scholars have drawn attention

to this "innocen t trick" with the help of which the comput
er programe
m r is fully "obj ectivi sed 11 1 1 These claims to
strict scientif ic obj e ctivity , to 0non-partisanship " of so
ciologica l experimental research , should be viewed with a
critical eye .

It is no accident that negation of the obj ective cha

racter of historic al research is often justifie d in bourge

ois science by the plea that we cannot authenti cally reconst

ruct event s of the past . Many non-Marxist historians are
inclined to put concrete sociolo'gy above history or , at any
rate , impose the idea that " sociolog ical methods 0 are supe
rior to historic al one s . But what kind of sociology have
they in mind? Bourgeo is histori ography underst ands social
sciences ( or sociology in its general implicat ions ) not as
- 45 -

phi losophical , 1 id e o lo gical s c ience s ,

s e d to them ,

but as s ome thing oppo

some th ing that can e as ily b e " d e i d eo lo g i s

e d " ., In the i r view , t h e social s c i ence s include primarily

applied di s c ipline s in whi ch the use of mathemati cal me

thods can allow experimental v e rifi cat i on of emp i ri c mat e

rial ,

but n o t e s s ential analysi s o r formul a t i on of ideolo

gical c onclusions .

event s , but can draw no regulari t i e s from them . For ina s

much a s "the p ro c e s s of hi s t ory cannot be general i s e d i n
any of it s phas e s " , i t simply repre s ent s t h e sub j e c tive
14
creative a c t o f the hi s t o rian .
No mat t er how near t o the t ruth the emp i ri cal data

provided by s o c i o logy c ome ,

t aken in the i r t otali ty--and

even more s o individually--they cannot explain the cause s

The Cypriot. hi s t o rian Theodore Papandopoul o s , addre s s

i n g t h e 1 3 th International Congre s s of Hi s t orical Science s

o f maj o r hi s t o ri cal proc e s s e s and phenomena . The mo s t scru

pulous s o c i o l ogi cal analys i s base d on a mult iplicity of di

i n Mo s c ow i n 1 970 , maintained that the only link b e tween

verse mathematical indi cat ors cannot fully di s c l o s e the

hi s t o ry and the " so cial scienc e s " was that both c ould b e

mainsprings of s o cial development o r d e t e rmine the c orre la

t h e subj e c t of quant i t ative inve st igat i on . And t h e quant i

is a powe rful universal analy

tative metho d , in hi s view ,

t i cal t o ol . I t s independent use in hi s t o ry has p ra c t i c ally

t i on b e tween c onfl i c t ing s o c ial forc e s , o r reveal the c apa

bility of the dominant t rend to ove rc oe o r paralyse c oun
t e rt re nd s o p e rating within s o c i e t y . Re s e arch ba s e d exclusi

"The physi cal and ma

vely on mathemati cal data that c an b e experimentally v e ri

t erial a sp e c t s b e t t e r l end themse lve s to quant i t ative defi

fied cannot go beyond the s t udy. of c e rtain l o cal proc e s s e s

the same feature s as in anthropol ogy :

ni t i on than the human aspect

Physi cal and mat erial area s

of study are b e s t sui t e d t o quant itative treatment be c ause

of their stabili sed forms and be cause , due t o the dynami c
12
p ro c e s s , they have c omplet e ly withdrawn from hi s t o ry . 11
Papandopoul o s ne e d s thi s c onclusion only t o sub s tantia
te hi s negative atti tude to the "non-experimental " s cience
of hi s t o ry . Following , the exampl e of mo st We s t e rn bourg e oi s
hi s t o rians , he fears the "non-ob j e ctive human a sp e c t " of
re s earch .

In o ther words , he want s to avoid an analys i s of

s o c i o-class relations . For in hi s opinion ,

" the methodolo

i n the i r narrow , p ragmat i c int e rpre t at i on . The claim o f mo

d e rn bourge o i s s o ci o l ogy that i t can replace the t radi t i on
al s c i ence o f hi s t o ry wi th i t s all ege dly o b s o l e t e methods
and lack of mo d e rn t e chnologi cal facili t i e s ,

i s a shee r d e

c eption .
Po si t ivi s t "dire c t exp e ri enc e " turns out

to be inade

quate even for a s at i sfac t o ry explanat i on of re c ent event s .

Concret e s o ci o l ogical methods ( a s int e rp re t e d by bourg e o i s
authors ) , b o t h i n i t s ext e rnal charact e ri s t i c s and sub s t an
c e , byp a s s e s the p rincipal a c t i on of o b j e c t ive regulari t i e s

gy of hi st ory i s not in a p o sit ion deci sively t o ext end i t s

of s o cial development , which are not always det e c t able on

s c i entific unde rstanding o f phenomena t o the hi s t o ri c al pro

13
c e s s a s a who le " .

cal formal i sation .

the surface and do not e asily l end themselve s to mathemati

class problems in hi s t o ri

At the 1 3 th Int e rnational Congre s s of Hi st o ri cal Sci en

cal re search is the main reason why non-Marxi s t hi storiogra

c e s in Mo s c ow there were differen c e s even among We s t e rn hi s

phy insi st s s o vehemently on the priority of " so c ial " s c i en

t orians on the relat i on b e tween hi s t o ry and s o c i o l ogy . Pro

Fear of the s o c i o-politi cal ,

c e s , or purely quant itat ive me tho d s of re search , which more

fe s s or Dubuc of Canada , for instanc e , made a cl ear case

easily eliminate the "human a sp e c t n , i . e . ,

against the c oncept'ion formulat e d by T.

aspe c t .

the t ruly social

This idea has b e en s e t out quit e c l e arly by the West

German hi storian The odor Schi e d e r . He c ont ends that only the

i s talk i n the human t i e s , " h e said ,

tive met ho d s , mathemat i c s , mode l s ,

Papand opoulo s .

" T he r e

" only about quant i t a

inf o rma t i on ,

c omput e r s ,

s o cial sciences reveal the regulari ti e s of devel opment . Hi s

the language of Fortran , and so on . The advantage s of pre

t o ry can only give u s a pic ture of individual , non-re current

cise s c i entifi c t e rminology and p re ci s e measurement s are

- 46 -

- 47 -

obvi ous . But tq the degre e in whi ch hi story is now s eeking

A whil e ago bourgeois hi storical science abided by

to formalise everything and gain knowledge of everything

as a result of the lat e st achievements in the so cial s ci

the principle of histori sm in i t s limi t e d , formal under

ence s , it will be put in reverse movement . Hi story ri sks

close of the 1 8th century and are associate d with t he gra

falling int o a new positivi sm

dual overcoming of the doctrine of natural law , based on

Many hi storians have t a

standing . The source s of bourgeo i s hi storism go back to the

ken a painstaking examination of national bookkeeping ,

the non-hi stori cal notion about the exi stence of " e ternal

without fully realising the the oretical problems confront

t ruth" and the immutability of man. The emergence of hi s t o

ing the e conomi st s : The very word ' mode l ' has become vogu

rism was associat e d , above all , with the e s tablishment of

i sh among hi storians ; and in using it they do not always

the fundamental difference between natural and social phe

tae into account that the e conomist s who c oine d it associ

nomena . As di stinct from the mechanical uniformity of natu

ated it with a strict stat i stical analysis

ral phenomena , the worl d of man was for the first t ime s tu

For the hu

manities ideology is what creative imaginat i on i s for the

mathematicians . Tho se who claim t o hold aloof from i deology

died as being in constant change . A long step t owards estab

l i shing his t orism was rec ognition of the thesi s that man ' s

do not take the t rouble to question the validity of their

character and actions c ould be underst9o d only in thei r de

scientific re search and do not a cknowledge the exist ence

within themselve s of c ertain c oncept s . Such sci enti st s are

vel opment . This t rend in hi stori cal science first emerged

as a reaction to the rat i onalistic idea s , which late r prov

mi sled and are mi sleading o thers . In reality , the propo si

ed fallacious , of the bourgeois Enlightenment . The idea of

a "kingdom of reason" turned out to be a . pure Ut opia , a li

tion that ideology has vanished i s the mo st ideological

1
prop osition of all . " 5
The primacy of the researcher ' s philosophical p osition
in the cognitive process doe s not signify complete negation
of c oncre t e sociol ogical methods in examining maj or social
pro c e s se s . In fact , they can help to pre cise . many aspect s
of the se pro c e s se s . And yet , concre t e hi st o rical sociology

fele s s plan t o reo rgani se society by introducing ideal le

gislative and c onstituti onal norms . The conviction was prov
ed wrong that a rational plan devised by the lawmake r c ould
chang the de stini e s of s o ciety whi ch , moreove r , was regard
ed as the sum t otal of individual s , as obj e c t s influence d
b y rat ional ideas .

cannot replace the whol e of science of hi story . For it can

Bourgeois hi stori sm , whi ch replace d speculative ratio

provide only some stable indicators for progno stication of

nalism in int erpret ing and asse s sing social pro c e s s e s , sig

social phenomena . And these can be employed only if based

nifi e d a definite step forward in the understanding of hi s

on a correct understanding of the obj e c t ive sociological

and hi storical regularities operating over a long p erio d
of time .

t ory . In general , hist oriSm. became the distinguishing fea

ture of 1 9th-century s ci entific thought . The use of this

p rinciple required a genetic analysis of s ocial phenomena ,

Bourgeois authors are concentrat ing their at tacks on

the cornerstone of hi st orical science , namely , the princip
le of hi st ori sm . Many repre sentatives of bourgeois s ci ence
re j ec t the approach t o social pro c e s s e s and phenomena as

the reflection of definit e hi storical condition s . In their

view , histori sm i s a "loop hol e " for explaining s ocial phe

nomena which , they claim , do not l end themselve s to a satis
factory inte rpretation .

c oncre t e study of their deve lopment stages from their very

origins . The t endency t owards hist ori sm was present als o in
the hi st orical thinking of the Enlighteners , but was seri
ously weakened by the abstract-rat ionali stic and me chani s
tic methodology of the Enlightenment a s a .whole As a re
sul t , whole epochs of human history , notably the Middle Ages ,
16
were bereft of p ositive historical cont ent .
.

However , bourge.oi s histori sm , which found i t s ful l e st

- 48 -

- 49 -

philo sophical sbstantiation in the conceptions of Hege l ,

de sire to s e e the future in a definite light . The phil o so

phy of hi st ory cannot eliminate thi s multiplicity of int e r
pretations of the past . The underlying idea of hi story , he
says , i s . neither optimi sm , with i t s faith in progre ss , nor

c ould not serve as a basis of obj e c t ive investigat i on o

the his t orical pro c e s s . In analysing every phenomenon in

i t s gradual development , bourgeois his t o ri sm regarded it as
something unique , as an individual phenomenon. In the opi

p e s simi sm. In the final analysi s , mankind a s a whole i s his

tory . "Man ' s exi st ence is dial e ctical , one might even say
dramati c , be cause man act s in a world of i solat ed phenome
Hi s que st for the t ruth , which constantly eludes him ,
na
11 2 1
leave s him only a fragment ed sci ence and formal thought .

nion qf H. Schl e i e r , a GDR hi storian , the rational c o re of

bourgeois histo ri sm was its establishment of ties betwe en

the general and the part i cular , but with attent i on focuse d
on th e particular. It s absoluti sation l e d t o a l l hi st orical

phenomena being regarded as unique and individual . Bourge

Sovi e t hi storiography has long maintained that the sci

ois hi stori sm denied the po s sibility of identifying obj e c

enc e of hist ory examine s factual dat a , above all , from the

tive regularities of s ocial devel opment , and thus of under

1
standing the hi stori cal pro c e s s as a whole . 7

standpoint of their conformi ty with reality , i . e . , from the

standpoint of their t ruth or fal sene ss . In this sense i t

At th turn of the c entury bourgeoi s hi stori sm was in

a stat e of profound cri si s : the view spread among histori

differs from the so-called exact s cince s .

In the past few decade s bourge o is hi st oriographers and

ans that the his tori cal pro c e ss was not only unknowable ,

sociologi st s have sought to overc ome the nihilist attitude

that it was but a collection of "fortuit ous event s " .

to hi story and give it a new int e rpretation . Much prominen

The react i onary German hi storian L . Ranke , taking a

ce has been given , in thi s cont ext , to structurali sm . It i s

long step back from Hegel , denied the unity of the world
hi stori cal proc e s s , maintaining that every epoch can be

be ing pre sent e d a s a new , " synthetic " hi st ori cal science
whi ch , we are told , has adop t e d many Marxi st the s e s . Suppor

underst ood only in it self , without relat ion to o ther

18
epochs .

t ers of predominantly positivi st vi ews are rallying t o the

banner of structuralism . But their construc t s , whi ch lead

Modern We stern hi stori ography cat egorical ly re j ec t s the

very principl e of hi st ori sm , even in i t s limited int erp reta
tion . Thus , the American sociologist M. Mandelba um deni e s

towards a materialist undertanding of hi story , re quire a

t h e unity of the hist ori cal proc e s s , arguing that there i s

The hi storian studi e s i t s different facet s without i n any

cri t i cal a s s e s sment by Marxi st hi st orians .

Every obj e ctive hi storical phenomenon is mult i-face t e d .

a mult iplicity of partial "histori e s " , and though they are

way challenging the exi s t ence of the whole . And though every

c onne c t ed , they cannot be scientifically studied because of

hi stori cal fact is limi t ed by place and time , i t s re currence

the unpredictable ext ernal influence s on one or another hi s

c ould lead the scholar to exaggerat e i t s importance . Expan

t orical pro c e s s . Mandelbaum cap sul e s hi s theo.ry in the se

si on of hi story ' s source base , the appearance of newly di s

words : "The human past wil l not be taken t o have been a sing

c overed mat e rial s and fact s relat ing to a given phenomenon

le developing pro c e s s , nor a set of such pro c e s s e s going on

independently of one another. 11 1 9

different standpoint s .

can always j ustify i t s examination from new p o sitions and

French sociologi st R .Aron says that hi stori sm , that com

t i cally p o s sibl e not only in development , but al so in a sta

In 11?-s opinion , every c oncret e interpre tation of the past

t i c stat e . But the "extraction " of individual structure s for

is det ermined by the politi cal views of the hi s t orian , hi s

i solated examination pre supp o s e s a definit e degre e o f abet-

- 50 -

ft

The examination o f fac t s o r event s a s fac e t s , e l ement s

bination of scepti cism and irrationali sm , is not so much a

0
philo sophy as an excuse for the absence of a philo sophy. 2

PM*'

or structure s of a much wider hi stori cal pro c e s s is t he ore

- 51 -

raction from tpe real historical proce ss .

The concept of social structure , as well as a method

of structural analysi s are part of the dialecticomateria

list approach to hi story. A splendid example is Lenin ' s

of Capitalism in Rus sia ( 1 899 ) , in

work , The Deve lopment
I

which there i s , both a quantitative and qualitative analysi s ,

with structures examined in development and in their static

stat e . J . Topolski rightly remarks that "to this day Lenin ' s

book , which continued and enri ched the Marxist approach , i s

ed from the general process of hi story , of which the se

structures are but element s . That method does not allow for

obj ective appraisal s , for every socal structure can be

properly underst ood and apprai sed only as a facet of cons

tantly changing and developing social .relations . Making an

absolute of structures i s tantamount to re j ecting the prin

2
ciple of histori sm . 4
It Bh;ould be noted that st3'.'llcturali sm i s criticised al

so from extreme ideali st positions . Bourgeois hi storians

an !xample o f how statistics c an b e used to study phenomena

who categorically negate the regularit i e s of the historical

Thi s pioneer work is often underestimated in discussing the

re j ec t al so the very idea o f identifying structure s as more

in their development ( in this case Russian capitalism) .

process and contend that it is unlmowable , are inclined t o

evolution of quantitative methods in examining social struc

22
ture s . n .

or less stable obj e ctive element s of social development .

Lenin ' s structural analysis is not divorced from hi s

analysis of the p roce s s as a whole . He does not regard

structure as something autonomous . Lenin wro te : "What Marx

and Engels called the dialectical method--as against the

metaphysical--is nothing else than the scientific method in

sociology , which consists in regarding society as a living

organism in a state of constant development ( and not as

something mechanically concatenated and thereore permit

ting all sort s of arbitrary combinations of separate social

Structuralism is condemned , wrongly , al so as a variety of

the "materialist understanding of . hi story " . Exi st entiali sm ,

which claims t o b e the antipode o f st ructurali sm , i s wholly

based on t subj ective activit1 of

tion of all obj ective factors .

man

and complete nega

Both structuralism and exi stentiali sm , though they

seem to be pole s apart , are ho stile to materialist dialec

t i c s and are incompatible with the genuine science of his

t ory.

The problem of the e ssence of historical cognit ion i s

element s ) , an organi sm , the study of whi ch requires an obj ec

no-t<the only area o f confrontation o f ideas in historical

the given social formation and an inve stigation of i t s laws

of functioning and development . n 23 In this way Lenin clear

level of hi storical re search , against every deviation from

tive analysis of the production relations that const itut e

ly comes out against arbitrary t reatment of " separate social

e l ement s " . In other words , he treat s society as a single or

ganism and contrasts i t s comprehensive study to what ha

come to be known . as structuralism, i . e . , i solat ed examina

tion of individual social elements (or structure s ) .

Structlism in bourgeois hi storiography in effect ne

gat e s dynamic development and absoluti se s social instituti

ons as something e stablished for all time . The structural
i st s claim that their approach is the acme of obj ectivi sin

and that they make no concessions what ever to subj ectivi sm .

In reality their examination o f social structures i s divorc-

- 52 -

science . Tlie 1\ll irreconcilable confrontation at every

the scientifi c method of studying the past .

What the critics of llarxism-Leniniem di slike most is

that it recognis e s the regularitie s of social development .
They emphasise the diversity of concrete paths of social de

velopment . And from this diversity they draw the conclusion

that there i s no mainstream of human development . And that

conclusion i s the central the si s of the dominant school of

thought in contemporary bourgeois hi storiography . Ko st bour

geois hi storians concentrate on scrupulous and detailed stu

dy of artificiall y i solat e d fragments of the past , devot ing
most attention to narrow , partial que stios and studiously
avoiding all generalisation as both harmful and dangerous .
- 5 .3 -

Scepticism is the hallmark of the c risis of bourge ois

hi storical thought . It leads , in e ffe c t , t o the divi sion of

class antagoni sms , but of the very dynami c s of s ocial de

velopment .

historical science int o a seri e s of applied di scipline s con

Some foreign his torians pay homage t o Marxism but a c

cernd mainly with the study of sourc e s . Bourgeois hi st orio-

cept e c onomic s only as "one of the - fac t o rs " that shape the

graphy , as personifi e d by i t s l eading exponent s , is prepar-

hi stori cal p ro c e s s . The pluralistic theory current among

ed to give the reader an abundanc e of factual mat e rial , not

bourgeois hi storians , which assigns e qual import ance t o dif

infrequently substantiat e d and backed up by careful c ri ti

ferent fact o rs , including e conomi c s , is in mos t case s of a

cal analysis of sourc e s . But there is no generalisation ,

positivi st charact er .

no serious c onclusions enabling the reader t o de t ermine the

under stand
The search f o r alt ernati ve s t o t h e Marxi st
that consi
s
e
i
theor
ced
produ
has
t
ing of social devel opmen
of civil isati ons or
der human hi story only as the sum-to tal
A. Toynb ee ' s theo
ime
t
one
At
cultural-hi st orical entit ie s .
. Unlik e Toyn
ext
cont
rie s were e specially popul ar in this
cyclic al deve
bee and o ther exponent s of the theory of the
e c t e d or weakl y
lopment of societ y through separa t e unco
that there i s
c onnec t e d civili sation s , K . Jasper s cont ends
whole o f mankind ,
a univer sal path o f hi story common t o the
pe opl e s have gone
but he make s the reservation that not all
accept the the
not
s
e
do
He
.
through progre s sive development
sation of hi s

period
global
ory that the starti ng p oint of
right ly point
,
ons
t ory can be tne emergence of world religi
l system bas
logi-ea
ing out t o the untenability of the chrono
ing pol:nt
start
the
ed on the Chri stian era . In hi s opinio n ,
ions which so
must be the much earlie r philo sophic al c oncept
Jasper s argue s
strongly influe nced the de stini e s of mankind .
time s " ( appro
that world hi story must begin with the "axial
according t o
,
period
this
in
was
It
.
)
.
C
.
ximate ly 800- 200 B
pment o f
develo
el
parall
the
place
Jasper s , that there t ook
, Pale s
Persia
,
India
,
China
n
i
.
powerful spirit ual pro c e s s e s
t on
reflec
o
t
man
ed
tine and Ancien t Gre e c e , which impell
f
himsel
e
fre
to
lly
the meaning of the exi st ence and gradua
of
age
an
of mythol ogical illusi ons . In short , thi s was
l break
" spiri tual fis sion" . One result Qf thi s philos ophica
was t o
through was the spread of refle ctive thought which
this e ra , Jas
have widely differ ent c ons e quence s . I t was in
at e d which
formul
were
s
e
egori
cat
basic
pers says , that the
the world ' s
o
t
sic
intrin
are
,
day
s
guide our thinking to thi
.
ere was .
s
people
of
s
live
religi ons and still direc t the

'---

l eading trend . of social development . It stands to ret?- s on

that thi s applied only to the more c onscientious bourgeois

hi st orians who , de spit e their fallacious theorie s , do not

want to take up avowedly reacti onary positions and refuse
to be c ome t ools of anti-communi sm . What we have is a pro
found crisis of world outlook , masked by talk about a de
sire t o avoid subj e ctive apprai sal s of fact s .
The most glaring example o f att empt s t o vulgaris e the
. mat erialist method of explaining the past is the exclusion
of man from the pro c e s s of hi story . Hist ory is thus reduced
to the hi s t o ry of material value s , Of t e chnology . What we
have i s a caricature of the Marxi st the sis of the revolutio
nary role of change in the product ive forc e s . The purp o se
of this is t o remove the central , deci sive e lement of the
hi stori cal pro c e s s , nam'e ly , so cial class relations . Thi s
has found i t s mo st apologe tic expre ssion in W . Ro s t ow ' s
Non-Communi st Manife st o . In i t , Ro stow name s five " stage s
of growth" to replace the Marxi st-Lenini st doctrine of so
5
cio-e c onomi c formations . 2
A large group of bourgeoi s historians are engaged in
empirical studi e s of economic hi story , without drawing the
generali sed conclusions formulat ed by Ro s t ow . But like him
they regard e conomic phenomena in i solation from so cial and
class problems . Thi s formal "conce ssion" to Marxi sm by ack
nowledging the importance of e conomic factors , degenerat e s
int o a p olemic with the real Marxi st understanding o f hi s t o
ry , into i t s negation. For rej e ction of a clss analysis i s
oft en accompanie d by the invent ion of vague "social struc
.
ture s " , the obvious aim being to avoid a study not only of
- 54 -

- 55 -

a general transition to universality. 26

Jaspers avoids defining the character of this epoch .
But he enumerate s the great spiritual processes of the time
and thei r continued development in the first millennium
B. C . and in the first antagonistic social formation. It

little or exaggerate the role of any nationality in the

histori cal process .

!!2.m
1

K . Karx , F . Engel s , Selected Works , Vol . 1 , Mo scow , 1 9 69 ,

p . 424 .

should not be difficult to see .that Jaspers ' "axial time s " ,
the existence of which he substantiat e s from. purely idea

listic positions , actually reflect the process in the first

V . I . Lenin , Collected Works , Moscow , Vol . 2 , p . 53 1 .

G . V . Plekhanov , Sel e cted Philosophical Work s , Vol . 1 ,

millennium B . C . of the ri se and growth of the first antago

ni sti c class , slave-owning socio-economi:c formation .
A fundamental feature of antiKarxi st historiography

is absolut isation of the particular , the nationally spe cifi c .

Moscow , 1 974 , p . 672 .

4

V . I . Lenin , Collected Work s , Vol . 1 , pp . 400-40 1 .

B . G . Mogilnit sky , '"Obj e ctivity and Party Spirit in Histo

rical Sci enc e " , Methodological and Hi s oriographic Prob

For the anti-Marxist fears serious generali sations , perferr

lems of Hist orical .Science , Issue 2, Tomsk , 1 9 64 , p . 9 .

ing to deal with individual , artificially isolated fact s ,

( in Russian ) .

event s , idea s . He carefully avoids conceptions that would

sugge s t regularitie s in the development of society , or even

the concept of historical progre ss . He artificially parti

F . Engel s , Anti-DUhring, Mo scow , 1 9 69 , p . 1 3 .

Marx-Engel s , Selected Corre spondenc e , Moscow , 1 95 5 ,

t'ions the universal process of history , dividing it into se

parate links , face t s , structure s , and thi s tends to exagge
rate the particular and preclude s all possibility of analys
ing it in it s dynamic movement and giving it a truly obj ec

p . 420 .
8

USSR. Pre-Sovie t Period , Moscow , 1 978 , p . 1 5 ( in Russian ) .

tive appraisal . In parti cular , there has been much great er

phy. Their aim is artificially to separate the process of

history of a given country from the course of world hi story.

10

activity of lat e by aderent s of nationalistic hi st oriogra

Marxi st historiography has many achievement s to its cre

dit in illuminating the hist orical past traversed by many
people s of Asia , Africa and Latin America . "Eurocentri sm" is
totally alien t o i t . :Marxist-Leninist hi storical science
strongly re j ec t s all nationalistic and racist concepti ons .
Expressed in thi s is also the common t endency of anti-Marx
i st historiographY to negate all regularities of social de
velopment and give prominence t o the specific , in this case
the nati onal specifi c s .
Internationalism i s part o f the obj ectivity o f Marxi st
Leninist historical science . It wholly rej ects a biased at
titude to the hi story of any people or the tendenci e s t o be-

- '5 6 -

A .M. Sakharov , The Hist oriogtjipliy of the History of the

G . V . Plekhanov , Selected Philosophical Works , Vol . 3 ,
1 97 6 , pp . 485-48 6 .

Mind , Sc ience and History , Ed. H . E . Kie er , M . K. Muni t z ,

A lbany , 1 970 , pp . 300-301 .

1 1 A . Dubuc , "L ' hiatoire au carrefour des science s humaines " ,

1 3th International Congre s s o f Historical Sciences , Papers : Vol . 1 , Part 1 , Moscow , 1 973 .
12

Theodore Papandopoul os , "La methode des science s so cia

les dans la recherche hi storique " , 1 3 th International
Congre ss of Historical Sciences , p . 97 .

1 3 Ibid . , p . 93 .
1 4 Theodor Schiede r , " Unt erschiede zwi schen hi st orischer
und sozialwi ssenschaftlicher Metho d e " , 1 3 th Internat ional
Congre ss of Hi storical Sciences , p . 66 .
1 5 A . Dubuc , op . cit . , pp . 1 48 , 1 49 , 1 5 5 .
- 57 -

1 6 Historiogr&i>hY of 11odern and Contemporaey Riston of

Europe and .America . Moscow . 1 977 . p . 43 ( in Russian) .

Section II.

The Laws of the World Historicat Process

1 7 H . Schleier. " Zum Verhiltnis von Historiamue , Struktur

geschichte und sozialWissenschaftlichen Methoden in der
gegenwartigen Geschicht sschreibung der BRD" , Probleme
der Geachichte in Methodologie , Berlin . 1 97 2 .

SOCIOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL LAWS

1 8 Historiograph.y of Modern and Contemporaey Hi stoey of

Europe and America , p . 80.
19 M.Mandelbaum. History, Men and Reason. A Study of Nine
teenth-Century Thought , Bal tiillore , London , 19 7 1 , p . 1 33 .
20 RAron , Introduction a la philosophie de l 'histoire . Es
sai sur lea limite s de l ' obj ective historigue , Paris ,
1 948 , p . JOO !

21 Ibid. , p . 3 50 .
22 J . Topolaki , Metodologia historii , Warsaw , 1 973 , p . 333 .
23 V. I . Lenin , Collected Works , Vol . 1 , p . 1 65 .
24 I . D.Kovalchenko and N.V. Sivachev , "Structurali sm and
Structural Quanti tative Methods in Contemporary Histo
rical Science " , I at oria SSSR , No . 5 , 1 976 , pp . 7 1 -7 2 .
25 W . Roatow , The Stages of Economic Growth. A Non-Communis t
Manifesto , New York:, 1 960 .
26 K. Jaspers , Vom Ursprung und Ziel der Gesc"hichte , Munich,
1 9 5 2 , pp . 20-21 .

Even in_,. antiquity it was well understood that historic

al facts and events have to be explained.

In Thucydides and

Polybio one already finds rudiments of the idea of laws of

the historical process.

At a time when the bourgeoisie was

in the ascendant and fought against feudal ideas, particular

ly that of divine Predestination as the universal motive

force of nature and society, bourgeois ideologists did not

reject the existence of objectiv r natural laws.

'

Montes

quieu wrote, for. instance, that "laws , in the most extended

meaning of the term, are the necessary connections which de

rive from the nature of things; in this sense, all beings
have their laws

". 1

In the period of modern history, there were many at

tempts to formulate laws of social development.

However,

the interpretation of these laws was extremely one-sided and

limited.

It was dominated by the tendency of Auguste Comte,

and especially his followers, John Stuart Mill and Herbert

Spencer, to transform historical science into an applied na

tural science disciplin .

It was only Marx's discovery of the materialist inter

pretation of history which provided a really solid foundat

ion for historical science. Objective knowledge supplanted

count.less speculative hypotheses and sometimes remarkable

conjectures worthy of genius ( of . Saint-Simon) .

science was now able to interpret the immense

factual information with which it had to deal.

Historical

quantities

of

This was made

possible by the discovery and employment in histo;rical re

search of an extremely powerful instrument--the category of

ob.j_e.c tive law.

- 59 -

The law " taking it in the sense of an es tabl ished in

terd ependence and connec t ion be tween phenomena ( essences ) ,
became an . inte gral part of histor ical knowledge , transform
ing it into a syst em , into a genuine sc ienc e . In his no tes
on Hege l ' a S c ience of Logic , Lenin po int e d out : "The co.nce p t
of law is one of the stage s of the cognit ion by man of un i ty

fic l i terature there are at temp ts to d e l im i tate the conc ep t

ot law and regulari ty. In fac t , these concepts canno t be
oppo sed to each other . General so c iological and historical

The materi al i st .int erpre tat ion of his tory made it pos
s ible to create a sc ience of t he general laws of so cial deve

i t . I n wo rks of his tory , the "r.egular " . i s interpreted as

t he usual , that is , as some thing in whi c h no "spe c i fic i ty"
i manife s t e d . In this kind of usage , the term "regular i ty"
lo ses its genuine meaning. His tor ical laws emerge and ac t
under concre te cond it ions of t ime and plac e . The i r or igin
is cond i t ioned ent irely by the d evelop ment o f so c ie ty , by

and connec t ion , of the rec ipro cal dependence and wholeness
2
of the wor ld pro cess " .
Lenin formulated th concept .of law
as "re lat ion of ess ences or betwe en 'essenc es " . 3

,lopthent--his tor ical mat er ial ism. Thea ge:neral laws ( those
relat ing to the in terconne ct ions between the bas is and the

superstru ture , to changes in the social sys tem in accord ance

with changes in the forces of pr oduc t ion , to the dependence
of soc ial cons c iousness on so c ial be in g , and many o thers )
are relevant to soc i e ty as a who le . For that reason they are
called general soc iological laws.
They form the fo.undat ion for und ers tanding all soc ial
phenomena ; therefore all o her so c ial sc ience s , inc lud ing
history , are based on hi stor ical mater iali sm. At the same
t ime , each spec ial soc ial science reveals and s tud i e s the
more spe cific laws pertaining usually no t to so c i e ty as a
who le , but to concrete ' asp ects of so c ial ac t ivity .

" I t is ,
of course , imposs ible to explain t he concre te histor ical pro
c ess with the aid of universal laws only. But i t . is well

known that any law is only applicable under definite cond i t

ions : it is the law of a defin'i te class of phenomena. C er
tain general soc io logical laws operate in history which are
necessary for any human soc iety ( e . g. , the law t hat so c ial

be ing is . d e t eruiin,i ng soc ial cons ciousn,e ss , the law that re

lat ions of product ion corres pond to the nature of the forces
of product ion , e t c . ) . At the same t ime , each soc io-economic
format ion has its own specific las , so that any concrete
soc ial phenomenon is subj ect .to the operat ion of many laws ,
bo th general and specif ic . n 4

As compared to histori cal mater ialism, the Marxist

sc ience of t he pas t . stud ies the more spec ial laws of soc ial

- 60 -

d eve lopment .

These are called historical laws .

In sc ient :L

laws are assert ions of the normat ive and regular nature o f
certain proce sses and phenomena. I t follows that a re gtila
ri ty is an ac t ion correspond ing to a law and d e termine d by

its progre ss ive movement .

Marx and Engels regarded t he. histor ical pro cess prin
c ipally as movement , stress ing its dynamism. Enge ls wro te :
"History is made in such a way that the f inal re sult always
ar ises from confl i c t s be tween many ind ividual wills , of
whi ch each in turn has been made what i t is by a hos t of
par t i cular cond i t ions - o f l ife . Thus there are innumerable
inters e c t ing force s , an infin i t e aer i e of paralle lograms of
forces which give r ise to one resultant--the hi s t or i cal event .
Thi s may again i tself be v iewed as the product of a power
which works as a who le unconsc iously and w ithout vol.i t ion.
For what each ind ividual w ills is obstruc t e d by everyone
else , and what emerges is something that no one willed. Thus
his tory has proceeded hi therto in the manner of a natural
proc ess and is essent ial ly subj e c t to the same laws of mo
t ion. But from the fac t that the wi lls .of ind ividuals--each
of whom des ire s what he is. impe lle d to by his phys ical cons t i t ut ion and external , in the last :re sort e conomic , .c ircum
stances ( e i ther his own personal c ircumstances or tho se of
soc i e ty in general ) --do no t at tain what they want , but are1
merged into an aggregate mean 1 a common resultant . it must
no t be conclud ed that they are e qual to zero . 1 On he contra
ry , each contr ibutes to the resultant an is to th i s extent
includ ed in i t . n5 Develop ing this fipea, Enge ls ind i cated

that , unlike nature , where ony bl ind unconsc ious forces act
and general laws are manifes ted>,,!n the int erac t ion of these
- 61 -

forces , " in the hi st ory of soc i e ty

t he actors are all en

dowed with consc iousness , are men act ing w i th del iberat ion
or pass ion , working towards definite goals ; no thing happens
wi thout a con s c ious purpos without an intended aim. But
this d is t inct ion , important as it is for histor ical invest
i gat ion , par t i cularly of s ingle epochs and events , canno t
alter the fact that the course of h is tory is governed by
inner general laws
Where on the surface acc ident holds

sway , there ac tually it is always governed . by inner , hidden

6
law and it is only a matter of d iscover ing these laws 11
What is the or igin of his torical laws?
If we were to look for the source of his tor ical regula
rit ies in ind ividual acts and d es ires , whi ch commonly contra
d ict one another , we would. be unable to cast off the yoke of
c hance .

Historical fac ts provide evid ence , however , that at

all t i mes there have been maj or events accompanied by ser ious
change s in the lives of great masses of peop le--entire nat ions
and c las ses rather than ind ivi dual! . The only cert.ain way of
d iscover ing t he laws of soc ial development is to study t he
causes which s e t great masses of people in mo t ion , and result
in substant ial or , as Enge ls put i t , " great histor ical chan
ges " in the ir dest iny. Of course , t he scholar has to take
into account that the genuine causes of the se 11 great hfstor i
cal change s" are often d is torted or even fantast ically r e
flected in people ' s consc iousnes s , and in the dominant ideas
and conce p t i ons.

The incent ives mo t ivat ing the masse s or

t he ir ideo logists , the ir l eaders , do not always ad e quately

correspond to the great histor ical pro cesse s which are actu
a lly taking plac e . But the study and comparison of concre te
informat ion charac te:t"is ing the essence of his t or ical changes ,
that is , the movement of so c ie ty , can provide a . key t o reveal
ing the o bj e c t ive . regularit ies of this movement , however deep
ly they m ight be conceale d . by a mass of chance events .

As society develop s , e conomic re lat ions a s absolutely

dominant relat ions act more and more openly and nakedly. I t
is eas ier in this s ense to establ ish the effec of o bj ect ive

laws in capi .tali st soc ie ty than in feudal or s lave-owning

soc iety.

- 62 -

It is a well-known fac t that pre-Marxian botirge o i s

sc ien e ( Guizo t , lligne t , Thierry ) recognis ed the exi stence .
,of c lasses and class s truggle. The modern French . historian
Mousnie r d efin i t e ly takes a s tep back compare d to these
opposes
c lass i c figure s of bourgeo is histor iography when he
t
concep
t
the term "soc ial stratum " ( s trate ) to the llarxis
"par
a
" c lass " . He c laims that Marx unj us t ifiably extende d
to
iety)
s_oc
is
ital
cap
of
ion
s
i
div
lass
c
he
(
'
t icular case
,
ier
Kousn
to
ing
Accord
.
ty
e
i
c
so
human
of
the ent ire hi s tory
the
in
ces
ifferen
d
of
result
a
as
soc ial s trata are formed
le ss
nature of labour or o ther func t ions they perform , regard
7 The " e l iminat ion"
ion.
t
of ownersh ip of t he means of pro duc
art if ic i
of the " c lass " concept and the s ubst itut ion of the
e of
featur
al " s trat ificat ion of so c iety" for it is a common
modern West ern hist orio graph;y.

When he s tud ies soc ial d evelopment , the histor ian deals
with two kind s of obj ec t ive laws : firs t , the general soc io lo
g ical laws d is covered by the founders of :Marxism , which are
of pr ime significance ; and second , his tor ical . laws which usu
ally are reveale d in the inves t igat ion itself .
ful:ic t
The study of general so c io lo gical laws i s no t the
the
ies
stud
ion of his t or ical sc ienc e , but histori cal sc i enc e
act ion of general so c io logical laws in the hisori cal process
the fun
under concre te cond i t ions of t ime and p lace . One of
a ge
of
t
effe
the
trace
to
is
?
ch
resear
ical
c t ions of his tor
the
of
na
phen
rse

iv
d
he
t
on
ity
r
neral soc io logical regula
l
genera
tween
e
b
links
the
histor ical process , in establ ishing
Ge
laws.
ical
stor
hi
c
soc io logical laws and .the more specifi
erdepen
neral so c io logical and hi s tor ical laWE! are c losely int
dent , and the ir act ions are cont inually interwo ven.

Any soc iologic al law , even the most abs trac t , is at the

in
same t im histori cal : in the f irst p la'Oe , it has a _ certa
it is
,
second
the
in
;
iable
var

sense
durat ion , and is in this
n
io
t
isa
general
and
,
is
analys
,
a result of the j uxtapos i t ion
e.
practic
n
i
1t1on
t
e
rep
of
,
of certain his tori cal exp er iences
revealin
ists
cons
The essenc e of general soc iologic al laws
. move
_ ing the most general pr inc iple,EJ of the deve lopmen t and
ment of so c iety rega.1'dl ess of _the concret e forms in which

- 63 -

they are emboq ied.

The content o:f the laws that are prope:u

ly M storical is determined by establi shing the specific

traits and :features of' the development and movement of' so

ciety in its concrete :forms.

At

. the same time, historical

laws reveal the mechanism of' action o:f geeral sociological

laws under concrete historical condit ions.

they are subordinate

of world history , as it is the objective source of social

progress.

In thi s respect

:format ions
The law o:f class struggle in antagon istic
ogical
sociol
ant
import
ely
extrem
an
of
e
exampl
is anothe r
law
general
more
even
the
of
ive
derivat
a
law, and is itself
oppo
of
le
strugg
and
unity
the
o:f
of mater i al ist d ialectics
extremely
sites. The range of applica tion of th is law is
at exte
ible
poss
is
broad, and i t s concrete manifes tation
ion level
mely d iverse levels--from the socio-economic :format
soc ial. organ
down to the most basic elementary cell of the

As they are genetic

ally linked to general sociological laws, they also have

certa in independence, and in ttirn form a system of coordina

ted, interrelated, and mutually interd.ependent historical

laWS Of a more or less specific nature perta ining to d iffer

ent forms of soc iety or stages of its development.

i sm.

Sociological laws are manifested in vast processes as

out o:f
Another genera l sociolog ical law whi ch :flows
histo
for
e
ificanc
ign
s
ntal
fundame
of
the f irst law and is
of
ment
replace
ive
s
progres
the
r ical science is the law of
is
in
lw
This
.
one socio... economi'c i'ormation by another
laws, whi9h
turn the source of severai correlated histori cal
of mot ion
iple
are a manifestation of both the general princ
socio-eco
inite
def
( emergence , develQpment, and declin e ) of
te deve lopment of
nomic format ions and of the forms of concre
their ind iv idual components or stages.

H istorical laws operate

w ithin comparat ively short per iods of time, and are formed

on the basis of an ensemble of relat iqns of social develop

ment at a given stage of a given type of society.

The . correlat-iori of general sociological and historical

laws ( both the more .general and the more specific) mey be

tentatively expressed in the categor ies of the d i alect ical

relat ions between the general, the particular, and the ind i
vidual.

This approach' compl.etely el im il1ates any opposing

of some laws to others and assumes their cqnnections and

interpen

at ion.

The law that the relations of product ion must corres

pond to the level of prod uct ive forces is an example of' a ge

neral sociological law which i s determ ining for many histori

cal laws.

Th i s general sociological law, which absolutely

dominates the spec if ic laws, can be said to intercoDJ;l.ect all

socio-economic formati ons and thus makes it poss ible to con

sider social development as a single natal-historical . pro

cess.

The general soc iological law posi t s that changes in

the mode of prod uction become a necessary consequence of pro

gress in the forces of production which at a certain stage

require d iscarding and the replacement of the obsolete pro

duction relations that are impeding development

Their "na

But thi s general sociological law is

aef initely not realised in a mechanical way .

the role of hi storical ;Laws is not , o:f coure, exhausted by

general tendenc ies of development.

higher and more advanced forms of socio-eco

nomic organisation.

to the general sociological laws. But

the concretisation of the ir operation.

Human history i s a continual progress :from 'the

lower to the

h ierarchy
It goes w ithout saying tha.t the entire complex
.
logical
t
abstrac
through
deduced
of histori cal laws cannot be
gene
d
profolUl
of
result
a
cons tructions, as they are rather
The
ch.
resear
al
ralisa tion of the informat ion of hi storic
laws
ical
histor
relat ionshi p between general soc iologic al and
the
of
ies
r
catego
is someti mes compared w ith that between the
re
laws
ogical
logical and the emp irical, w ith general soc:lol
empiri cal
the
at
ion
isat
l
genera
and
l,
logica
garded as the
seems to
ion
t
i
oppos
This
l.
storica
i
h
level regarded as the
pment,
develo
social
of
laws
us to be overs implif ied. Any
are a Wlity of
both the more general and the more specif ic,
law, or the
cal
the logical and the emp irical, for a histori
, nece
princip al tendency in the movement of a given society
ss rily possesses a logical " core".

tural-historical". interaction determines the entire course

- 64 -

- 65 -

The dialetical uni ty of the logical and the empirical

of d emocracy d epend on the degree to which hegemony passes

8
on to t.he lower classes rather than to the bourgeoisie.

does not s.ignify the ir identity , or the abE;Jence of any dif

ference btwe en the two.

Historical events do not always

It has already been pointed out that general sociolo-

happen in the order assumed by the logic of social develop

ment.

-gical laws are essentially historical laws as well. A

great many general sociological laws can be called , on good

This is .shown particularly clearly by examples of

the concrete replacement of certain socio-economic format

grounds , economic laws also ; such as the universal law of

the
the correspo ndence of the relations of production to

ions by others , and by the possi.bility of bypassing the

slave-owning or the capitalist stages of development in cer
tain conditions.

level of the productive forces.

The logical cannot , therefore , be simply

No historical study based on dialectical materialism

to pursue the goal of a scientific explanation of
fail
can
"History be
the processes and pheno111! na . beig anaqsed.
far it
so
in
"only
,
v
Plekhano
comes a sc ience" , wrote
sociology
of
view
of
point
the
from
succeeds in explaining
9
general
the
of
ge
knowled
The
the proces es it portrays".

, by
i.e.
,
gy
sociolo
sociolog ical laws studied by Marxist
in
an
with
historical materialism , provides the historian
strument for discovering the objeqtiv e explanat ion for the

reduced to the empirical , alt.hough one cannot e xist wi-:thout

the other.

The gr_e ater the scale of historical research ,

the clearer their unity stands out.

Closely ?ied to this is another quest ion.

The view

is current tht only general 1sociological laws are applic

abl at the socio-economic fo rmat ion level , that '

is , in

the study of socio-economic formations consid ered as a whole.

It is absolutely true that in considering socio-economic

formaions as major stages or steps in the <:levelopment of

of prime importance here.

Even so , the above v iew is erro

neous , as it proc eeds from a denial of

. the fact that sociq

economic formations are a historical reality and not simply

a logical abstraction. ' Apart from the general sociological

laws , specific historical laws are inherent in each socio
economic formation as a who.le.

Thus , the founders of scien

tific communism discovered a goodly number of historical

laws reflecting the specificity of the capitalist formation

as a whole

At the same time , these laws are c.oncretely

historical in nature

It is enough to rmember here the

historical law .of the transition of capitalism to the mono

poly stage which Lenin d iscovered and formulated.

The dis

covery of this econom.ic and at the same time hi.storical law

entailed the establ is.hment of several other

aws,

of smaller

compass but extremely significant for und erstanding the

essence of the capitalist formation.

Another example of a historical law , which Lenin d is

covered through the study of bourgeois revolutions in Europe ,

was_ that the character of bourgeois democracy and the measure

- 66 -

The goal of historical inquiry is

sm of the suffic iently well-known
mechani
.
the
to elucida te
under concrete historical condi
laws
geeral sociological
ir effect.
tions rather than to collect illustations of the
the mate
in
and
,
place
and
Fundamentai differe nces in time
of soc ie
type
iven
g
a
r ial conditio ns of the funct ioning of
laws
general
the
ty often entail not only changes in the way
facts he is examining.

hlime,n society , one . cerainly ascribs greater significance

to theoretical abstraction. General soc iologicl laws are

, quite
are m:inifested , but also an eventual increase in or
The historical
the oppos ite , a weakening of the ir impact.
is thus comple
,
laws
of
ensemble
an
by
ed
process , influenc
tely free from any mystical pre destination.

character and multiplicity of forms of his

so
torical development increase as one moves away from the
-place
time-and
c io-econom ic formation level , and approaches
The uneven

bound hi.tory which is particularly abundant in "chance

events". ' rn this area of study the historian encount ers
open up
the greates t difficult ies , which at the same time
ons
conclusi
cal
theoreti
ependent
nd

for
the perspect ives
and general isations.

"The historian's attentive and in

quisitive scrutiny is d irected at a variety of . historical

laws , which , although they are connected to general socio- 67 -

logical laws , canno t be re duc e d to them. The historian

can d iscover the spec ific histor ical 1aws by studyillg t he
interac t ion of economic , po l i t i cal and ideo logi cal pro cess
es in so c ial l i fe . The general soc io logical laws refle ct
the mater ial bas is of thiB interact ion ind icat ing the role
of the economy , poli t ics and ideology in histor icai d eve lop
ment . , -But the eluc i dat ion of the laws of the se processe_s
in thir illterac t ion under defin i te concrete cond it ions is

the j ob of his tor ical science " . 1

Ill a concrete hi stor ical pro cess ,

mani fested in the par t i cular.

the general is always

I_t fo llows that the general

and te law-governed are the cr iter ion for sele c t ing the
fac t s in a histor ical study .

General soc io log ical laws

merely provide the guide l ines for the researcher : they are

def in i t ely no t a unive.rsal key for expla ining all historical

events. The deeper the researcher de lves in.to the layers
of concrete histori cal events , into the par t icular and the
ind ividual, and the farther away from the upper s t rata o f
cogn i t io n , the greater t h e nee d for t h e creat ive generali
sat ion and theore t i cal interpre tat ion of the factual inform
at ion.

Thi s assume s , of course , an enormous amount of pre

paratory work on the ve:r ificat ion , spec ificat ioll , and class i
f i cat ion o f the factual d qcumentary data.

The h i stor ian mus t

also be comple tely versed in the his tor iographic her i tage o f
h i s area of :re search.

Ollly 0nce this great and compl icate d

endeavour is accomplished , i t is po ss ibl to engage i n

serious ind ependent theor e t ical general isat ion , whi ch by
far no t always :results in the d iscovery of a new histor ical
law.
The d iscovery of histo r ical laws assumes the accumulat
'
ion and study of recurring fact s and phenomena in the his
tor ical pro cess .

Of coitrse , it is no t a quest ion of me cha

n ical repe t i t ioll (which is pra c t ically imposs ible ) but of

d iscovery of s im_ilar stuat ions in a general soc io-eco nomic
s tructure charac t er i sed by uniform causal d ep end enc ies.

As

Len in po inte d out the general scient ific criterion of repe

t i t ion was in i t ially . conf irmed by an analys is of the relat
ions o f product ion , which lat er made it poss i ble to e s tablish
pe t i t ion in the soc ial sphere as well , in " the so c ial phe- 68 -

11
Rep e t i t ion of paenomena
nomena of the variou s cent r i es " .
he d iscovery of ge
does no t impfy their ident i ty , nor do e s t
s i ty of study ing t he
neral law e l im inate there fore the neces
ng withi n the
specif'i c i ty of ind ivi dual phenomena falli
spher e of this law.

es tabli sh the
The goal of hil!lto rical . resea rch is to
ty , often hid
ie
c
so
te
law of develo pent of a given c oncre
" chance event s",
of
mass
a
den very d eeply , to i so late it from
s law mani
thi
which
and to d iscov er the spec ific forms in
d ialec t ical
The
ive s .
fests itsel f , or its speci fi c der ivat
and the ind ividual en
unity of the general , the parti cular
par t i cular refle ct
ables one to d isc ern the gener al in the
general provi d ing ,
ing the local or tempo ral feature s , the
itat ive charac ter
qual
ive
t
c
e
obj
in the final analys is , the
s c ience canno t
ical
tor
His
.
i s t i c of the histo r ical pro cess
t he neces sary ,
and
ed
overn
avo id study ing no t only the iaw-g
thing t hat re
every
ies
It stud
but the acc id ental as we ll
thing
every
laws , and
fle cts the opera t ion of 'h i stori cal
r i cal
sto
i
o f certA in h
that contrad icts th manif es tat ion
compr ises the actua l
t endenc ies , for that i s exac tly what

histor i cal .pro cess .

as a k ind of resu ltant

Hist or ical law some t ime s appea rs
histo ri cal fac tors .
e
ivers
d
o f many confl i c t ing force s and
that this does not
ly
The po int has to be made qui te clear
facto rs , but ne i t her
at al l imply the e qual i ty of all these
d e t ermin ing facto r in
does it overt urn the thesi s that the
d e t ermin at ion of the his
the f inal analys is is the e conom ic
t or i cal pro cess .
s audac iousl y recog
Some bourgeo is hi s tor ians some t ime
soc ial d evelo pment ,
nise that there -are d eini te laws of
Typ i cal in
ions .
vat
although they do so with ma.ny reser
j am , who
er-A
Bouvi
M.
this s ense is the Frenc h h i stori an
proce ss
ial
c
so
the
of
belie ves that soc iolo gy is the study
must
ry
ht.sto
, where as
and its compo nent s taken as a who le
pro
this
us phase s of
analy se concr e te facts and the vario
of s tudy ing e conom ic
cess . As he belie ves , the exper ience
fact o f . d efe c t ive co ins
history shows , for examp le , that the
coufse o f money c ircul suppl ant ing full-w ight coins in the
- 69 -

at ion , as conf1rmed by numerous studies , cannot be called

a permanent law.

Bouvier-Ajam , therefore , emphasises the

conventional nature of the concept of historical law.

Any

historical law lacks the degree of universali ty which would

2
warrant this appellation.1
This historian , like many
other critics of Ma.-rxism , presents the materialist concept
ion of historical law in a purely mechanistic fashion.

Of considerable theore t ical interest is the . .question

of alternatives in history. Some critics of Marxism pro
poEn:l the idea of alternatives with the obvious intention of

questioning the exis tence of the objective laws of historic

The existence of alternat ives is presented

here as the subs.t ant ia tion of the accidental direc tion of
al development.

historical development.

one concept for another.

This is an obvious substitution of

No one is going to deny the abund

One can speak in this sense

of multiplicity of variants the course of historical events
ance of "accidents" in history.

may take rathr than of alternat ives.

But this has nothing

to do with the general direc tion of the historical process ,

which is always ultimately de termined by socie t y ' s economic

needs.

The concre te historical process is complex and contra

dictory.
is;

As was notd above , mankind ' s progress ive movement

never rectilinear , but involves all sorts of "zigzags".

!his is the only sense in which one can speak of alternat

ives in his tory. It is , therefore , a matter of definite

torm in which social development is realised , subjec t never

Alternatives arise

theless to the ac tion of objective laws.

primarily at the lower stages of social development , in the

microprocesses of given social organisms

The greater the

historical scale , the more distinct is the overall trend-

the objective laws of so9ial development overcoming the

mass of " accident s" .

G. Stiehler ( GDR) correctly points out that the number

of possibilit ies ( "al ternatives" ) in the historical process

grows as one moves farther away from the basis , where ob-

3 ective laws dominate.

In the superstructure , where subjec

tive factors are of overxiding importance , the multiplicity

- 70 -

of variants of the hist orical process grows. 1 3

It follows

from this t.h at alternatives in history are limited and con

ventional.

-development .

It does not rule out th e general laws of social

At t he same time it should be clearly realised

that the de t erminism of the historical process should not

be understood simplistically.

New laws of social movement

will probably be discovered as a result of creative endeav

our by people in different social sciences , including his
t ory.

As the sciences studying society are rapidly becoming

more and more diffe rentiated , there is also a growing t en

dency towards the ir cooperation , which makes possible a

more comprehensive interdisciplinary study of extremely

complex phenomena and proc esses of social development .

The opponents of Marxism a t t empt to disprove the exist

ence of objective laws of social development , referring

principally to the diversity of t he concrete forms in which

social development takes place.

The crit ique of Marxism is

primarily levelled at the concept itself of law in social

relations.

The principal arguments are based on the fact

that h is torical development

does not allow the recurrence

of iae ntical or coincid ing situations , and t here fore , makes

impossible the formulation of obje c t ive laws perta ining t o

society--as dist inc t from nature , where laws ac tually do

exist.

It may be not e d , by the way , that uniqueness and

individuality of events and phenomena is by no means a spe

c ific feature of social development.

There is also unique

ness in nature , as well e:s a great d.iversi ty of phenomena

and forms which are nevertheless explained by objective

laws.

Acceptance or denial of the laws of social development

is a mos t important dividing line be tween Marxist and non-

14arxist historiography.

Kost modern opponents of Marxism

try to dissociate themselves from recognit ion of objec t ive

laws in the historical process , just ifying this at t empt by

a deliberately vulgarised and falsified interpretation of
the concept " economic determinism" itself.

They distort

determinism to presnt it as something which func tions auto- 71 -

ma.t i cally and' c ompletely excludes creat ive ac t ivi ty . The

concept of economic determinism is thus taken to t he po int
of absurd i ty , while the ma ter.ial i s t concept ion of the his

They do no t d ep end on the w ill of men and canno t be arb i tra

r i ly d e cre e d o r abo lished .

t or i cal pro cess is treate d as a rec t i l inear and monochroma

This is a clear indi cat ion , first of
t i c interpretat ion.
all , that the se " cr i t ic s " have no idea of d iale c t ics at all .
For example , in his cri t i que of Marxism , Karl Popper rej e cts
.
14
the poss i b il i ty of d iscover ing the law of socie ty ' s mo t ion.
He proceeds from the false interpretat ion , which has some

It i s ,

t enable .
Laws do no t func t ion by t he ms e lve s , t hey are man i fe s t e d
only through so c ial prac t ic e .

real isat ion o + the pr imary t end ency exp r e s s e d by a law or

even t empor ar i ly oppo s e i t .

that t here have also been re treat s in sp e c i f i c t emporal and

local s phere s .

Even a maj or revo lut ionary theo

mo s t ad e qua t e ly r e fl e c t t he ne e d s n f t he ir t i me , that i s ,
of t he c oncre t e his t o r i cal e p o c h .

in agreement w it h the t en d ency they expres s .

The laws of s o c ial d evelop ment d o no t at a l l abo li sh

t h i s real i t y .

face but wh i ch in the final analys i s ne c e s sar i ly d ep e nd s

on the corre lat ion b e tween the ex i s t ing relat i on s of pro d uc
t i on and the cons tan t ly c hanging leve l o f the prod uc t ive
forc e s .

al interconnec t ion between the o Dj ect ive and the subj e c t ive

Change s in t he prod u c t ive forces u l t imat e ly prede

t ermine the most profound so c ial c hange s .

Obj ect ive eco

no t remain ine r t e i t her .

nomic cond i t i ons . create the po s s i b il i ty o f the emergence of

But s o c i e ty d oe s

The o bj e c t ive t end enc i e s o f d eve

lopment cond i t ioned by t he mo t ion of t he mat er ial pro d uc t ive

In

for c e s are real i s e d only thro ugh s o c i e ty ' s own ac t ivi ty and

i t s turn , the dynamic act ion of the subj e c t ive fac tor fac i

t he re sult s of t he confron t a t i on of t he c onfl i c t ing int ernal

litates and accelerates the manifestat ion of the po tent ial

for c e s .

inherent in the o bj ect ive aspe c t of the hi sto r ical proces s .

The mat er ial i s t in t erpr e t a t i o n of i s t ory is orga

ni cally al ien to vulgar mechan i sm .

S o i t is a quest ion of the d ialec.t ical uni ty o f form and

In

d i fferen t h i s torical

epo chs , t he laws o f s o c ial development break d ewn the barri

content .

ers and triumph sooner or lat er--the length o f h i s tor i cal

T he laws of so cial d evelopment expre ss the o bj e c t ive

-economi cally determined d irect ion of the mo t ion of soc ity .

p er io d s ths pro c es s invo lve s i s d ep e nde n t on the ac t ivi ty

- 7 -;, -

lj

They only d e t ermine t he lead ing t e nd ency o f

t h i s d eve lopmen t , wh i ch i s no t always v i s i ble o n the sur

In fac t , there _ is no contrad i c t ion at

- 7 2

be ing

T he d ivers i ty

of soc ial pheno mena is an ind ub i table r a l i t y .

It is quite o bvious that what we have i s a d iale c t ic

the subj e c t ive fac tor , and act ivise and strengthen it .

ie i a c t ivi ty helps e s

tab l i sh t he general so c iological and h i s t o r i cal laws ,

mo t ion is no t automatic but requires the act ivi ty of the

This d ile c t ical the s i s is cons i dere d evidence of
people .
a contrad i c t ion between the o b j e c t ive nature of the laws
.
of the movement of so c iety and the need for the ir subj e c t

aspects of the int e gral histor i cal proces s .

Thi s makes obvi ous the great s i gnificance

for h i s t ory of the r eal ly progress ive soc ial fo r c e s that

is law-governed , and that there are both general soc iologi

cal and concrete hi s torical laws in operat ion is no t fatal
i sm. Opponents of Marxism most frequently at tack the pro
pos i t ion that the real i sat ion of the economic laws of s o c ial

ive mani festa t ion .

H i s t or ic al exp er ience shows

that human progre ss has pr o c e e d e d no t o nly in z i gzags , b ut

re t i c ian l ike Rosa Luxemburg made mechan ist ic errors o f

this kind . However , admi t t ing that the h i stori cal proc ess

all.

The t o tal i ty o f c oncre t e h i s

tor i cal cond i t ions may e i t her s low down or ac c e le rate the

Some Marxi s t s have defended the idea of the automat i c

.

c l e ar that any me taphys i cal , formal-logi

charac ter ist ic o f the opponents o f :Marxism i s to tally un

influence of sc ient ific and rel igious ideas . -

therefore ,

cal approach t o the int erpre tat ion o f s o c ia l d e ve lo pmen t

currency , of e conomic development as ome thing completely

unconnected w i th o ther manife s tat ions of so c ial l ife . On
the se ground l>opper ins i sts that economic development can
.
not p lay a det ermin ing ro le , as it is itself sub j e c t to the

act ion o f o b j e c t ive laws

However , as L en in po inted out ,

any so c io lo g i cal law " i s narrow , inc o mp l ete , a pproxi ma t e 11 1 5

r.
t

of the genuine cre ators of hi story ,

the popular masse s .

"History: is no t hing but the act ivity of man

aims 0 1 6

The interest of Wes t e rn historians and so c io logists

pursuing his

in the problem of law in hi stor ical d eve lopment i s apparent ;

this was part icularly o bv ious from the c onference on the

pro blem of laws in various s c i enc es held at the Te chn ical

The act ivity of the progress ive so c ial forces ( c lasses , .

Higher S c ho o l at Karlsruhe ( FRG )

part ie s , an d ;l.nd iv i d ual s ) correspond ing t o the nee d s of pro

there , F. -G

gress ive mo t ion of soci ety and re pre sent ing t he s ub j e c t ive

t ive toward e,, laws in hi st ory.

asp ects of the histor ical proc ess becomes in t h i s ca1;Je an

express ion of an o bj e ct ive tend ency.
ing that th i s approach to t he

It

first raised in the works of the anc ient--Thucyd i d e s and

quest ion is of spec ial s igni

Polybio .

ind ividual figure s , but al so demons trated t he author ' s d e

this factor i s it self func t ioning

s ire for co gn i s ing t he laws o f human soc ial con duc t pr imar i

ly in the realm of po l i t ics d urin g a war . 1 9

transforming forc e .

Mai er ' s po si t io n was even mo re cate gor ical :

I t i s also no t ewor thy that many Wes tern histor ians , who

i on o f such histor i ca l l aws i s ac :no,:: :y a s o l d

on the who le are ideal i s t s and he s i tate t o recognise laws ,

h i s tor i o graphy i t s e lf.

re alise at the same t ime that any seri ous s c ient ific analys

had observe d ,

is is incompat i ble wi th the rej ect ion of theore t i cal inter

pretat ion and tto general isat ion of concrete his tor ical ma

in hi st ory .

" The que s t

European

Thucy d i d e s was conv inc e d that he

throu gh a k in d o f e mp ir ical general i sat io n ,

S i de by side with thi s i d ea of law-govern e d

recurrence of d e f in i t e ind ivi d ual s i t uat ions and cond i t ions

"His tory i s in great d anger

The ne e d to keep inner form is mor e

press ing than in any other area of culture .

as

c erta in r e gula i t i e s of c on d uc t of groups and ind ivi d uals

A graphic i l lustrat ion of this is O . F. Anderle ' s

" p lea for theore t i cal his tory" :

contained n o t only d e scr ipt

ions . of var i ous histor i cal even t s and charac ter i st i c s of

on the bas is of co gnised o bj e c t ive laws and becoming a grea t

of sl id ing into chaos .

" gre a t cris i s of the Hellen i c po l i s

during the Peloponnes ian war " ,

i s opposing cap i talism and d evelop ing suc cess

fully in a s i tuat ion where the role of the subj ect ive fac t

ter ials .

Top i t sch sa i d that Thucyd ide s ' hi sto r i cal works ,

which grew out of the

s ent epoch , when t he communist :f'ormat icn , which i s i n i t s

or is constantly growing ,

At the same t ime both had to

adm i t that the issues of law in the histor i cal pro cess were

go e s wi thout say

ficanc e , primary s i gnif icance for that mat t er , for the . pre

f i%st phase ,

in 1 9 6 4 .
In the ir pap ers
. Maier and. E . To p i tsch were on the who le nega

in hi s tory Po lyb io po s i ts

a s e cond typ e of hi s t or i cal

law , whtch expres s e s t he re gular recurrence of ind ivi dual

Trad i t ion ,

inner correlat ion , and cons ist ent d evelopment are nowhere
7
11
At the same
of greater si gnifi capce than in history 1

In Ma i er ' s v i ew , aft er Thucyd i d e s and Po lybio t he tra d i t io n

bourge o i s s c ience i s no cul-d e-sac but a d e fin i te stage in

H e mad e a sp e c ia l po int o f t he id eas o f Hege l and Marx :

The " theore t i cal hist ory" advocated by Anderle demand s t he

fin i t e and d e t ermined pro c ess o f wor l d h i s t o ry ,

s e que nce s in an o verlapp ing an d d e t ermine d overall pro c e s s 11

t ime Anderle be lieves that thi s crit i cal cond i t ion of

of " law-forming" hi s t o r i cal tho ught w a s n e v e r int errup t e d .

i t s deyelopment , a transi t ion from d e scri p t ion to theory.

nHe ge l gave a s ke t c h of a d iale c t ical but at

e s tabl i shment of uniformity and repe t i t i on of typ e s and mo

d e ls , as we ll as the deve lopment of general concep t s .

the same t ime

in whi c h

ind ividuals and nat ions ar e mere inst rument s o f t he over

At

r i d ing wo rld s p ir i t , whi c h in i t s t urn neces sar ily unfo l d s

t he same t ime And erle no tes that the " theore t ical hi s to ry"

i t s e l f ac cord ing t o t he law of . s uperpersonal reason.

Out

does not nece ssar i ly presuppose the e stab lishment of gene

of t h i s , Marx and h i ;:i t o r i cal ma terialism have create d ,

operat ing laws due to the a bsence of recurrence of abso lu

tely iden t ical cond it i ons . 1 8

ive forc e s " , . a d ial e c t ical law of the cour s e of h i s t o ry ,

thro ugh r e p lac ing t he H e ge l ian i d eas by " mat e rial pro d uc t -

ral laws , for in hi story there are s t r i c t , constantly

- 74 .-

20

in

which t he law-governe d var iat i on in t he r e lat ion s of pro d uc

21
t ion d e t eJ:!lll ine s t h e h i s to r i cal p roc es s 11
He never the le ss

'f

- 75 -

s poke out s trongly against the i d ea t ha t hi s t o r i cal s c ience

gle apparently assumes re s i s tance by reac t ionary s o c ial

can co gnise the o bj e c t ive laws of t he h i s tor ical pro ce ss .

forces repr e ent ing o b s o l e t e so c i al relat ions and order

But he was .

compelle d to re cognise ,

in. the s p i r i t of Max

that are be ing re legated to his t ory t o the progre s s ive and

Weber , that there i s a ne e d for typ i f i cat ion o f phenomena

new e lements who come to r e p lace them.

in the s c ienc e of h is tory .

antagonis t i c format i ons is reali sed in fierce confro nta t ion

For thi s r eason Maier regar d s

a s admiss i b le only " general statement s " , which neverthe le s s

remain hypo theses , about certa in serie s o f h i s tor i cal
22
e vent s.
C ertain bourge o i s histor ians who bel ieve that hist ory
is an ind ividual i s ing s c i ence admit that generali s ing hypo
the ses may be app l i e d at the f ir s t stage of his tor ical re23
s earh as s ub s t i t ut e s for general laws .
But that d o e s

b e twe en the o ld and the new.

Collingwo o d , Whi te and many o ther bour

geo is his torians s trongly o b j e c t even to a tentat ive mod e l

l ing of " comprehens ive " ( that i s , so c io lo gi cal and his toric
al ) laws o f the pas t .

The mo st rad i cal po s i t ion was taken

by White , who wr o t e that the re was no an swer to the que s t

24

i o n o f the e s sence Of historical explanat ion.

As has already been ind i ca te d , o bj e c t ive laws are f ir s t

o f all expres s e d i n the ac t ivity o f pro gress ive soc ial for
ces .

But thi s ac t ivity assumes an extremely acute s truggle

b e tween the o ld and te new , whi ch may take var ious forms
and proceed on d ifferent plane s .

t may b e a d ir e c t econo

mi c struggle for the survival an d conso li dat ion of a new

and more advance d s truc ture whi ch has ar i sen w i th in the
framework o f a d efin ite soc io-e co nomic format ion.

The con

f l i c t b e twe en the o ld and the new soc ial and c lass forc e s
is o f t en mani fe s t ed i n a rather camouflaged form a s con
front at ion be tween re lat ive ly abstrac t p o l i t ical , philoso
phi cal , and rel i gious d o c trine s .

"No antagonism , no progre ss .

Th is is t he law t ha t c ivi l isat ion has fo l lowe d up to our

25
days " .
H i s t ory s hows that the s truggle o f oppo s ing so
c ia l forces may for a whi le be inconclus ive .

The law- ten

dency is o p po s e d by an o bj ec t ive exi s t ing coun t er t end ency

expr ess ing the for c e o f the iner t ia of the o ld which i s un
willin g to voluntarily give way to the new.

no t i n any way s ignify reco gnit ion of obj e c t ive laws o f so

c ial develo pment .

Soc ial progre s s in

No t only general t heore t ic al cons id e rat ions but al so

the s t udy of the wor l d h i s t o r ical pro ces s p rovi d e an o bj e c t
ive foundat i o n fo r a n o p t imist i c appra isal o f i t s perspec
t ive s .

The laws of so c ia l d eve lopmen t which .have ac tually

func t io ned thro ugho ut the hi st ory of human s o c i e ty warrant

the c onc lus ion that i ts movemen t is p ro gre s s ive .
The ex i s t ence of o b j e c t ive laws o f so ial d eve lo pment
opens up the pro s p e c t s for a sub s t ant iat e d progno s t i cat i o n
of t h e hi st o r i cal pro gre ss .

The pas t is more and more le

arly s e en as forward mo vement , who s e internal contra d i c t ions

are extreme ly compl icat e d , but whi c h i s s t i ll amenable to
explanat ion , and no t as an agglomer at ion of i so lat e d fac t s
and e ve nt s .

This enables u s t o bui ld a br i d ge b e twe en the

pas t and t he pre s en t , re gard ing t o day as the con t inuat ion
of yest erday .

H i s t ory as s c i ence can thus go beyond the

r i gidly d e f ined boundar i e s s e parat ing it from real l i fe ,

and take i t s p lace among the d i s c ip lines whi ch sho uld fac i
l i ta t e so c i al ac t i v i ty and an und erstand ing of the tasks of
the future as well as o f the pre sen t .

The act ion o f the general s o c i o logi cal law o f the o b l i

gatory correspond ence of the re lat ions of pro d uc t ion +;o the
leve l o f the pro d uc t ive for c e s ,

comb ine d wi t h t he act ion o f

another and e qually general so c io lo gical law ,

Ch. Mont es quieu , De l ' e s p r i t d e s lo is , Par is , s . a. , Vo l . 1 ,

the law o f

P 7 .

c lass s truggle i n antagonist i c format ions , d e t erm ine s the

princ i pal tendency. of soc ial d eve lo pment and at t he same
t ime the general d ir e c t ion of s o c i al pro gre s s .

- 76 -

C lass s trug-

V . I . Len in , Co llec t e d Works , Mo s cow , Vo l .

3 I b id . , p . 1 3 .
5
- 77 -

38 , p p . 1 50 - 1 5 1 .

1
H i s t or i c al Mat erial i sm and t he Soc ial Phi lo s ophy of the

20 Ib
id. ,

659.

Mo dern Bourge o i s ie , Mos cow , 1 9 60 , p . 7 5 ( in Rus s ian ) .

21 Ib i d . , p .

659.

22 I
b id . ' P

666 .

K.

p.

Marx , F. Enge ls , S e l e c t e d Works , Vo l . 3 , Mo s cow , 1 97 0 ,

488 .

R.

2 3 P.

365-366 .

I b i d . , pp .

"La conc e p t de classe soc iale e t l ' hi s t o ire " ,

Mousn ier ,

Revue d ' h i s t o ire conomi gue et s o c iale , Par i s ,

Vo l .
8

48 , No .

4 , pp .

17 , p.

Fran t s e v ,

"On the Me t ho d o logical

Que s t io n s of H i s to ry " , H i s tory and S o c io logy , Mo s cow ,

11

p.

1 6 ( in Rus s i an ) .

V . I . Lenin , Co llec t e d Works , Vo l .

1 , p.

1 40 .

1 2 M . Bouv i er-Aj am , Essai d e me t ho d o logie h i s tor i gue , Par i s ,

1 97 0 .
13

G.

S t i e hler , Ge s chi c ht e und Verantwortung.

Zur Fraga d er

A l ternat iven in der Ge s e l l schaft l ichen Entwicklung ,

Berlin ,
14

1 97 2 p .

K. Po p p er , Die o ffene Ges e llschaft und

Berne-Munich ,

15
16
17

19

1"969 , p .

ihre Fe in d e ,

1 1 4.

V . I . Lenin , Collec t e d Works , Vol .

38 , p . 1 51 .

K. Marx , F . Engels , The Ho ly Fam i ly , Mo s cow , 1 9 5 6 , p . 1 2 5 .

O . F . And erle , "A Plea for Theore t i cal H i s tory" , H i s t ory
and Theory ,

18

1 5.

I b i d . , P

1 9.64 , Vo l .

4 , No .

1 , p.

55.

44.

S tud ium Generale , We s t Berl in-He i d e lberg-New York ,

Vo l . XI , P

67 3 .
- 78 -

1 96 6 ,

1 95 5 .

M. Wh i t e ,

"Foundat ion o f H i s t o r i cal Knowle d ge " , Phi loso

ph.y and His tory , New York ,

1 9 63.

K. Marx , F . ge ls , Collec t e d Works , Vo l . 6 , Moscow ,

1 97 6 '

3,

485- 48 6 .

P . N. Fe d o s eyev , Yu. P.
1 964 ,

24

25
21 5.

Plekhanov , S e l e c t e d Phi lo s ophi cal Work s , Vo l .

Mo s co , 1 97 6 , p p .
10

1 97 0 ,

449- 459 .

V . I . Lenin , C o l l e c t e d Works , Vo l .
G.

Gar d ine r , The Nature of H i s t or i cal Explana t ion ,

London ,

p.

1 32 .

theoret ical examination of this global , process pre

supposes an 8lla lysis of it s more common, t ypical featl.lre s ,

with due a ccount o f the obst acles mankind has had t o sur
mount in it s progre s s .
Th e concept " socio-economic formation" is multidimen
sional. It includes , above all , definition of the phas e of
SOCIO-ECONOJ[[ C FORMATIONS

economi c development achieved by manldnd. And it s core is the

cat egory "mode of production" which expres se s a definit e
degree of correspondence (unity) o prevalent production re
lations to the level of exis ting and constantly expanding
productive forc e s . This conc ept includes not only the eco
nomic basi s of a giv en society, but also its highly complex

The Marxist-Leninis t proposition that th e fo:r-ward move

ment of society is sub j e ct t o he ob j ective laws of deve
lopment , is especially applicable to the theory of the pro
gres sive change of socio-economic format ions . For clearJ y
and sharply revealed here is the irreconcilable difference

between the mat erialist and ideali st understanding of hi s

t ory. Thi s applies both to the base-propos ition ( s ociolo
gi cal law) of mankind ' s continuous advance , through con
secutive stages , from lower t o higher forms of the organi
sation of s oci et y, and to the exist ence of obj ective regu
lari.ties of development for every socio-economic format ion .
Th e theory o f socio-e conomic format ions i s the corner
stone of the mat erialis t c onc eption of hist ory. Referri
ng
to thi s di scovery of Marx, Lenin wrot e : "By examining
the
totality of opposing t endenci es , by reducing them to pre

cisely definab le conditi ons of life and product ion of th

e
vari.ous classes of society , by discarding subj ectivi sm
and
arbitrarines s in the choice ?f a particular ' dominant
' idea
or in it s int erpretat ion , and by revealing that , without
except ion, all ideas and all the various t endenci es
from the c ondition of the mat erial forces of product
ion,
Jlarxism indicat ed the way t o an all.-embracing and compre
hensive study of the pro cess of the ri.se , development ,
and
decline of socio-e conomic syst ems . 11 1

superstructure .

Conse quent ly, the so ci o-economic formation

repres ent s the unity of three pri.ncipal component s :

1 ) produc t ive forces ;
2) production relat ions c orresponding t o them, which

det ermine the patt ern of the economic sys t em ;

3 ) the superstructure .

Every socio-economi c formation reflects a c learly de

tinable

st age in mankind ' s advanc e f.rom lower t o higher

forms of it s exist ence . At the same time , . it is the embo
diment of widely different forms of concret e s ocial organi sm.a ,
but at one and the s ame level of histori. cal development .
The multiplicity of such c oncret e variant s in a given so cio
economic formation ( e .g. , differing forms of feudal re la

tions in many Jgirope an and Asian count ri.es ) fully justifies

the formula "unity in diversity" . But a mechanistic int er

pretation of mankind ' s continuous progres s di_sregards the

det erminative role .of the concret e activity of social man

and of the p eople generally. From thi s follows the inevit able

dif'feree not only in s pecific forms , but als o in the de

velopment pace of the coDDD.on worldwide proc es s of hist ory.
Lenin w:Dot e that )(arx , by singling out 'production re
lati ons as the main fa ctor in the st ructure and development
of the capit alist format ion , " everywhere and inces sant ly
scrutini sed the superstructure corresponding to these pro
ductio.Ji. relat ions and clothed the skelet on in flesh and
blood The reason Capital has enj oyed such t remendous success

- 80 -

- 81 -

5
t ione and Historz, edit e d by E. :Engelberg and w. Kiit tler.
Guided by the relevant pronouncement s of Karx, Engels and
Lenin, the authors examine the ris e a:p.d developaent of the

i s that this book by a ' German economi st ' showed the whole
capitalist social format ion to the r eader es a living thing-
with its everyday aspeetB, with the actual socia l manifes

capitalist format ion in the 1 9th and 20th centuries , with

special reference to Lenin ' s theory of socialist revolut ion
and the transit ion from capitalism to communism.

tation of the c la s s antagonism inherent in production re

lations , with the bourgeois political superstructure that
prot ects the rule of t capit alist class , with . the bour
geois ideas of liberty, equality, and so forth , with the

In sumnarieing the discussion -among Jlarxist scholars ,

bourgeoi s family relat ionships . " 2

it should be not ed that the mult idimensional concept o:r so

cio-economic formation has found reflection in many works

Economic relat ions play the det erminative , and conse

of the

quently the more constant and stabilising role , in the ris e

,:rounders of scientific commtmil!IJll . There is , for

instance , this passage in Capital : "What ever the soc ial form.

and development o f every socio-economic forma tion. Lenin

rerked that Karx formulated his underlying idea of:' the -na

of production, labourers and means of production always re

tural-historic al process of the development of socio-economi c

main factors of it .; But in a stat e of separation from ea ch

formations "by singling out the econoniic sphere :rrom which

other either of these factors can be such only pot entially.

the various spheres of social life , by singling out prodnc

Por production t o go on at all they 1DU8t unit e . The speci

tion relat ions

from a ll social re lat i ons as b eing basic ,

primary, det ermining all other relations" . 3 .However , it should

fic mamier in which this union is accompli shed distinguishes

also be borne in mind that ( a s :Marx point s out ) , "the same

from one another. "

the different economic epochs of the structure of society

6
Note )[arx ' s reference to the "specific

mamier" , i . e . , the concret e system of uniting, "coupling"

economic basis--the same from the standpoint of it s main

condit ions--due to innilmerable

and assurillg the int eraction of the cardinal element s of

different empirical circum

social production, that det ermines their qualitative diffe

st ances , natural environment , racial relations , ext ernal his

rence ..

t orical influenc es : etc . , from showing in:finit e variat ions

and gradations in appearance , which can be ascertained only

qels point ed out that the emergence of large-scale

by analysis of the empirically given circumst ances . n 4

landholding was predetermined by the alienation of land. He

wrot e : "The allodium made it not only possible , but also ne

It would be wrong to reduce the concept of soci o-eoono

. ce ssary t o transform t he ini t ial e qual i ty o f landho ld ing in-

mic formation to the mode of production. By it s very nature

to i t s oppo s i t e . For w i th t he e s t abli shment of the allo d ium

it is highly dynamic .

by the Germans on former Roman t errit ory-, the land became

Deprived of one o r another o f it s component s , the s ocio

what Roman landholding had long been, a coaaodity. And such

economic formation loses it s charact er of a unified syst em.

is the inexorable law of all societi es founded on colmlOdity

expres sive of a definite level or st age in the development

production and exchange : the distribution of property becomes

of s oci ety. The contradictions and ceaseless int ernal st rug

increasingly unequal , the gap between the rich and the poor

gle within this unity power the development of the forma

b ecomes ever wider, with property increasingly concent rat ed

tion and should ot , of cours e , pla ce in questi on it s sys

in the hands of a few

t ems quality , close int era cti on of its various c omponents .

From the very rise of the allo

dium land is freely alienat ed and becomes a conaodit y, and

And i t i s e qually wrong t o separat e , still less count erpose ,

the emergence of big

7
time . "

it s economic and s ocial aspects .

landholdings becomes only a matt er o:r

Of special int erest in dealing with thi s problem i s

the coll ective work o f GDR historians , The Theorz at Porma- 83 -

- 82 1:

g::

Ert ra-economic coercion of the producer is an essen

tial factor in the f'u.nct ioning of pre-bourgeois antagonis
tic formations . Thi s has found glaring expres sion in the
slave-owning formation. The s lave works under coercion and
with tools provided by his owner. In contrast , the feudally
dependent peasant has his

" own"

huisbandry, but hi s relative

economic independence is always "complement ed" by ertra

economic coercion. Lenin wrot e : "A condit ion for such a
system of economy was the personal dependence of the pea
sant on the landlord. If the landlord had not possessed
direct power over the person of the peasant , he could not
have compelled a man who had a plot of land and ran. his
8
owri farm to work for him. " It would be wrong , however,
t o exeg$erate the role of extra-economic coercion in gene
ral and under feuda lism in particular.

Economic determinism ill the world hist orical process

is manifest ed mainly on a large scale and not automatical

ly, but rather through the activity of the masaes , their
struggle , often involving mutually opposed int erest s the
result of which indicates , :fJ1 the final analysis , the main
trend of society' s progressive development .. The general

direction of soci al development is not a choice made by

people and does not depend on their desires , but is det er
mined in the proces s of transition from one level of deve
lopment of the productive forces to another, higher one .
Lenin reaarked in this connection : "In actal fact , men 1 8
ends are engendered by the ob ective world and presuppos e

In

deaoliehing Iiihring s fallacious contentions on the

dominant role of coercion, Engels emphasised : "Wherever
private property evolved it was the result of alt ered re
lations of production and exchange , in the int erest of in
creased product ion and in furtherance of int ercourse-
hence as a result of economic causes. Force plays no part
9
in this at all. "
History knows of instances of a t emporary regression
,
resulting from mass coercion, military invasion and destruc
t ion of the productive forces when the

it is it self the product of production and not only in

the historical se?Ule , but of definit e historical produo
"10
tion ..

victorious invador

brought with hi more backward social forms . "In all co

qest s , " Karx wrot e , "there can be one of three results .
The conquering people impose on the vanquished their own

mode of production in this century Cf or instance , the English

in Ireland, partly in India) ; or retain the old aode of

it--they find it as something given, 'pres ent . But it

to man as if his ends are taken from out side the world, and
11

are independent of the world ( ' treedom' ) ., n

The rise and development of socio-oonomic formations

are identical in basic essential features !he development
of ea ch country through its various stages is subj ect t
laws coBBJlon to all countries . The mode o f production de
t ermines the essence of the socio-economic format ion, i t s
type o f social re lations , it s principles of socil organi
sat ion and its dominant i deology. But identical essence
does not mean i dentical forms .
The superstructure is not a passive element : changes
in it influence the socio-economic formation as a whole .
Engels emphasised that negation of the independent hist ori
cal development of ideological spheres that play a role in

production, and are satisfied with tribute ( for instance ,

r'
the Turks and Romans) ; or there is an int eraction to pro-

hi story is tantamount

duce a kind of eyntheds (as pe rt ly is te case of the Ger

man conquests ) . In all cases it is the mode of product ion ,

the common undialectical conception o f cause and effect a s

whether imposed by the vict ors , retained by the vanquished,

or produced by a combinat ion of both , that det ermines the
new mode of exchange that is established .And though it

acts as the prerequisit e for a new period of production ,

- 84 -

to rej ecting . all possibilit y of

their influencing hi st ory. He wrote : "The basis of this i s

rigidly opposit e poles , the t otal disregarding o f int erac
tion

Once a

hist oric element has been brought int o

the world by other, ultimately economic causes , it react s ,

can react on it s enviromnent and even on the causes that
12
Th.i s confirms the absolut e need

have given ri se to it . "

- 85 -

to analyse an d 1 sys ema t i se par t ial feat ur e s of the s up er

be noted, in this context , that it would be

struc ture .
Differences within one and the same ant agoni stic for-

to expect ident i cal patt erne within a format ion , consider

mation can result from the organisation patt ern of the ru.1ing cla sses , including the structure of state power. Theo
cratical pre-bourgeois st at e forras , to cite one example ,
can strongly inf'luence the pat t ern of a formation, espe
cially if the church feudls have the upper hand over their
a ecular breth:r.e:n. As a rule , such phenomena exert a c ertain
influence on forms of the class struggle . Besides , in all
antagonistic formations there are residual elements of more
archaic social

relations .

A dogmai c and doctrinaire approach t o the theory of

socio-eco'1.omic . formations i s inadmi ssible . There are no

illogical

ing geographi c , ethnic end other factors that influence

the development of soci ety.
FeudaliBlll , the dominant mode of product ion in the world
for at least one thousand years , was distinguished by the
wide range of' i t s concret e forms . And much the sam applies
to other socio-economic syst ems .
We know , for instance , the wide differences of capit al
!!!. forms within the "classical" West ern count:ties , though
no one is likely t o challenge their adherece t o one and
the saae socio-economic formation .
These differences i n individual count ri es o r regions
concern the degree of maturity of capitalist relations and

"chemically pure" processes in na ture and even less in soci e

ty.
Lenin repeat edly emphasised that Mar.xi. em , and reali-

.the presence of' survivals of pre-bourgeois forms, .or spe

ty, do not know of any . "pure " processe s . Every socio-eco

cific features of the super-structure .

nomic formation has c ertain "alien" element s , and upon

their relative weight depends the level of the dominant so
cial relations . "Did feudalism ever correspond to it s con
cept ? " Engels asked Karl Schmidt in a lett er dat ed )(arch

1 2 , 1895 , and he continued : "Founded in the ldilgdom of the

West Franks , further developed in Normandy by the Norwegi

an conquerors , it s format ion continued by the French Norse

men in England and Southern Italy, it came nearest to its

concept-in the ephemeral kingdom of Je rusalem, which in
,
the Assize of Jerusalem left behind it the most classic
13
expression of the feudal order. "
W e have always t o take into account the many widely
differing and dissimilar aspect s of every s ocio-economic
formation ..
Ancient and Asiatic slave-owning relations provide
many examples of dissimilar concret e forms within one end
the same formation. In both cas es.

there are abundant spe

cific features , end they have engendered a discussion about

the formational classification of whole regions . A similar
dis cussion arose over the hist ory of Byzant ium (many chal
lenged the e:cistence of the Byzantian feudali sm) . It should

Some forms of slavery and s erfdom persist ed for a long

t ime within the capitalist formation.
Unlike capitali sm in the vast maj ority of European bour
geois stat e s , North American capitalism had pra ct ically no
residual forms of feudalism. But th pre s ence of slave
owning relations over a long period left it s definit e im
prit on the hi st ory and so ci o-economic structure of the
Unit e d St at es . This is beyond disput e , as is the fact that
there are element s of racism in modern American history.
Nonetheless , the absence of feudal barrie rs at the crucial
stage in the as sertion of capit alist relations gave the US
advantages

over most European bourgeois countries , enabl

ing it to overtake them economically ( "the American path of

capit alist development " ) .
The dis similarity of economic , socio-political end cul
tural levels of countries or regions which have more or les s
simultaneously ent ered a certain stage of the historical
process , det ermines inner-format ional differences that main
ly affect the super-structure , but also the basis .
The development of the productive forces is bound t o
affect the overall pa ce o f economic growth and the operation

- 86 -

- 87 -

of the obj ective econOllli c laws of the given formation.

This , in turn, creates conditions for c ertain differenc es
in the fol"lllB of the historical proces s . Certain differenc
es within one and the same antagonist ic formation can be
due t o peculiarit ies of the class struggl e or the organi
sational st ructure of the dominant classes .
Some authors maintain that the concret e process o f hi s
t ory is so vari ed that we callllo t be guided by the five

rung formula of the succession of eocio-economic formati

O?l8 : primitive soci ety,

slave-owning societ y, feuda lism,

capit alism, communism. Reference is made , in particular, t o

the "diversity" of :fe.udalism and the existence o f substan

t ial regional differenc es in slave-onriJ'la

relati ons . Some

orientali st s intain that the so-called "Aaiatic mode of'

production" represent !J a special so cio-economic formation.

In fact , this was the subj ect of a dicuasion sponsored

in

1 96 5 by the USSR Academy of Sciences ' Institute of Ori

14
ent al Studies .
?lo one will , of cours e , deny that the t erm
"Asiatic mode of production" occurs in the works of the

founders of sci entifi c cODDD.unism. But we do not find there

a:ny comprehensive eiplanation of the t erm to enable us ,
f'irst , to formulat e a pre ci s e qua litat ive chara ct eristic of
the Asiatic mode of production as an independent socio-eco
nomic . .t'ormat ion

and , second , to delineat e its t erritori

al and t emporal limit s , or, in short , locali se it . The dis

cussion c entered mainly on interpreting of individu_a l pro
nouncement s by the 11arxist classics . From t ime to t ime a
controversy would arise over wh ether or not the Asiat i c

mode o f production should be regarded as a special socio

economic formation. So far the di scs sion has not yielded
any conclusive result s , for there i s no scientifically va
lid proof, in favour of such an "Asiatic format ion" , though
most . Marxist researchers do not deny "Asiat ic forms " of
social organisat i on .
It should be not ed that there is n o uni t y among propo
nents of the "Asiat ic - formation" . Some beli eve that it
exist ed during the transition t o _a clas s soci ety and , con
sequent ly , was the first antagoni st ic format ion. others
- 88 -

believe that it existed parallel with the s lave-owning so

cieties of the West and was bas ed on exploit at i on of cOJaU
llit y aembers by the stat e . Iet ly, there is the view that
the Asi atic mode of product ion exist e d in the so-called

"new era " , that i s , aft er the 1 6th century, in India and

Chixia

One can agree with v. J'iorov that this lat t er

v:l.ew i so flagrant ly at odds with established fact s of hs

t or,y that it nee d not be taken into account . "What the ad

TOcat es of the Asiatic formation hold in coDDon , " he writ es ,
"and what strengthens their position,

and in fact , made the

di.cussion necessary, is tii e inadequacy of the conceptions

of the slave-owlling society advanced in our lit erature . n 1 5

Kost of the

.direct producers in the so-called slave-own

ing states of .Ant iquity were not s laves at all , but co11D1.un
al fal'llers exploited by the depoti c st at e . A similar si
tuati on obtained in several c ountries , usually class e d as
" early feudalism" .
!he Hungarian orientali st F. Tokei subscribe s t o the
vi ew that the Asiati c mode of productio n should be treated
as an independent s ocio-econo mic formation . However , he
hedges this off with res ervations which suagest that he

could a ccept the vi ew that the Asiat ic mo de of production

was but a phase , more precisely the last phase , in the dis
int egrat ion of primit ive society. In Tokei ' s reasoning, the
emergence of' class soci et y (whi ch res t s on exploitat ion

of the direct producer by a stratum or class of st at e offi

cials ) was complicat ed by the conservat ion of communa l pro
perty and residual forms of patriarchal relat ions . It i s

therefore diffi cult t o single out concret e cla s s differen

ces .And since Tokei argues that the emergence of a new
social ruling stratum begins within the framework of primi
t ive society, we can only infer that he is referring to a
16
specific form of . the di sint egration of that society.

Sovi et res earcher E. Loone writ es : "The quest ion of

whether or not certain common features in different count
ries and different peoples just ify their classification as
a s eparat e format ion i s a hist orical rather than philoso
phical question. - The exist ence of one or another mode of
- 89 -

,_,,!_

"''''-'''-'m'il''2'\l7XZ:4Gh

...

product ion. is discovered empirically. Philosop)Q' and ..tho

Th e problem o f formetional change-over and tranl!!l for

dology can only pose this question: is the concept ' forma

mation, that is , the problem of social revolution , is be

t ion' ' e qually applicable to a ll cases ( and reveal th lo

ing int ensively studied by Jlarxist science.

gical contradiction of it s differing usage) , or does the

In the opinion of GDR hist orian w. Kiit t ler, llarx dis

closed three different aspect s of this problem. The first
was formulat ed by him in 1 859 as follows : formation s differ

researcher have a s et of

procedures to est ablish the mean

17
ing of the concept they apply7"
W e can, o f course , re turn t o the problea of the exist ence

from each other by their dollinant l!!l y stem of producti on re

lat ions . Second aspect , fol"llUlat ed in Capital : formations should be t reat e d , in their relation to capitali sm,

or non-exist enc e of another socio-economic formation if

new and sufficiently convincing mat erial becomes available .

But for the t ime being let u s adhere t o the traditional

trom the standpoint of the remnants of pre-cepi tlist forms

that persist in them. Third aspect : formations differ from
eaoh other by the type of ownership of the means of pro

five-rung formula .
Bor can we put up with att empts to regard slave-owning

ductioJl.

end feudal relations as a singl e , int egral socio-economic

format ion. !fhi s runs count er to all available hist orical

Kutt ler writ es : "It is preciaely the coordinat ed us e

evidenc e . As distinct from the slave-owning syst em, feudal

of these three aspe ct s or dimensions that enables us to

ism was everywhere e higher form of social organisation end

traoe the development of format ions and help solve the basic

had its di stinctive features . The most important of these

problem involved in the hist ori cal study of social forma

is the emergence , t o a certain degree , of the possibility

t ions-their s e quence and replacement ,, Olly in this way

of property differentiation among the main, exploit ed pro

can we fully apprehend the oruoie l teges of hist orical

ductive class , the peasantry. The prere quisit es are thus

progress and, at the same t ime , appreciat e the contribu

creat ed for the rise of element s of new , aore progressive

tion the different cotllltries , regions end peoples have made

18
to the march of history . n

social relations .
Opponents of the five-rung formula usually argue that

!he historica l process i s very multi-form, with a

there is not enough . concrete historical evidence to provide

a clear-cut picture of the presence ot

.!!!

wealth of detail that comes t9 light in analysing socio

the attribut es

of aicy" of the five so cio-economic foraa t icms .

econo'lli c formations . At ti'Bles this can make things diffi

Bllt hi st ory

cult for the researcher. Jor instance , to this day there

has any number of exaaples of "blurre d" forms of socio

is controversy over the chara ct er of the social system in

economic relations iD.trills ic in one or another type of the

organisat ion of so ciet1. In some eses this depends on the

ancient India . Feudal relationa in a number of Asian count

ries and West ern Eb.rope do not coincide , but their speci

t empora ry " coexistence" of economic s.truetures-the relics

fic features do not detract from the single end law-govern

of extinct formations existing side by side with the more

ed prooel!!l s , nor from the operation of the common regule-

progressive productive relations with the new , dominant

ri ties of the given format ion as a whole .

structure represent ing th mode f production that det el'lli

nes the formational charact er of the given society.

The study of the concret e specifics of ea ch formation

is the province of speciali st s . But above ell it is neces-

In ell case, however, we must see the socio-econoaic

11817 t o solve the more general problem, naely,

formation as a living , developing org&lli sm passing through

the natural stages of birth , groWth , maturity end then

reaa be grouped t ogether, or, in other words , what are the

decline . It is both possible and logical tor formational

phenoaena .te 'b mtHtd dise:1.Jdlarly both is pec e, and.

time .

should dif

ferent frm.a of one and the same stage of historical prog

- 91 -

- 90 - .
f'
,

'.

\
..

\""

"

FCT

obj ective cauaes of non-identical, differing forms of ane

and the same law-governed socio-economic process in the glven
fo1"1l8tion?
Formations can be studied both in t erms of space (ty
pologically) , taking for our basis stable forms and region
al di:rference s through the exist ence of the format ion, and
also in t erms of t ime , when we examine stadial differences
characteri sing . the t ime ditf erent al in th rise and aatu

ri ty of a gi ve:n formation. '

And the first thing we should bear in a:lnd is the un

even and asynchronous process of world hiatorJ. Solle p eo ples
and regi ons , even whole continent s , pas s through ,, albeit

at diferent t imes , the same stages of development . This

time differential soaeti11es leads to the sillul taxuaous erl. st ence of different foraat ions . But the essenc e of every
multiplicit y
histori cal epoch is determined not by this
s of the
"shoot
f
o
appearance
the
y
b
of social forma , but
, even if
relations
social
new" , that is , aore progressive

at first they appear only 1n one country, for they et the

main direction of society ' s forward moveaent . !l:le simulta
neOUJI existence of different formati0l'19 is a lways linked

with their int eraction. fb.e ext ernal enviromaent .can have
a ret a rding O'l" stimulating influence on a people or region

belonging t o one and the saa formation. !hi C9ll. change the
conret e fo:rma and pace of oo ial deve lopae:nt

and

Worldwide exp erience has 8hon. that external political

fact or can in.fluenoe intra-fol'llat ional pro

ideological

ceses . OD.e need onl7 aent ion the influence of world reli
Chr:l.tiani t7, Ialaa, Buddhiam...

gions i

At various stages of soci ety ' s development , in other

orda , in various socio-econ.oaio fo%9t10lls , there. :eoae

to the fore diHillilar factors that det erlline the uneven

flow of the historical process . !hus , the more

prim:Uv

the organintion of societ7 (pr.l.111.tive-col 1te,

slave-owning society, feudalia) , the

of b. ma tura

grea ter i

th

iJl:tluace

enviroaaent . hvoureble enrtronaenta l comi

tiOD.S c an aocelente the growth of the productive forces i

. - 9 2 -.;.: :

we have only t o ooapare , for example , the Mediterranean oo'b:Jl

tries and the land-locked continental African countries .
l!hviromental differences make for more uneven developaent

and ill the end exert a s erious influence on the forms of

social relations .

The ethnic factor is important , t o o . A homogeneous or

heterogeneous population can strongly inf'lunce the course ,
form and pace of socio-economic development , and creat e un
equal conditions for the maturing of the same social phe
nomena . Ethnic unity is also an advant age in the s ense that
it t ends to lessen int ernal conflict s . But this advantage
manifest s it self only at the early stages , for wJien bourgeois
nations come int o their own, the ethnic factor is relegated to the background , giving way to class relationa and
class conflict s .
An important theoretical prob lem as sociat ed with the

int ernal modification of s ocio-economic fonnations , parti

cularly in antagonistic soci eties , is that of the so-called
s:vntheis .

There i s a :fund o f concret e historical mat eri

al to show that the transition from lower to higher forins

of socia l organi sation can follow two paths.
The first i s the independent , relatively free of ex
t ernal influence s , maturing of the conditions for transition
from one formation to another , higher. one . And inasmuch as
this is always accompani ed by sharp social con:flicts , that
eliminat e the rule of one class over another , this is a
revolutionary path. Its distinguishing feature is the change
of the socio-economic syst em as it s int ernal cont radicti

cm.a reach full aaturity without any extel"Jlal stimulation.

We " oan therefore assume that what we have is a "pure " form
of the revolutionary change of socio-economic formations .
One example is Japan. Because of its relatively isolat ed
geographical position, it was for many centuries free of

serious ext ernal influences .. This ensured it , aaang other

things , ethnic unity. But more important still was that

socio-economic processes developed there in total disregard

of what was happening on the Asian continent

- 93 -

file second path is best des cribed by the t erw. "syn

thesis " . It implie s ,
larger

in essenc e , int era ct i on and eventual

of diverse progres sive element s originating within

the moribund formation

with new ext ern.a l fact ors which

mature in radically changing s ocial and

econoaic . conditi

momment a ot eulture and a rt . The veey nature of s ocial re

lations in pre-e Ollimni st antagonis tic formations produced

the obj ective oonditiol18 for aggre ssive wars , which became
an inevitable and collllt ant concomitant
The slave-owning fo1"118t i on c ould not ,

of such s o ci et i e s .
in general ,

exist

cms. ID short , th a111t heeis ipliea transition to a new

wi 1;hout wars of conquest ' att ended by cruel "hunt for :people".

with the ext ernal enviroment . !his can lead to the emer

tions in ediaeval Europe . As . for the great Asiatic despo

formation result ing from. the clash of the given soci ety

gence of transitional forms ,

or to the t riumph of more pro

eudal int erneDine strife was the "norm" of politi cal rela
tic stat es , their rivalry was resolved in long bloody cam

gressive social relations , with ret ention and us e of "auit

paigns . !?he first st eps by bourgeos s ociety . were aarked

able " element s of the old system.

by ld.litary confli ct s . The e o-ca lled t i;a de wars and , more

The development of' countries or regions b elonging t o

the same formation can b e subj ect t o s pe cifics whi ch might

provoke . intra-formati ona l difference s affecting not only
the superstructure ,

but als o the basis . But these diffe

renc es can be of a restrict ed nature ina smuch as the

mining factors are the dominant economic relations .

Such differenees might aris e a s a result of discrepant

l evels of economic ,

social ,

polit ical and cultural develoP

ment of countries or regions which have more or less simul

taneously ent ered their format ion.el st age .
Differences in the level

of productive forc es are

bound t o influence not only the overall pace o f economic

development , but a lso opt i.nisl use. of the obj ective economi c
_
laws of the given formation which, in turn , creat e s the con
dit ions for a certain modification- of the historical proces s .
I n some cas es the comparatively minor pe culiarit i es ex

istent at the initial st age in the economic end political

organisat io,

culture and way of life , not only remain in

t a ct , but can even develop t o an ext ent that they become

responible for a special type of organi sat ion within the

formation. However , the reverse pro ces s , the gradual level

ling out of init ia l differences ,

is much more fre quent .

In the past the great est minds of humanity could only

dream of " et erna l peace " ,

of an end to the wars that dest

especially,

i:olo?lial wars ot aggrandisement are as o ld a s

bourgeois so c i et y. Only a relatively small p a rt of bourge

oi mili t a ry actiollS wee of a progressive natur'e , fo r it
wais direct ed against st ates that were the bulwark of feudal
rea cti on But even thes e wars ,

ress ive ,

begun as defensive and prog

soon became the ir oppo s i t e s ,

The Marx-

ist clas sic8 rep eatedly 'Cit ed the . example of the Nepoleolrl.c
wars , thotigh they began in defence of the French Republic
against the feudal ooalitions ot Europe , they were not o f
a liberat ory character . Quit e the

contrary,

they degene

rat ed into aggressive wars of' conquest fully in line with

the repacious int eres t s of the big French boge oisi e .
The Franco-Pruss ian War o f 1 87 1

ple o f how the campa i gn ,

is s t i ll ano ther exam

:f'u.lly j us t ified in i ts e lf ,

to uni t e
Germany in the ra c e o f opposit i on from Bonapartist France ,

degenerated into a war of conquest in which Prus si an-German

milit ari sm built up it s strength and directly support e d the

French count er-revolut ionary bourgeoisie in putt ing down

the heroic Paris C ommune .

Monopoly capit ali sa has multiplied the aggressiveness

of the iaperialist bourgeois i e . Along with the numerous

"local" wars , humanity was plunged int o the vort ex of world

warl! ,

the s e cond of which,

in scale and loss of life , has

no e qual in the whole of history.

royed the result s of man ' s creative effort s , his priceless

- 94 -

in :f'u.ll conformi ty w i th

the e:q:> lo i tat ive nature of bourge o i s soc i e ty

- 95 -

This means that the aut s s ocia l probleD.8 oalllt

lO be
reeo lved within the capitalist formation. !he acooapliall
sent of tasks vita1 to the whole of hwaani ty fall.8 to the
comnunist formation. And historical experi ence has demonat

rated the profound humanistic nature of socialism.

11aj or conquests have alwaya been a fact or in the de

The ocia li st count ries began from widely different

economic levels. !he German Democrat ic Republi c , for ina-

tence , had 11ature t echnical and product ion re quisit e s for

building sociali sm.. The situation was different in, say,

the Ko:ngolian People t s Republi c, where there was no indust
ry of any kind .

formation of dominant ocio-economic relations . Depending

Different industrial levels a ls o meant a different re'!'"

on concret e oonditio:ns , they have usually nrved to retard

lative weight of the wor, ola s s . Its

the progressive development of society, though in some cas e

sation , concentrat ion and consciouanes s has a

they sti11.t1lated such development . It i s rare , indeed , for

ing 0n a count ry ' s rat e of progress .

a war of conquest t o play even a ' limit ed posit ive role . Ill
contrast , wars of liberation are fought to uphold progres
sive social. and economic relations agajmst backward poli
t ical ayst eDlS that haD18tri:ng them. Such wars contribut e to
s ocial progres s ; which sometimes find expression in tran
sitional form.a to a new so cio-economic formation that pro
mise faster developaent of the productive forces .
Only the rise of fundamentally new , socialist relat ions-
the init ial phas e of the cOllllU.Ui s t. formation--pave the way
to banishing war from the life of soci et y.
Problems relating to t he emergence of the communist

formation's initial phase, socialism , are of exceptional

impor tan c e .

Leonid Brezhnev has said in reference to

cialism and it s main features are det ermined by the gene

ral regularities , which are inherent in the development of

all the socialist countries . We are also aware that the
effect of the general regulariti eL'!I is manifest ed in di1"
ferent fol'lll!J consist ent with concret e historical conditions
19
and national specifi cs . "
The unity of regulariti es common
to all socialist count ri es do es not preclude c ertain dif
ferenc es in the way they ere manifested.

And though rapid development i a part of the s ocialiat

differences in form and pace of implementing the t ot ality

of L'!locialist economic and cultural t ramfomatio:na . Hence ,

development stages o f the L'!! O oialiat countries do not co in
cide in time , though ever-y country passes through thea,

for thy are a manifestation of

ing the. new , s ocialist society.

In studying the substance and forms of socialist con

obj ect ive data c ract erising the stat e of the produvtive
forces , economic basis and super-structure .
- 96 -

the regularit ies in build

Cocret e social and economic dii'ferenees between so

cialist count ries meen , different rat es of revolutionary
transforma tions . Differences at the start of the social
ist revolution can be so great that elt ing t&ea wil
take a very long time .
!fhe USSR haL'!I built developed so cialism end soae other
so cialis t countries are nea ring that goal , but not a ll of
them are at the same stages in completing the econO'lli c ,
social and culurel pro cesseL'!I of bUilding sooialisa.
Thes e examples llh ow tha t a genuine historical approa ch

that t akes int o account the stages of social and e coJM>mic

development rest s on obj ective data and mu.st be st rict ly
adhered to in every study of

the socialit countries .

Partial distinctioll8 in individual countries do not

struct ion, att ention should be concent rated primarily on

direct bear

system, the disparat e starting point s made for distinct

thes e problems : "Not only are we now theoretically aware

but also have been C"!-vinc ed in practice that the way to eo

degree of org&Di

contradict te overall regulariti es, of building socialism

and communism, which are the same for all socialis t count
ries .
Socialism, olDDlUlli sm differ

ra dically from the anta

gonist ic formations based on exploit at ion of man by man.

- 97. -

Thi applies not only to the nature of socialism and com

Dnl;lli ma , but also to the conditions of, th eir construction.

Socialism, the initial phHe of the communist format io,

In

building socialism and communi sm the dialect ical

unity of economics and p olitic s stands out in. bold relief.

Economic procesaes , and even more so social and cultural

is not formed spontaneously. The progressive social class ,

for the first t ime in world hist ory, consciously, in a

proc esses , are no longer of a spontaneous chara ct er.

planned way, fashions new social relations , both the basis

tion of social development on the bas i s of cognised obj e ct ive

and superstructure . The dictat orship of the proletariat is

the starting point of the socialis t revolution and lays the
foundations for the long process of planned buil<ting of
the new economy and culture , transformation of the entire
social structure , ahange of psyChology, way of life and liv
ing standards .

aid.ti es .

fb.e economic int egration proc ess of the so

ialist countries , whi ch expresses the obj ective requirement s

of our epo ch and is ba sed on the principles of socialist
iternat ionalism, helps t o narrow the gap b etwe:en the eco
nomic levels of the various countries and assures their
harmonious and effective cooperation.

Notwithstanding the essential differences in socio-eco

nomic levels of member, counries of the socialist system,
there is one thing charact eristic of all of them, and this
has been oonv:l.ncingly confirmed by the experience of his
tory--the active and leading role o! the polit ical super
structure created in the course of the socialist revolut ion.
It is decisive in creating the necesaary conditions for
the formation and strengthenilig of the new 'bad s and for
perfecting socia list relations
Proletarian dictatorship , in what ever form, is a ne

cessary condition for ,

Of vast importance is conscientious and planned direc

the successful building of socia l

il!!llll. Where the world. class and its party, the revolution
ary vanguard , 1- guided by llarx:Lst-Leninist theory .and makes

full use .of all tae epportunit ies offered by proletarian

dict at orship !or building socialism,

:vict ory is asaured .

Lenin repeat edly used the formula : "Politics is a concent

rated expression of eco:nomics" . :And inas11.Ucb. as the socialist

b$sis is built aft er the working class takes pcr.wr, the

politi cs of proletarian diptatorahip acquire d eciaive im

portance in the building of socialie. In Lenin ' s words ,

"Politics mu.9t ' take precedence over eeen.Olli c s To argue
20
otherwise ia to forget the .ABC of ..nin".
Lellin ' ap

proach t o , an analysill of , politics is the very oppos.it e

count ries
fb.e existing differ enc e s betwe en socia list
socia l relat ions .
do not affec t the es ance of socia li st
e 8lld absolutise
erat
exagg
o
t
would be a gros s error
It
of the co111JB1lllis t
phase
al
parti al differenc es in the initi
_

formation.
asynchronous
The uneve n development of society and the
and event s , are
chara cter of ident ical hist orica l proce sses
concrete histo rical
but a varia ble magni tude -. st emming from
nue to grow and
conditions . As socia list relat ions conti
uneven development
the
,
scale
ional
strengthen on an ilat ernat
b e oTerc ome .
1will
s'
stage
ous
of ocie ty 1Dheret ed from previ

triumph
this epoch of history-the epoch of the
bilit y
po&11i
the
and building of the co-un ist fo:niat ion-, that countriH
can clearly be aeen, given c erta in condi tions
lism as a
with pre-bourgeoi relat ions can bypas capita
and through certa in
stage of socia l and econom:ic devel opment
highe r type of ao
t ransi tiona l stage s advanc e to .the au.ch
.
ll
lil!!l
ciel relat ions , :aam.e ly, aocia
In

!Qll.

w, Vol . 21, P 57.

1 V.I. Len:f.ll , Collected Works , Kosco
2

Ibid. , Vol. 1, PP 141-142.

of' volunt ariam in all it s forms , which ignore the obective

3 Ibid . ,

volutionary process.

4 x.

econollio laws and absolut ises force and - ol#dlc the r

PP .1 37-138.

Kar.z: ,

- 98 -

Capita l , Vol. 3 , Moscow , 1971, P 792.

- 99 -

""'"'

H,, ,

..

,_,, ,,,,,., ,.

..

.., --- --

,.,,,,,,....

,......

..,,.,.. ..,. ,.....

,,,.,,,., .,

.,, ., ,,,, ,.

., ,.,.,._,,,,,., ,.,,,.,,,,,

,
,,.,,
.,.,,.,.,.,,,_,,

5
6

Formati onth e ori e und

Ges ahioht e , Berlin, 1 978.

Karl 11arx, Capi t a l , Vol . 2 , pp . 36-37 .

7 K. 11arx and F.

Enge ls , '

Vol. 1 9 , p . 476 ..

8 V.I . Lenin, Collect ed Works , Vol . 3 , pp . 1 92-1 93 .

Ellg e la ,

.Anti-Inhring, Moscow , 1 969 , P 1 94.

10 K. Jla.rx and F. Engels ,

( in Russ ian) .

11

'

Vo l . 1 2 , p p . 723-7 24
SOCIAL REVOLUTIONS

.
V . I . Lemn, Collect ed Works , Vol. 3 8 , p . 1 89 .

1 2 K. Ma- and F . Engels , Se le cted Works , Vo l . 3 , Mos cqw ,

1 910 , p . 497 .

1 3 Marx-Enge ls , S e l ecte d Correspondence , Mo s cow , 1 953 ,

14

p.

565.

The General an d the Spe cifi in the His torical Deve lopmnt
of Ori ent al Countries , Koscow , 1 966 .; V .. N. Nikiforov,

The East and World

15

1'

Moscow , 1 976 ( b oth in Russian) .

V.N. Nikiforov, "!!!h e Conc epti on of , the Asiatic Mode of

Production and Mo dern Soviet Histori ography" , f4 Genez:al

pd the Specifi c
elltal O!Ui!t r:le s .

Toke i ,

-, .

1 977 .
17

Hbt ory,

1l'l the Hiatorioal Develoent

r:l.e

Zur !l'heo

of Ori

der Gee ell!ohat!!fpraen, Budapest ,

E.li .. Loone., "Jlethodological Not es on the 1!1.eory of Soeio

Economic Formations " , !rp.aaotion.s cf,:! !artu Pglvmil.t z,

Issue 225 , lhiloaoppi,cal Btudie Vol. XII , 1 969 , PP 1 471 48 (in Russian) .

1 8 w ..

Jdit tl er , ichi9htaejodolog;LMe MR! der gtenrJ.e

Berlin, 1 974 , p . 32 .
L.. I .. Bre zhne v , )1ollowing Lepi!' 0oFf8, Io ao ow, 1 972 ,
P 328 ..

CfH9hahaftatomtionen,
19
20

V.I

..

Lenin;' collect ed Wor)Cs , Vol. 3 2 , p .. 83 .

The hi st ory of mankind i s a hi story literall y abounding

in revolutionary actions of different scale and significance .
Their specific feature s and those of civil and national li
beration wars , as well as of aggre s sive actions directed at
their suppres sion are shaped by a given hi storical epoch . In
order to underst and the concret e nature of revolutionary ac
t ions it is ne c e s sary to compare them with a concre t e epoch ,
with a given hi stori cal situation . Scholars constant ly have
to deal with contradic t ory fact s pertaining to one or ano

ther reyolutionary ction . Sometime s actions that outwardly

appear to be revolutionary are , in fact , an unscrupul ous
struggle for power by various groups of the ruli'ng classe s .
The t endency t o clothe actions that are anything but reyolu

t ionary in revolutionary garb , to make wide use of demagogic

slogans which di stort and slur over the e ssence of the event s
taking place , is well known .

At the 1 4th International Congres s of Hi storical Scien

c e s in San Franci sco differenc e s arose regarding the inter
pretation of the very t e nn "reolution" . A comprehensive
classific ation of revolutio ns can be made only on the basi s

of a thorough study , first of all , of the far-ranging revo

lutionary actions of the mass e s ( according to the corre spond
ing hi t orical eoch ) , and then on the bas i s of a detailed
examinati on of the innumerable empirical circumstanc e s that
det ermined the actions . The general rule here must be that
- 1 01 -

act ions not involving the broad mass of the population can

transition from one formation to anoher finds it s concre t e

not be considered revoluti onary . What mot ivat ed the se mass

embodiment in the diversity of individual , parti cular soci

e s , their real rol e in the movement is the key to under

al revoluti ons ;

st anding event s . Not all revolutionary actions , it should

include a progre s sive l eap in the development of the produc

1
t ive force s , production re lations and the sup erstructure . "

be clearly real i sed , are ne c e s sarily positive in the sense

o f furthering so cial progre s s . Hi st orical example s t e st ify
to initially progre s sive movement s even becoming reacti ona
ry one s , or vice versa . The dialecti cal pro c e s s of the deve
lopment of revolutionary movement s is a highly complex one ,
the correlation between their component element s is capable of changing .

A special t ask of hi st ori c al science is to work out a

typological characteri st i c of revolutions relat ing to a de
fini t e l:ii st ori cal epoch . They can . be the revolutionary ac

t ions of slave s , of the enslaved fre e populat ion , the maj or

revoluti onary unheaval s known in hi story as peasant wars .

The seri e s of bourgeois revolutions beginning with the ma
nufactory period of capitali sm and up to the consolidation
of capit ali st social relat ions merit a spe cial study . The
revoluti onary acti ons of the working class make up an inde
pendent chapter in mankind ' s progre s sive struggle for a bet
t er future .

An4

finally , the sociali st revolut ions ,

c onst i

tut ing the highest s age of the revolutionary struggle .

But in all this. very complex and ramified syst em o f re
volutions , whi ch were and remain the principal expre ssion of
the progre s sive activi ty of the popular mas se s , it is e ssen
t ial to single out the event s which have become landmarks
in mankind ' s forward movement . Reference is to revolutions
whi ch have changed the prevailing mode of production , have
led to new socio-economic formations. It is precisely thi s
cat egory . of revolut ions ,

occupying the highest position in

the hierarchy of all revolutionary actions , that are called

" social revolut ions " .
Social revolution i s a pro c e s s of advance from one socio-economic formation t o anothe r . K . Sele znev di stingui shes
three aspe c t s of this term:

"a) social revolut ion in the

broadest sense of the word is the t ransition from the lower

formation to the higher ; b ) social revolution as a general
phenomenon ,

as an deal progre ssive leap , as

- 1 02 -

p ro c e s s of

c)

social revolution in it s full scop e must

Social revolut ions are , t o use Marx ' s t e rm , the " l o c o

motive s of hi st ory" heralding the vi ct ory of new socio-e c o
_no:mic relati ons ove r the old one s . They extend be yod local
.
limit s , are key fact ors in the world hi st ori cal p ro c e s s .
They are therefore ,

of e qual importance for underst anding

the hi st orical destini e s of all p eople s in all continent s .

Social revolutions are the determinant o f mankind ' s
forward movement .

Soci e t y ' s t ransition from one socio-e cono

mic formation to another can be achieved only by a revolu

t.i onary upheaval , not by an evolutionary p ro c e s s .
Of course ,

social revolutions are not a unifp rm ,

simul

taneous act . The revoluti onary t ransi tion from one socio
e c onomic formation to another i s a proc e s s of deep-going po
lit i cal ,

e cbnomic and ideo logi cal change s who se forms and

the p ac e at whi ch they are carri e d out canno t be the same ,

since thi s i s det e rmined by the profound qualitat ive di s
tinctions o f the respective formations . The change-over of
socio-economic format ions i s an obj e ct ive and , in the final
analysi s , a determined pro ce s s . But it does not proceed au
t omati cally .

Social revolutions are the culminati on of the

activity of the popular ma sse s . Their role as the makers of

hi story most vividly mi;mife s t s it self during social revolu
tions , when there cl early emerge s the key signifi c anc e of
the progre s sive so cial force s ,

classes and part i e s expre ss

ing the vi t al demands of broad soci al strata and rallying

them to fight for the sat i sfaction of these demand s .
Social revolutions are always the direct re sul t o f a
concre t e struggle of oppo sing social forc e s .
The correlat ion o f the se forc e s det ermine s both the du
ration and the out come of the struggl e . Lenin stre s sed that
"Marxi sm differs from all other socialist theories in the re
, marka ble

way it combines complete scient ific sobri e t y in

the analysi s o f the obj e c t ive state of affairs and the ob-

- 1 03 -

j ective course of evolution with the mo st emphati c recogni

ry forc e s in power bent on retaining the old rel ations . A

tion of the importance of the revolutionary energy , revolu

great concentration of effort and all means of struggle i s

tionary c reative geriiu s , and revolutionary initiative of

.the masse s--and also , of course of individual s , group s , or

required t o overcome thi s re si stance . The revolutionary ele

ments can achieve victory only given their preponderance .

ganisations , and parties that are able to di scover and achie

2
Lenin thus expres sed
ve contact with one or another class . n
with the utmo st clarity the idea of the dial ectic interac
tion , interdependence of the obj e ctive and the subj e ctive

At the same time nearly in every social revolution ca

sual and unstabl e social strata are drawn into the movement
who eventually prove to be nothing but temporary "fellow

factor in the revolutionary proc ess .

t ravellers " . It should always be borne in mind that not on

One canno t but agree with V .Afanasyev ' s premi se that

it is e s sential to take into account the sliding bounds of

sive or defensive forc e s in the revolutionary proce s s . Al

though the bas ic clas s e s are the chief exponent s of soc ial

ly the basic classe s of the given society act as the offen

the . concepts "obj ective conditions" and " subj ective factor" .

antagoni sm. , the non-basic clas.se s , like the various social

"What on the plane of general hi storical mat erialism appears

strata often appearing in the political arena with their

as the subj e ct , as the subj ective factor can , in one or ano

"particular" demands , can sometime s influence the general

ther concre te sphere of social life , appear as the ouj ect ,

as obj e ct ive conditions . " 3

course of the movement . The pe culiar ideological covering

of their political position can temporarily even obscure
the e s sence of the basic revolutionary pro c e s s . And the va

Throughout the hi story of mankind the subj ective factor

of social revolutions kept changing., affecting not only the

rious combinations of the heterogeneous social forc e s parti

some cases it appeared as a seri e s of internally connected

able degree , the forms of the revolutionary movement .

content but also the forms of the revolutionary proce s s . In

cipating in the struggle can al so determine , to a consider

links but outwardly as independent revolutionary actions co

The diversity and extreme complexity of the processe s

vering a comparatively long period of time , during which the

accompanying a social revolution have prompted some authors

dying socio-economic ' relations. were destroyed and replaced

to advance the idea of i t s modelling . We believe , however ,

by new , more progre s sive one s . In other case s the formation

leaving the hi storical arena came under such heavy blows

that modelling conf ormably t o invariant types o f social phe

nomena , in particular to social revolutions , fal l s short of

that it yi elded it s place in a relatively short period. Where

the tasks of identifying the individual featur s of the se

the revolutionary activity of the masse s is far ranging the

phenomena . Modelling pre supposes the int entional creation

degree of participation in the revolution cannot be the same

of definite conditions of exi stence of the given phenomenon .

for different categori e s and strata of the population . Along

side the vanguard , the minority , acting as the mo st consci

But the model create s these conditions in static , not in mo

vement , which i s in irreconcilable cont radiction with the

ous and purposeful subj ective factor of social revolution

very es senc e of hi stori cal knowledge which proceeds from the

i t s shock force can also be social strata which mostly act

dynami sm of obj e ctively exi st ing hi st orical fact s .

spontaneously and do not always have a clear idea of the

The first social revolution in the hi st ory o f mankind

concret e aims of the struggle . But without th;i. s force the

was the transition from a classless society to a class so

revolution would be doomed to defeat .

ciety. The long and agonising process of the divi sion of so

Since every social revolution is directed at aboli shing

ciety into classe s proc eeded in a form totally unlike the

the prevailing political and economic relations it i s bound

usual conception of revolution . In the sharp struggle accom

to encounter bitter resi stance on the part of the reactiona-

panying the proce s s of the de struction of the primitive-com-

- 1 04 -

- 105 -

..

munal syst em 'and the enslavement of a considerable part of

the population by the

emergent

short e r seri e s of int ermedia t e stage s i s

t ran sformed int o
privat e propert y . n 6 Thi s o b servati on by
Engel s i s of great
import anc e for unders t anding the e conomic
cont ent of that
.
first soc ial revolu tion in hi s t o ry which
gave ri se to a
class-a ntagoni s t i c so c i e ty .

social hi erarchy there wer no

revolutionari e s in the generally ac c e p t ed sense of the wo-rd:.

A . Pershi t s , A . Mongait and V . Alexeyev are of a different

opinion ,

however.

They ho ld that when the negative rol e of

di sint egrating primitive-communal product i on re lat ions ,

of

N mat t e r in what form thi s society aro se--as a slave-

the art ific ial imp ediment of the growth of the product ive
frces manife st e d i t self ;

owning or a s a feudal society--private property wi t h i t s

" the social forc e s which came out

sundry specific feature s became i t s basi s .

in favour of the abolition of c ommunal ownership of the

means of produc t i on and it s replacement by privat e proper

ty ,

were allegedly det ermined by p e rsonal t i e s and were ,

the abo lition of the clan-based tribal soc ial community

and its rep lacement by stat e-politi cal inst itut i on s ,

social structure--tho se

so cial forc e s were ,

i.e. ,

must b e flat ly rej e c t e d .

revolutionary forc e s " . At the stage of the disint egra

ed ,

a c ert ain part of it s members was int ere s t e d in break

t i on of t he primi t ive-c ommunal system ,

ing away e conomi c ally ,

rial t ie s ,

the

F o r a l l the peculi ari t i e s of mankind

' s transi tion from
a primit ive classl e s societ y to an antago
ni sti c societ y it
cann o t be denie d that it was a social
revolu t ion of far
ranging conse quence s marking a signif icant s t ep along
the
path of social progre s s , of overcoming
stagnat ion and ex
panding the sphere of the app licati on
of human labour ( al
though forc ed labour ) and thus openin
g up wide vi stas for

indisputab

ly ,

said authors not

in passing from clan t i e s to t erri t o

i n the clan-based t ribal communit y becoming a

neighbour communi t y . 4 Thu s ,

not

only the emergent

archaic tribal - clan sys t e .

It doe s not follow ,

exploit er

the further devel opment of the produc

tive forc e s -

stratum but much broader . social strat a want e d an end t o the

that

of course \

Social revolutions ushering in the

thi s signified conscious opp o si t ion of antagoni stic

,
class re lati ons t o the clan syst em .

t ime .

the ruins of the

t em ,

Studie s on the hi st ory of archaic Gre ece convincing

partic ular intere st .

undoub t e dly undermined the primitive-communal system . En

annulment of the

Solon ' s reform which provided for the

system of mortgaging land p l o t s and of

debt s which placed the debt or in servitude to the credi t o r ,

c l e arly bad a s it s purp o se t he conservation of t he primit ive

community . 5

But no reforms could prevent the disint egration of pri-

mitive society.

"All civili sed peoples begin wi th the common

ownership of the land . Wi th all peopl e s who have pas sed a

ce rt ain primitive s t age ,

t hi s c ommon ownership become s in

the course of the deve lopment of agriculture a f e t t e r on

produc ti on .

It i s abolished ,

negat e d ,

- 1 06

and aft e r a longer or

have their specific feature s .

In thi s re spe c t the evolut ion o f the communi

ty i s of
In hi st o ri cal l i t e rature the u se of

ly show that the appearance of commodity-money relat i ons

that

feudal f o rmation on

slave-owning . sy s t em of relat ions or as a

result of the disntegration of the primi t ive-communal sys

The cri si s of primi t ive society continued for a long

ge l s point ed out

there

fore , out side the deci sive sphere of e c onomic determini sm ,

in favour of a fundamental progressive reorgani sat i on of

the

The a t t empt s t o

deny the privat e-property nature o f feudal relat i on s whi ch

I
f

l
j
!

the cat egory "community" has acquir ed

an extrem ely broad ,
one might say , univer sal charac t e r . Not
only the more or
less suc c e s sful at t empt s of the p eaant
ry to upho ld some of
their right s agains t the feudal lord s ,
but also their att empt s t o influe nce the formati on of new
bourge oi s social

rel at i ons and ,

in a cert ain s ense ,

lations are due to

the

even t o modify the se re-

stabili t y of the c ommunit y .

.
the o ther hand , we know of the effort s
of the th_eo
.
.
ret1c1an s of Ru s sian
Narodism
to see in the Ru ssian p easant
communi t y the embryo of sociali st relat i ons
, although hi st ori cal experi ence showed the i l lusory nature
of such as-

sump t i ons .

On vast concre t e material Lenin di sclosed the

in-

- 1 01 -

evitable pro c e s s of the capit alist break-up of the c ommuni

ty. Some ideologi s t s in the Asian and African count ries
view the community not in i t s hi st orical development . but as
something permanent , st able , bearing at time s even a mystic
character. Argument s based on exaggeration of the stability
of the c ommunal structure are oft en echoed by the proponent s
of the "Asiatic mode of production" .
Of course , it would be wrong t o complet ely ignore the
rol e of the communit y in the hi st orical pro c e s s or t o mini
mi se it s signific ance . But any study of the communi ty requ:ire s a concre t e hi sto ical approach . Thi s premi se i s of
decisive importanc e . Nowhere did the communit y remain immu
t able . It aro se , evolved under the impact of various inte r
nal and ext ernal conditions. and , finally , di sappeare d . Any

exaggerat ion of the communit y , let alone it s ideali sation ,

leads t o a serious di st ortion o f the hi storical p roc e ss .

Reference is sometime s made to the fact that the commu

nity i s , pre sent ( though in various forms ) in all known socio
e conomic formations . But what is actually meant i s the pre
sence of rudimentary relics of some archaic and social in
stitutions , and nothing- more .
The slave-owning format ion did not as ye t , at the st age
ion .
of it s di sintegra ti n , give rise to a new mode of produc t
from
t
differen
,
ions
relat
cial
so
of
s
But individual element
A
slave-owning relat ions , began to appear relativ ely e arly.
antago
social
that
ance
contributing factor was the circumst
.
ni sms were no longer confined to slave- slaveowner relat ions
and
big
en
Of enormous signific ance was the conlict betwe
small landown ership . In thi s confli9 t the ruling class of
s
slave-owners , who repre sent ed big landowne rship , were opp o
but
free
legally
,
ers
landown
small
of
stratum
ed by a broad
syst emati cally subj e c t e d t o all kinds of coercion by the
landowne rs of the latifundi a .
The crisis i n slave-owning relations , whi ch was basical

ductive , even though it was expo sed to the political mono

poly of the big landowners maintained through social diff e
rent iat ion. Seeking to increase the profitability of their
latifundia , the big landowners combined forced slave labour
with the more profit able labour of the various groups of
free and " semi-free " peasant farmers , securing at the same

tiine their dependence in various forms . In some cases the

slave-owner s e ven allowe d the ir slave s c ertain e conomic ini
t iat ive . Thi s led to the social p o sition of the slave s draw
ing closer to those of the "free " farmers who were dependent
in one way or ano ther on the big landowners . All this even
tually stimulated the cont radi ctory and extremely slow pro
c e s s of crystalli sat ion , in the bowel s of slave-owning so
ciety , of such typ e s of exploitation which were no longer
"typical " of the given society and whi ch could be regarded
as a pro t otype of future feudal relation s .
J . Herman , a Marxi st hi storian from the GDR , examining
the rol e of the popular mas se s in the hi story of the first
antagoni stic formations , beli eve s that al though one cannot
.
spe ak of a "revolut ion of the slave s and colons which dest
royed the slave-owning syst em" , neverthel e s s the long strug
gle of the popular mas se s was instrumental in furthering
the expansion of t he ec onomic sphere of the free and semi
fre e agricultural populat ion . Thus , an offensive on the po
sit ions of the ruling cla s s was under way , the pere qui si
t e s were being creat e d or the abolition of the slave-own
ing format i on . The upsurge of the mas s movement s , Herman
stre s se s , oft en took place on the periphery of the slave
owning empire . It was precisely the periphery that began to
play a maj or role , as a re sult of the mas s movement s , in
the further deve lopment of the progre s sive hi st orical pro
cess. 7
De spi t e the emergence of obj ective prere qui sit e s for a
revolut ionary transition from the slave-owning to the feudal
formation , it could not , and did not , t ake place automat ical

ly caused by' the low product ivity of slave labour , precipi

ly . There is the saying that with the end of the slave -own

t at ed a seri e s of contradi c t ory , but nonethe l e s s int erc on

ing formation both clas ses-- slave s and slave-owners--peri sh.

nec t e d proc e s se s . The free . small farmers ' economy , for all

Thi s should not be taken lit erally , for we are de aling with

its relative weakne ss , proved to be comparat ive ly more pro-

the complex pro c e s s of the ri se of a new class st ructure .

- 1 08 -

- 1 09 -

""

Of course ,

ertain

part

of the former ruling class be

come s feudal l ords . Als o a new l arge clas of dependent

peasant s appears ,

formed naturally . from the basic mas s of

dire ct producers , whi ch was "inheri t ed" from the forme r

format ion .

The change i n t h e class struc ture of t h e n e w so

ciety consolidat e s the revoluti onary proc e s s under way.

The t ransi t ion from one antagoni st i c socio-economic

formation to another ivariably ent ail e d reat sacrifi c e s ,

cruel . suffering for the broad mas s of t he peopl e .

The slave

owning mode of product ion re sted on the use of the c rue l l e st

methods of /compul sion .

The feudal

socio-economic format i on ,

although i t was based on somewhat l e s s brutal forms o f ex

./

p lpitat on , was one of sharp class struggle and ruthl e s s

suppre s sion of a i l and every f o rm of prot e st b y the main

mas s of the dire c t produc ers .

Chapt e XXIV of Volume

of

Marx ' s Capital giv e s a st ark picture of the inhuman methods

whereby so-called primit ive ac cumulat i on was effe c t e d .

t ali sm. ,

Capi

the bearer of social progre s s at that t ime , made i t s

appearance in the world arena- on the bones of hundreds of

thousands of name l e s s vi c t ims .
Not

a single one of the socio-economic format ions can

ari se before

the formation pre c e ding it has exhau st e d the

ob j e c t ive condit ions' of progre ssive devel opment . We are

speaking ,

of course , . of the world hi stori cal pro c e s s as a

whole and not of a hi st o ry of a definit e region .

tic

Although slave-owning so c i e t y was the first antagonis

class format i on , not all peoples passed through that

stage . Feudal rel at i on s sometimes arose dire c t ly on the ru

ins of the archaic c l an-tribal classle s s soci e t y .

not , however ,

a departure from the principl e 0 of the hi stori

cal suc c e s sion of format ions ,

not app ear ,

ons had ,

Thi s was

for the feudal formation could

and did not app e ar ,

before slave-owning relat i

i n t h e course of t h e world hi st oric proce s s ,

proved

their insolvenc y . The German tribe s , which played no small

part in the downfall of the slave-owning Roman Empire , were

able to pass direct ly to fedali sm. only and pre c i sely becau
se

they had already formed class rel at i on s when slave-own

ing society had hi s t ori cally exhaust ed it self on a world

scal e .

- 1 10 -

The feudal format i on dominat ed for more

sand. years .

than a thou

De spi t e the comparati vely early signs of i t s di

sintegrati on , whi ch began with the inc ept ion and deve l op
ment of cap i t ali st element in the bowe l s of the feudal
sys
t em , it s revolutionary replac ement c al l ed for a long st
rug
gle .
The social revoluti on c onslida ting the cap i t al i st
sys
t em was not a simul t aneous act . Lenin wro t e that one
can
speak of the consumma tion of the bourgeoi s-demo crat
ic revo

lut ion both in the broad and in the narrow sense

.

Taken in

hist orical t asks of the bourge o i s revolut i on ,

' c onsum

the broad sense ,

mati on ' ,

i.e. ,

"it means the fulfilme nt of the obj e c t ive

the removal of t-he very soil

gende ring a bourg e o i s revolut i on ,

entire

the consummat ion of the

cycle of the bourge o i s revolut i ons .

for example ,

( though begun in 1 789 ) .

if the t erm i s used in i t s narrow sens e ,

cular revolut ion ,

' wave s ' ,

doe s not

In thi s sense ,

the bourgeoi s-demo crati c revoluti o in France

was c onswmnat ed only in 1 87 1

the

its

capable of en

o n e of t h e bourgeoi s revolut ions ,

if you like ,

But

it means a p art i

one o f

that bat t e rs t h e old regime but

destroy it altogether , does not remove the basi

s
that may engender subse quent bourgeoi s revolut
ions . In thi s
sense the revoluti on of 1 848 in Germany was ' consumm
at e d '
_in 1 850 or the fift i e s , but it did not in the
least thereby
remove the

soil for the revoluti onary revival in the sixt

i

e s . The revolut ion of 1 789 in France was

us say ,

in 1 794 , without ,

however ,

' consummat ed ' ,

let

thereby removing the

soil for the revolut i ons of 1 83 0 and 1 848 . 11 8

In v i ew of the unevenne s s of wo rld hi s tor i cal d e ve lo p

ment t h e revoluti onary pro c e s s conne c t e d wi th t h e change

of socio-econQmic formations pro c e e d s in the form of a cyc

le or "wave s " of revolutions ,

to ci t a Lenin .

They differ

from each other ln their different degre e s of int ensit y ,

t ermined by the prevailing hi st orical condi t i on s .

of bourge o i s revolutions is complet e d ,

nin ' s words ,

when all

The cycle

as we see from Le

only when they have fulfilled their t a sk s ,

the component s of the

capit ali st

- 111 -

de

socio-ec onomic

i.e. ,

formation have finally t aken shap e .

In France , the a4vent t o p ower of the bourgeoisie as a
re sult of the mo at radical French bourgeoi s revolut ion in
1 789 de stroyed the feudal order but did not as yet fully
reat e the mature e conomic forms for the new , capit alist

soci e ty . Thia required a new cycle of revolutions , each of

which , irrespective of it s immediat e motive s , made for one
or another change in the deve lopment of the bourgeois sys
t em . The completion of the cycle of bourge oi s revolutions
in Franc e , i . e . , the full maturity of capit alist society ,
coincide s in time with the appearance in the political are
na of an inevit able concomitant and antipode--the working
clas s .

could not constitut e the basi s of society ' s general prog

re s s if it spelt the t o t al negat ion ,. let alone the d e st ruc
t i on o f the mate ri al and spiritual value s that have remain
ed from the past . Of c ourse , the charact e r of the social re
volut i on and the new format ion it has given ri s e t o , entire
ly det ermine to what ext ent the heritage of the past wj,11

be pre served and incorp o rat e d in the general value s o f the

new society. But the c ont inuity o f civi li sat ion is undoub
t edly pre served , though in an une qual degre e . The operati
on of t he dialectical law of negation provide s for a defi
nit e link between the qualitatively different stag e s -0f so
cial development . The new society cannot be c reat e d on the
basi s only of the de struc t i on of t he old society. The old
has t o be used on a new baa a .

Social revolut ions are a qualitat ive leap i n social de

velopment , separating one aocio-econom c format i on from ano
the r . "The hi stori cal experi ence of so cial revolutions , in
cluding the experi ence of socialist revolutions , " not e s Yu.

utili sation of the achievement s of the mat erial and spiri

Krasin , " shows that there are no ' pure ' forms of the leap .
'
Peac eful and non-peaceful forms , gradualne ss and int errupt
e d gradualne s s , evolut ion and a fundamental qualitative re

di t iona of the radical break-up of social relat i ons by the

structuring of so cial relat ions , reforms and revolutionary

breakup--the a e are feature s and asp ect s inherent , in one or
another proportion , in any revolut ion . It i s on the diffe
rent correlation , o the . charact e r of the c onnecting links
of the se element s that the concrete form of the revolutio
9
nary pro c e s s dependa . "
Thi a doe s not mean , however , that the leap de st roys
the continuity of social development . Soc ial revolutions
l eading to the t ransition from one socio-economic format ion
t o another , should not be regarded as a t ot al negat ion o f
a l l component s without exc eption of t h e format ion being re
plac e d . What i s changed radically is the mode of product i on
and the syst em of socio-economic relat ions c orre sponding t o

it . Politi cal power pas s e s int o the hands o1' new social for

c e s . But the material means of the exi st ence of p eopl e , such

Lenin paid special att ention t o t he pre servati on and

tual culture of the past in the int erest of the vi c t o ri ous
sociali st revoluti on . He clearly reali sed that in the c on
revolut ionary mas s e s dangerous extreme s were p o s sible in
the sense of a t ot al negat ion o f the bourgeo i s cultural he
ritage and it s de struction . Thi a kind of danger was particu
larly great in a relatively backward country with a predo
minantly peasant populat ion and where rebel element s were
capable of de stroying everything c oruie c t e d in one way o r
another with the pre-revolutionary past . The clas s consci
ousne ss o f the revolut ionary proltariat , its high degree of
organi sation and di scipline were the c onditions needed for
curbing t ho se dangerous t endencie s that had surface d among

t he unprepared peaa t mas se s bent on " se t t ling score s " for

the long yara of inj ust ice , oppre s sion and exploitation
that had been their lot .
Lenin said in the early years of the sociali st revolu

t i on that " the task of combining t 4e vi ct orious pro l e tarian

as the instrument s of labour and the t e chnical skills c on

revolution wi th bourgeois culture , with bourgeo i s sci ence

nected with them cont inue to exi st . Thi a appli e s to many as

and t e chnology , whi ch up t o now has be en available t o few

p e opl e , is a difficult one . Here , everything depends on the

pect s of not only mat erial , but al so spiritual culture . The

- 1 12 -

change of socio-economic f o rmati ona through revolutions

- 113 -

working -people . 11

organi sat ion and discipline of the advanced sect ion s of the
10
He parti cularly stre s-sed the ne ceasi ty

t ed that when examining the p ro c e s s of the progre s sive

of building a communi st soci e ty which could be bui lt only

change o f all the suc c e s sive socio-economic format io s we

on the basi s of the comple t e assimilation of the cultural

heritage of the past .

" If , in Russia , the mi llions of down

And yet , de spit e the above argument s ,

c an di scern a defini t e t ransit ion phase , although different

from the capi talism-to- social i sm t ransi t i on period .

t rodden and ignorant peasant s who are t otally incapable of

independent development , who were oppre s se d by the landown
ers for centurie s ,

did not have at their head , and by the ir

side an advanced sect ion of the urban workers whom they un

derst ood , with whom they were intimat e , who enj oyed the ir
confidence , whom they believed as fell ow-workers , if there
wer not thi s organi sat ion which i s capable of rallying t he
mas se s of the working people , of influencing them ,

of exp

laining to them and convincing them of the importance of

the t ask of t aking ove r the entire bourge o i s culture , the
11
cause of communi sm would be hop el e s s . 11
Marxi st lit erature contains sufficient subst ant iat i on

it must be admit

The main common feature of the se t ransition phase s i s

the incomple t ene s s o f the devel opment an d c onsolidat ion o f
t h e basi s and superstructure cat egori e s o f t h e n e w format i
on . The high proportion of the more archaic. so cial forms
still pre served--in many case s accompanying the revolution-
ampers ,

or at any rat e , retards the new format i on fully

., ak.ing shap e . The appropriate period for doing away with

'the old can be a comparatively long one .

In some case s it

abounds in sharp clashe s between the new and the old , even
in revenge- se eking at t empt s by the remnant s of the former
format ions t o reverse the course o f hi story . The transi t i on
p eri od from the primi t ive-communal system to a class so cie
an

of the viewpot: that the transition period as a defini t e

t y come s t o

historical category exi st s only when society advanc e s from

t i on or enslavement of the main mas s of communit y members

capitali sm to sociali sm ,

by the ruling class of the slave-owners or of the feudal

for soci ali st production relations

cannot arise in the bowels of bourge ois soci e t y . Hence ,

me t ime

is

so

needed befo re the se re lat ions can take s hape af

end with the de jure and de fact o subordina

lords . In the same way , the t ransit ion peri od from feuda

l i mn to c apital i sm come s to

an

end with the t riumph of bo

ter the e st abli shment of the politi cal p9wer of the vi cto
,
rious working class and with the mo st act ive assi stance of

urge o i s property re lations , which override and transform

the stat e of proletarian di ctat orship .

the fact of the exi st ence of such a t ransition p e riod : 'fWhen

The que stion naturally ari se s : was there any transi t i on

peri od between other socio-economic format ions? The main ob
j e c t ion to such an assumption is that in o ther socio-econo
mic formations the newly arisen produc t ion relations had
evolved mainly in the shape of corre sponding struc ture s , in
the bowe l s of the old formation that was leaving the hi sto

rical sc ene . In all social o rgani sms ( exc ept the mo st archa
ic clan-t ibal syst em ) preceding socialist so ciety only the

the pre-capitali st forms o f exploitat i on . Marx e st abli shed

capital--not any kind of defini t e capi t al , but capi t al i n
general--is only still forming , the pro c e s s o f it s formati
on i s a p ro c e s s o f the di sintegration and a product of the
collap se of the social mode of production pre c eding it . Hen
c e , it is a hi st ori cal pro c e s s and a . pro c e s s bel onging to a
definit e hi stori cal peri o d . It i s the p eriod of i t s hi stori
12
c al gene si s . 11
The exi st ence of a t ransit ion period d o e s not change

forms of already exist ing exploit ation were changed l eaving

the revolutionary ( and no t the evolutionary) character of

the continuity of the antagoni stic character of so cial re

the replacement of one socio-e conomic f o rmation by anothe.r.

lat i ons intact . This is borne out by numerous examp l e s from

The vi c t ory of new social relations canno t be a.chi eved with

hisory confirming ,

out violence although its rol e and scal e in a revolutionary

for instance , the long coexi s t ence of

newly ari sen bourgeoi s relations with feudal- serf and even

upheaval are det ermined by a c oncre t e hi s to rical eituat ion .

slave-owning relations .

- 1 14 -

_...___________

- 115 -

lition of the domination of the exploit e r minority. Civil

an expre s

'
A feature of the initial phase of any social revolut i on ,

war , the proletariat versus the bourgeoi sie , is

including a socialist revolut ion , is parti cularly desperate

sion of the operati on of the obj e ct ive laws of so cial deve

forms of the class struggle , for i t involve s st orming the

lopment , an effe ctive driving forc e of the social pro c e s s .

rampart s of the old society , crushing the re sistance of the

The vi ct ory of the revolutionary working class over the re

outgoing exploiter classe s and c l earing the way to building

actionary bourge oisie bas as it s aim , in the final analysi s ,

new , progressive social relations . Marx always rec ogni sed

not only the so cial liberation of the working p e opl e but al

the rol e of violence as the "midwif e " of hi story . But the

so t he i r deliverance from the militari st machine , the sup

revolutionary working class has never ideal i sed and never

pre s si on of chauvini sm , the isolation , the curbing or de

absolut is e d purely forcible methods of st ruggle . Lenin ' s

struct ion of the ant i-popular forc e s who are a constant

negative at titude . t o the idea of art ifi cially impo sing

13
"bl e s sing s " on the peopl e s , is well known .

source of aggre s sive , predatory wars bringing incalculable

mi sfortune and suffering to the people s . Unj ust , aggre s sive

s
The classi c s of sci ent ific social i sm repeat edly expre
g class
sed the view that although the revolut i onary workin
in de
s
e
forc
nary
reactio
the
se
repul
must be prepare d t o
forcib
of
or
initiat
the
be
not
fence o f it s gains , it must
no t
had
s
classe
ionary
le means of st ruggl e . If the react
rehave
not
would
re sort e d t o violen c e , the working class

wars are an indi spensable concomi tant of capitali sm , intrin

sic in i t s social nature . It the refore follows that the only
guarant ee of put t ing an end to such wars is the vict ory of
sociali st social relat ions on an int ernat ional scale . Impe
rialist propaganda ' s assertion that the sociali st state s '
p eace p olicy i s allegedly incompatible wi th their policy of

sort e d to arms .

rendering assi stance t the revoluti onary st ruggle of the

Unfortunate ly , hi stori cal experi ence has up to now

the
practi c ally everywhere di sproved the assumpt ion that
to
ves
themsel
ng
concili
re
of
e
capabl
are
s
exploit er classe
.
ly
ri
volunta
s
lege
privi
their
ng
the p o s sibilit y of redeemi
of
rule
the
strict
re
to
,
st
Every att empt , even the slight e
ed.
the exploit er classe s , has , as a rul e , l e d t o bloodsh
pro
ionary
revolut
S t i l l the hi stori cal t endency i s that the
so
o
t
sm
i
c e s s in the period of the t ransit ion from capital
num
in
ciali sm , when the interna tional working clas s grows
violen
with
cted
conne
sarily
s
e
c
ne
not
s
i
,
rength
st
bers and
so
the
Whether
.
wars
civil
bloody
to
leading
ce inevitably
s
depend
not
or
s
e
c
sacrifi
human
ail
cial upheaval wi ll ent
onary
i
revolut
the
to
nce
upon the charact er of the resista
the
pro c e s s on the part of the reactionary . classe s l e aving
hi stori cal arena .

prolet ariat and t o the national liberat ion movement s i s un

t enable , fal se and hypocritical .
Incit ement to civil wars in foreign territ ori e s , any
dire ct or indire ct inst igat ion of the prolet ariat of other
countri e s t o overthrow the power o f the exploiter clas ses
by force are feature s t o t al ly ali en to the socialist count
ri e s which adhere to the principl e of non-int erferenc e in
the int ernal affairs of other stat e s . But while deci sively
re j e ct ing " export of revolut ion" , the socialist st at e s can
not remain indifferent to the destiny of the int ernational
prolet arian revoluti onary movement . A civil war of the pro
let ariat against the bourgeoisie cannot but evoke sympathy
and a natural de sire to lend support to the revolut ionary
force s . Such support doe s not imply stat e int e rference ex
cept in case s when there is a threat of the imperialist " ex
port of c ount er-revolution" . Armed int ervention by some po

io
Civil and nat ional libera tion wars whi ch the revolut
er
int
its
nary prolet ariat always support s , pro c e eding from
r po
nation al i st princi ple s , are not contrary t o it s anti-wa
the
of
on
i
at
st
manife
e
acut
st
mo
the
s
i
sitions . Civil war
aboclass st ruggle in which the exploit e d society seeks the

wer whi ch seeks by force to suppre ss the insurgent working

class in another country , e s sentially change s the nature of
a civil war . Out side aggre s sion launched with a vi ew to cru
shing evolut ionary forc es is in effect dire c t e d against the
- 1 17 -

- 1 16 ti
...._

sovereign right of the people to decide their own de stiny ,

t o cho o s e their political and social system . In such cas e s

the civil war o f the prolet ariat a s sume s

an

all people ' s

the mq st reactionary social forc e s , at intensifying exploi

characte r . The socialist countrie s , in no way departing

t at ion and encouraging aggre s sion . Coloniali sm ali enat e s

from their basic poli cy , have the right to render assi stan

the working people o f different nations , divide s them and

ce in repul sing foreign aggr.e s sion and preventing the " ex

sets. on each othe r , spreads chauvini stic and racist views .

port of counter-revolut i on " . This appli e s al so to the natio

Lenin repeat edly cit e d Marx ' s words that "no nati on can be
1
free if it oppre s se s other nations 11 4

nal liberat ion wars which the oppre s sed peoples are compel
l ed to wage against the imperiali st coloniali st s .
Revoluti ons take place as a re sult o f the aggravat ion
of the int e-rn.al social antagoni sms inherent in the given
society . The e s sence of the revolut ionary proce s s under way
in . one or another country cannot be understo od without an
understanding of the int ernal socio-ec onomic and politi cal
cause s underlying it . Every revoluti on , of course , experi

ence s , to one extent or anothe r , the impact of external fact ors which can have either a stimulat ing . or obstruct ive ef
fect on the revoiutionary pro c e s s , can further or impede
its development . But in no case can the external factor be

the initial cause of revoluti on. Hi storical experien ce at

the same t ime offers nuerous ins tances of military s upport
from the out side rendered by class forc e s in solidari ty with
revoluti onary actions in other countri e s , and j ust as many
instance s of att emp t s t o crush such act ions by whole coali
tions of stat e s uni t ed by their common count er-revolutionary aims .
It is but natural that the sociali st stat e s should ren
der assi stance t o the peopl e s fighting for their indepen
dence against colonial i sm . Such assi stance i s nec e ssary and
i t s effectiv ene s s i s proved by hi st orical fac ts . Colonial

exploitat i on , nationa l and racial oppre ssion not only bring

incalcul able suffering to the enslaved people s , doom them
to st arvati on , and even extinct i on , obstruct their progres
sive development ; they are also c onstant source s of int erna

in
t i onal conflict s and wars . Hi storical experien ce is rich
the
where
se
aro
war
of
s
example s showing what dangerou s seat
encroa
,
s
zure
sei
imperialist s carried out dire ct or indirect
of
ched upon the natural re source s and other national wealth
other c ountri e s .
- 1 18 -

No mat t er in what form the coloniali st poticy i s pur

sued it i s always aimed at consolidating the p o sitions of

The vari ous a s sumpt i ons by bourgeois i deologi st s that

the Bol sheviks allegedly for a time recogni sed war as a
means of revolutionary influence on other nat ions are c om
pletely .disproved by the experi ence of the struggle Lenin
waged against the so-called "l eft Communi st s " . He consi st en
t ly adhered to and further developed Marx ' s and Engel s ' s
t enet that obj ect ive e conomic stimuli , furni shihg the force
of example , are the main means of spreading revolut ion .
" Once ope i s . reorgani sed , and North Ameri ca , " Engels wro
t e , "that wi ll furnish such colo s sal power and such an
example that the semi-civilised countri e s will of themselv
es follow in their wake ; ec onomic needs , if anything , will
15
He did not expre s s any defini t e views as

see t o that . 11

t o what social and politi cal phase s the " s emi-civili sed
count rie s " , i . e . , the countri e s still at a low level of ca
pital i st development , would have to pas s through before ar
riving at 'socialist organi sation. Engels stre ssed that the
active leading role of the working class was to l ead the co
lonial countri e s t o independence as rapidly as p o s sible . He
pointe d out that thi s pro c e s s would not be an easy one , "it
would not pass off without all sort s of destruc t i on , of
c ourse , but that sort of thing i s inseparable from all re
n1 6

volut ions .

It should be underlined once again that Marxi sm-Leni

ni sm has always re solut ely condemned predat ory wars , includ
ing colonial wars , an inevitable concomitant of capitali sm .
In the " Inaugural Addre s s o f the Working Men ' s Int erna
ti onal Association" , writ t en by Marx in 1 86 4 , the predat ory
foreign policy of the bourgeoisie "in pursuit of criminal
de sign , playing upon nat ional pre j udic e s and squandering
- 119 -

in piraticl wars the people ' s blood and t reasure "

s op

4 A
. Pershit s , A. Mongait , V .Al exeyev , A Hi story of Primi
t ive-Communal Soci ety , Mo scow , 1 968 , p . 1 59 ( in Rus sian ) .
5 K . Marx
, F . Engels , Sele cted Work s , Vol . J , Mo scow , 1 97 0 ,
p . 28 1 .
..
6
F . Engel s , Anti-Du.bring , Mo scow , 1 969 , p . 1 65 .
7
Introduc tory article by J . Herman in the book : Di e Rolle
der Volksmas sen in der Ge schi cht e der Vorkapit alisti
schen Ge sell schaftsf ormation , Ed . by J Herman and G . Sell
now , Berlin , 1 975 .

p o sed by a proletarian foreign policy who se t ask is "to

vindicat e the simple laws of morals and j ustice , which ought
to govern the relations of private individual s , as the ru
l e s paramount of the intercourse of nati ons .
"The fight for such a foreign policy f onns part of the
general struggle for the emancipation of the working class
17
es.
Socialist revolutions differ fundamentally from other
social revolutions not only in content but also in fonn .
Lenin elaborat ed an integral theory of socialist revolution

8 V . I . Lenin , Colle cted Work

s , Vol . 1 6 , pp . 202- 203 .
9
Lenini sm and Philosophi cal . Probi ems Today, Moscow , 1 9 70
( in Russian ) .
10
V . I . Lenin , Collect ed Works , Vol . 29 , p . 74 .
11
Ibid . , pp . 74-75 .
12
K . Marx , F . Enge l s , Work s , 2nd edition , Vol . 26 , Part III ,
p . 5 1 6 ( in Russian ) .
1 3 V.
I . Lenin Collect ed Works , Vol . 22 , p . 35 2 .
14
Ibid . , Vol . 2 1 , p . 1 04 .
1 5 K . Marx
, F . Engels , Selected Works , 'Vol . J , p . 4 1 .
8
16
Ibidem .

the correctness of whi ch has been fully borne out by hi sto

rical expe rience , by revolutionary practice . In the report
of the CC CPSU to the 2 5th Congre ss of the CPSU Leonid
Brezhnev defined the process of the building of a communi st
18
society as a social revoluti on .
This fully accords with
the Marxi st-Leninist understanding of the e s sence of so
cial revolution or the t ransition from one socio-economic
fonnation to another .

e completion o f the relatively long phase o f the

existence and development of a mature social i st society , on
the basi s of which a communi st society is being built , will
signify the definitive emergence of the communi st fonnati on .
The di stinctive feature o f thi s great social revolution

17 K
. Ma.rx , F . Engel s , Selected Work s ,_ Vol . 2 , p . 1 .
8
1 8 L.
I . Bre zhnev , Report of the CPSU Central Commi t t e e and
the Imme di at e Task s of the Party in Home and Fore ign
Policy. 25th Congre ss of the CPSU , Moscow , 1 97 6 , p . 5 6 .

i s that it t riumphs not as a result of the struggle of anta

goni stic classe s , sinc e such no longer exi st s in a develop
ed socialist society. Under way now i s not a spontaneous ,
but the regulated process of improving advanced socialist
social relations and their systematic development into com
munist relations .

1 M . A . Sele znev , .. Social Revolution , Moscow , 1 97 1 , p . 2 5 2

( in Russian ) .
2 V . I . Lenin , Collected Work s , Mosow , Vol . 1 3 , p . J 6 .

J V . Afanasyev , Scientific Management of Society , Mo sco!l ,

1 968 , p . 1 1 7 ( in Russi an ) .
- 1 20 -

fI

cultura l and histo rica l

complexe s ,

sufficiently we ll known tha t ,

rio ds clo se r to us ,

" c ivi lisa t i ons " ..

It i s

i n hoary anti quity a nd i n p e

va s t ma s se s o f pe o p le

live d beyo nd the

pale of compara tive ly be tter stud ie d cultur a l and his t o ri

cal c omplexe s .

The overa l l course o f wo:r:ld hist ory cannot

be unde rst o o d if one disrega rds the fortune s o f that part

o f mankind which de ve loped ou t s ide the

tradi t io.n.al " c ivili

sa tions " . One will rarely find , . in pre sent-day litera ture ,

PERIODS
THE DIVI SION OF HISTORY INTO
o ry ) .
Hist
( The Peri odi sa ti on of

s o obvious an anaohl'o nism

a s the division of p e o p le s into

but_ the trend ,

"historica l " and "non-hi storica l " ,

with such a divi sion,
be longing to

known

linke d

to cla s s ify peo ples a c cording to

( or even invente d ! )

to us

p lexe s " and " c ivi li sa t i on s "

is

the ir

" cultura l com

surprisingly tena ci ous o f

life .

t ion of world histo ry ha s

The probl em of the p e riodi sa
.
hist orian s and soc io logi s t s
long a t t ra c te d a ttent ion from
,
and
em
probl
e
compl exity of th
There i s no ne e d to prove the
ci
s
cal
signi fican ce to hi stori
a t the same t ime , i t s va st
ce s s
sat ion of the hi st orica l pro
riodi
pe
enc e as a who le : the
s a
o f that proc e s s , fac i li t a t e
give s a be t te r under stand ing
conse
law-governed p a t te rns , and
comprehension of i t s inner
i sa
ral
gene
ific
t
cien
s
a
draw
quent ly makes it po s sible to
ver
whate
,
who
orian
st
woul d be hard to f ind a . hi
t ion. It
idea
the
up
l vie w , woul d give
his sub j e c t ive methodologica
is coumon knowl e dge tha t a
it
,
er
Howev
n.
of perio di sa t io
.
among hi sto rians on the que swide va rie ty of views exi s t s
sa
of wo rld histo ry ' s perio di
t ion of a s c ientif i c crite rion
on the who le adher e to ide awho
t ion, e spe ci lly among those
listic s t ands .

to

e s tabl i sh ,

ce rta in difference s o r sha de s o f op inion. By "world history "

and ha s re j e c t e d a l l and every subj e c t ive pre fe rence s

ce s s ,

f o r a ny parti cular e thnic group . One ca.ILD.o t write o r unde r

s tand the re a l history o f human so cie ty without e schewi.Dg
the sub j e c t ivist pre dile ction to substitute the hist o ry o f
s ta te s and re ligions fo r the history o f p e o p le s ,

means the hist ory of a ll p e o p le s .

subj e ct o f world hi story canno t ,

In such a formulation,

of c ourse ,

be l imite d to

any convention.a l and mo s t ly arbitrarily s e l e c t e d

- 122 -

the

e thnic or

the subj e c t

o f hist o rical s tudie s . T o pre sent a s world histo ry the his

tory o f re l igions o r civilisat ions that have been a rbitra ri
ly se le c t e d by the scho la r is jus t as unsc ientific as to in
sist on the outmo de d ge ocentric the ory of the universe .
Hist o ri c a l s ci ence
very e s sence ,

is unthinkable without a pe riodisa

Perio disat ion define s the

the e s sentia l content

of the

s tage s in the

e me rgence and deve lopment of historical pro ce s s e s chara c t e r

i st ic of a given pe ople ,

Worl d history

the his to ri

S ov ie t hi st ori

c a l science is working towa rds an a scer ta inment of the a c tu

who le .

the deYe lopment of human socie ty and

Howe ver ,

a l ro le playe d by e a ch pe ople in the world-histori c a l p ro

we unde rstand the r o a d trave lled by mankind a s a whole . World

way abs tra c t no tion of

the given leve l

in a ll its ou t standing deta ils ,

history is called upon to provide a summa ri sing_ but in no

i ts a dvance from lowe r stage s to higher one s .

at

is difficu lt in pra c ti ce

it

c a l roa d trave l le d by a ll p e o p le s .

tion o f the his t o rica l pro c e s s .

The ve ry c on c e p t of "world history " ha s given rise to

tha t ,

aware

Sovie t hist o ri ans are

of the ava ilabi lity of source s ,

country ,

region,

or llll!l nkind a s a

There can be no genuine hist o rice. l s ci ence without a

perio disat ion of his tory ,

i.e . ,

without a general i sing ap

proa ch t o h i s t o ry . A re cognit i on of the overa l l law-governed

-

1 23 -

pa tterns in the deve lopment of human socie ty is the f ounda

t ion of a scientific periodisat ion of world hist ory .
Mankind ha s exist e d f o r over two million yea rs ,
pre -cla ss socie ty being

the lengthie st in time ,

wi th

invo lving

the first progre ssive e poch ' in world hi story , who se eme rgence
slow rat e in the

conditions of im.ature pro du ct ive fo rce s and primitive te ch

nology . Withou t any excepti on,

struggle embracing whole cen turie s . he slave-OWne rs ha d to

impose the i r supremacy by fo rc e .

many tens of millennia . The primitive-communa l system wa s

and deve lopment pro ce e de d at an e xt remely

volut ionary in chara c te r and wa s a c c ompanie d by an acute

all the people s inha bi ting

Slavery exis ted pra c t ica lly everywhere ,

ous forms and not a lways reaching the

though in vari

leve l of a deve lope d

s ocio-e conomic forma tion. Be s ide s , e ven those tribe s which

had no t achieve d the stage of a cla s s soc i e ty but experien
ce d the powerful impa ct o f neighbouring s lave-owning stat e s
began t o re ve a l an extens ive deve lopment o f pa t riarcha l form

our plane t went through thi s initial stage in . the deve lop

of slavery.

ment of society.

Howe ve r,

uniform in type ,

and its deve lopment wa s ne ither smooth nor

It should be empha sised tha t the illhabitant s o f the

s lave-owniJ:Jg stat e s did not c onsi s t only of slave -owne rs and
s lave s . Be side s , thes.e ba sic cla s se s in the f irst antagonis

tha t system wa s

not abso lute ly

simultaneou s .
Wherever the

na tura l conditions favoure d man ' s labour,

the o b j e ctive , preconditio ns arose earl ier than e l ewhere

for certain surpluse s to appe a r over and above wha t wa s im

me dia te ly c onsume d . Some surpluse s were forme d art ificially ,

a a a re sult of mili tary plunder. Thus ,

in a number of regions ,

the condi ti.one appeared ob j e c tively promot ing the g ra dual

we alth,

on behalf of socie ty,

the accumulated so cial

but then t o ok to appropriat ing tha t wea lth and cont

ra pos ing itse lf to soc ie ty .

Thou sands of ye ars were ne e de d

for s o cie ty to be come. divide d into c la s se s .

in the overa ll deve lopment of mankind . The firs t state s-

slave-owning state s--appe are d amidst a va st

number of tribe s standing at various stage s in the deve lop

ment of primi tive-c ommuna l re lations . The armed s truggle
against such trib e s wa s a ma j or source of a c quiring slave s
from among the capt ive s . The very emergence

of slave -own

ing s ta te s and theh the more rapid rate of e conomic and cul
tura l deve lopment in slave-owning. so c ie ties

had a va st and

ever mounting influence on the far more backward but nume

rica lly bigger tribe s ,

which in the ir turn a lso exert e d an

influence on the slave-owning state s . The transition from

the primi tive-communa l system to a class soc ie ty ,

which wa s

a gigantic leap forward in wor l d soc ial deve lopment , wa s

- 1 2.4 -

re pre senting the free

who conti.nue d to adhere to the communa l forms

which they were cons tant ly defending aga ins t

by the slave-owne rs . Enslavement ,

encroachme nts

tha t most primitive and

forc ible form of exploitat ion , me t with fierce re si stance ,

c onstant obj e c t s of campaigns of conque s t by the

e rs .

t imes and di d not be c ome unive rsa lly pre dominant ,

The slave -owning s oc ia l system wa s the f irst form of

the se were

landho lde rs ,

slave-own

Though re lations of sla ve-ownership aro s e a t diffe rent

c la s s so c ie ty and consquently the s e cond pro ssive e poch

and

there wa s a c onsidera b le part of the i:ahabitant s ,

in many ca se s the ma j ority

not only from the communa l fre emen but a l so from tribe s tha
t
l ive d on the pe riphery of the s la ve-ownil:Jg stat e s and were

emergence of a soc ial upper crust which ini tial ly me rely

c ontrolle d ,

tic so cie ty ,

and

re -

the slave

owning soc ial system wa s a n important progre s sive s ta ge

in mankind ' s deve lopment . On a hitherto unpara lle l sca l e ,

the new re la t ions of produc tion e xpande d tl:i.e sphe re of the

a pplica t ion of la bour .and conse quently cre a t e d co ndi tions

for the deve lopment of the pro duc tive force s .
Th e transition from s lave-owne rship to feuda l i sm,

just

lik7 the transition from t he primit ive-communal system to

s lave or feudal s o c ie ty , could not and wa s no t uniform and

simultane ous. In gene ra l ,

owning system had

it wa s impo ssib le before the slave

outlived i t self e conoDli ca lly alld the ob

j e ct ive conditions ma ture d for the re pla c ement of s lave la

bour by the more produc tive labour of dependent til lers of
the soil .

- 125 -

For a lengthy period of time ,

.of the slave-owning system wa s spontaneous and unorgani se d ,

cla she s be tween oppos

ing cla s s intere s t s did no t lea d to any decisive re sult s .

the bourge o i s revolutions were made by the ma s se s , who came

Inde e d ,

out a ga inst the bulwarks of feudalism w ith their own po li ti

the struggle w a s a n extreme ly lengthy o ne and there

temporarily

coexis te d ,

on b ig te rritorie s ,

cal programme s ,

various eo ci o

e c qnomic systems such as the primitive-communa l , the slave

driving force iD. bourge ois revo lutio.ns ,

owniDg and the feuda l .

Th e e s tablishment o f feuda l re la t ions

ins te a d of slave

tively sma ll uppe r crust who were out to re stri ct the aims
se t by the re vo lution to a single a im,

new , feudal exploitat ion. Neverthe le s s , the feuda l soc ie ty

could be achieve d through c ompromise wi th the feuda l lo rds ,

the productive forc e s being given a new an d powerful impe

mise

and unhe s itatingly sa crifi c e d the intere sts of the

masse s , who s e fate was of l i ttle conc ern to them.

cul t iva t ion and handicrafts . Industri a l production wa s ma k

The ac t ive

in the me a sure of it s spre a d ,

invo lvement of the pea sant ry ,

the feuda l re a c t io.na rie s ,

the labour of slave s or serfs .

some thi ng tha t the bourge o i si e it

s e lf wa s iD.capa ble of do ing . But it wa s aga1nst the iD.tere s t s

the feudal system wa s marke d by

o f the ma s se s ,

a varie ty of c oncre te forms and ma.ni.fe sta.uions condit ione d

iD.c luding the pe a santry,

tha t the imme diate

re sults of the re vo lution prove d obje ctive ly di re ct e d . Fo l

by lo ca l fe a ture s . This ove rall cha ra cteris tic wa s compli

lowing the de fea t in the Gre a t Peasant Wa r , the German pe a-

of

3 ants we re mercile s sly crushe d and subjuga te d . A hundre d

feuda l re la ti ons both w ith surviva l s of previous so ci o-e co

years after Cromwe l l ,

nomic systems ( primi tive-communa l o r slave re la t io.ns ) a.nd

the Engl i sh ye omanry

ha d a lmos t dis

appe a re d , while the French pe a sant s , who ha d fa llen ..vic tims

embryonic forms of future capitalist re la tio.ns .

to the parce l ling of the land and beside s , ha d be en b le d

Feudal socie ty yie lde d pla ce to capi tal i sm, which wa s

born and mature d with:i.n the feudal system.

e s peci a l ly

in Germany and England , ma de it po s sible to s trike blows at

the big a dvantage s o f wage labour over the exploitation of

in various countrie s ,

the e l imina

the big bourgeo isie were mo st willing to ma ke such a compro

tus . Fresh pro spe c t s appeare d for further a dvances in land

cated by the unequal blending,

i.e. ,

tion of a ll obs ta c le s to privat e ente rpri se . If tha t a im

wa s a considerable step forward as aga ins t the s la ve so c ie ty ,

Like the s lave sy stem,

could no t as a rule

reap the benefi ts of th e ir e ffort , which went to a c ompara

owne rship meant th e repla ceme nt o f s ome exploiters by o thers

.
and the sub jugat ion of the va st mass of the population to

ing its way , which reve a l e d ,

the ir pa rti e s and the ir own organisat i ons .

It is not e wo rthy tha t the ma s se s who repre se.nt e d the main

white in Na pole on ' s campa igns ,

It s tands to

prove d to b e strippe d o f a l l

and a ny e conomic independence .

rea s on tha t the victory of the cap i ta list mode of production

The re vo lutio.na ry spiri t of the bourge oisie re ache d

could not come abou t at one and the same time . The ini t ia 1

its peak in the French Revolution which , howe ve r ,

forms of capita list re la t ions came to the fore iD. the t owns

first ,

of It a ly in the 1 3 th and 1 4th centurie s . The Ne therlands

tha t th e peo ple ,

i.e. ,

showe d ,

th e urban ple bs and th e pea

sant s , forme d the backbone of the revoluti o na ry armie s ;

revolution of the 1 6 th century took the form of a popular

they were the maiD. re vo lutionary f orce that ensure d the a c com

struggle aga iD.st foreign rule , but ha d de e p so c io-e conomic

p lishment of anti-feuda l ta sks ; se cond ,

roo.ts : the de velopment of capita lis t re la t ions . The mid-1 7th

of the re vo lutiona ry events ,

a lrea dy iD. the course

there took place a b ifurca tion ,

century saw the bourgeo is re vo lution in England. Though ba

a divergence ,

orde r . Fina lly ,

those of tae people ; third , the fore runne rs of the present

.day 'pro le taria t had a lre a dy formula ted the ir own inte re s t s
.

sed on compromi se ,

i t pre pare d the triumph of a new bo urgeo i s

the French Revolution o f the end o f the 1 8th

century ushe re d in an historic pha se of the liquidat ion of

between the int e re s t s of the bourge o i sie a.nd

which were d i s t inc t from the b ourgeoi sie ' s ,

feudalism and the triumph of cap italism. While the downfal l

and ,

fourth ,

after a chieving the ir aims in the re vo lution, with the he l p

- 1 27 -

- 1 26 -

ii>

of the pe ople ,, the bourgeo isi e ha s tene d to cut short the

revo luti ona ry proce s s and s t rip the revolut ion of i t s lea
dership . The Re storation of 1 6 6 0 and the

"Gloriou s Revolu

tion" of 1 6 88 in England a ccomp lished socia l ta sks in the

same way a s the Thermidor event s and the a cce ssion of Napo
leon Bonaparte did 'in France .
Though the era o:f cap i ta li sm le d to a ra pid up surge in
the productive :fo rce s and to outs tanding progre ss in science ,
te chnology and culture ,

tha t advance went hand in hand with

an exceptionally sharp exacerbat ion o:f interna l contradi ct ions . Capitali sm triumphe d as a re sult of severa l re vo lu
tions separa t e d from one another by centurie s ,
volution o f 1 848 ,

one o f the la st ,

wh ile the re

coincide d imme di at e ly

with the , revolutiona ry . st ruggle of the pro le tariat against

capit alism.

but it did no t and cou l d not triumph,

since bourge

o i s so c ie ty had not y e t exhausted a l l its pos sibi li tie s .

De spite the ir heroism,

the Paris CoDEUD.ards la cke d a re vo lu

t ionary vard--i t s own party ,

and could no t e nsure gui

dance of the pe asantry and give leadership to the non-pro le

tarian se cti on s of the peo ple . Neverthe le ss ,

the Paris Com

mune will a lways rems a land.mark in world his t ory .

A new era se t in, whe n cap i ta li sm entere d i ts imperia l

i s t pha se . In 1 905 ,

p le ' s revolution,

the Russian pro le taria t he a de d the peo

which ha d its repercussions in all conti

nents . Thi s was the first revolution in world his tory in

which the working c la s s , guide d by an advanc e d party ,
e d the role of leader of the broa d ma sse s ,
the who le peasantry ,

a s sum

in the f ir st pla ce ,

in the st ruggle against semi-feudal and

capitalist exploi tation . The 1 905-1 9 07 revolution wa s defea

ted,

first and :foremo s t , because revolutiona ry a c tion by the

workers and pea sants wa s no t unite d in a single current but

took p lace at different time s , which a l lowe d the re actiona
rie s to mus ter a l l their fo rce s and c ru sh the movement.
e ve r,

ist and the

the re vo lution o:f 1 905- 1 907 ,

How

a world-wide histori c

s lave-owni.Dg ,

feuda l ,

cap ita l

communi st forma ti on--comprise the ob j e c tive foun

da tion and the ore tical ba si s for the periodisat ion of the
historical proc e s s .
Th e scient if ic pe riodisat ion of his tory took initial

shape in an early work by the :r ounders of s c ientific so cial

i sm--The German Ide olog.y ( 1 845- 1 846 ) ,

in which the stage s

in the hi sto rica l development of socie ty are de fine d as

c e s sive forms of ownership :
da l , and the b ourgeo i s .

the triba l ,

a 1 production .

the anti qu e ,

It s t a t e d :fo r the first time

the 1perio di sat ion -Of the entire

on e conomic his tory ,

sue-

tha t

his t ori cal pro ce s s i s ba se d

In 1 859 ,

this propos i ti on wa s amended by an

"The produc t ive forc e s de termine

re la t ions of production" ( Pre fa ce to A Contribution to the

Critique of Poli t ica l Economy ) ,

where dire c t re ference i s

ma de to wha t is called an " e conomic forma tion of soc ie ty" .

It fo l lows therefrom that the referenc e is to his t or ica lly
2
deve lopment of so cie ty .
As Karl Jlarx

definite stage s in the

wrote in the Pre fa ce to t he first e di tion of Vo lume I o f

Capita l :

"My

standpoint ,

from which the evolution o f th e e co-

nomic forma t ion of

soc ie ty is viewe d a s a proce ss of natura l
.
. history" . 3

As is coD111on knowle dge ,

geology ,

Marx took a de e p intere s in

:from which he borrowed the t erm ":format ionn to de

te rmine the giganti c strata in the hist ory of mankind which

can be distinguishe d a ccording to the hist orica l succe s sion
in the ir emergence and re placement . An . example of his use

of thi.s geo logical t e rm can be found iii the s e c ond draft o f

a le t te r t o Vera Za su li ch ( 1 88 1 ) ;

" The archa i c ,

o r primary

f orml!l tion of the globe cons ists of a series of s t ra ta of

rious pe r iods ,

va

of which some were superimpos e d on others .

In exac t ly the s ame way ,

the a rcha i c so cial foI'Dll!l tion opens

up t o us a number of various stage s which mark a succ e s sion

of epochs tha t re place

e ach o the r . . .. . " Further,

in the third

event , ha d an immediat e impact on the d e s t inie s of the peo

draft of the le tter , Karl

p le s o:f Europe and Asia , for it was the thre shold to the

ma t ion tha t invo lve s three periods of deve lopment : slave

4
owning , :feudal and bourgeo i s so ci e ty .
The s e variants of

Grea t Soc ia l i s t Revolution in Russia

- 1 28 -

i.h

October 1 9 1 7 .

the feu

the stage s in the deve lopment of ma te ri

important qua li fi cat ion :

The first pro le tarian re vo lution t ook pla ce in France

in 1 87 1

The suc c e s sive repla cement of so cio-e conomic :fo rma t i

ons--the primitive coDBnunal ,

Marx

speaks of the se conl.ary :for

- 1 29 -

Marx ' s le ttrs to Vera Za suli ch were never sent off , the wri
ter evidently not considering his c onsiderations comple te
However , considerable intere st lies in the fact tha t Karl
Ma r.x--a s is bo rne out by the contemporary a chie vement s of
a rchaeology and e thnography-regarded pre -cla s s soc ie ty ,
which in this case he ca lle d the "archa ic or primary" forma
t ion, as a very

lengthy and va st historic a l perio d divi s

ible into indivi dua l epo chs .

The problem of periodisa tion i s all the more c omplex
be cause of the difficul ty of e s tablishing a single crierio n
to mee t the nee d bo th for a substant iated d ivi sion of the
world-historical proc e s s and of re gional or local his to rie s .
What i s beyond doubt i s tha t th e the o ry of soc io-e conomic

forne tions is , in a ll case s , a most importan t guideline in

the approach to the s c ientifi c periodis at ion of histo ry .
A th e same time , i t should b e taken int o a c count tha t the
succe s sion 9f soc io-e conomic forID!l tions doe s not procee d

s imultane ously , an d conse quently the s oc ia l revoluti ons which

give it c oncre te shape take place at different his torical
time s . Fo llowing the most lengthy period of the existenc e
of the primitiv e communa l syst em--that primary and unive rsa l

s ocio-e conomic formati on--a.nd a lre a dy with the a ppearance

of slave-ownership ther set in the simultan eous func tioning

of two or more soci a l formations . Tha t is why the underlying

principl e of so ci al .format ions cal ls for a certain augmenta
tion of the periodisation of the world-hi st orical proce s s .
In this re spe c t , use o f th e concept "hist orica l e po
ch"

is the mos t . convenient . Lenin, who made fre quent use o f thi
s
concept , gave i t a pro ound scient ific sub stantia tion. Thus ,

in the a rticle "Under a Fa lse Flag" he wrote : " We are un

doubte dly living a t the juncture of two epochs , and the his
t oric events tha t are unfolding before our eye s can be un
derstood only if we analyse , in the first p la ce , the ob
j e c tive condition s of the trans it ion from one e poch to the

other. Here we have important histo rica l e pochs ; in each of

them there are and wi ll a lways be individua l and partia l move
ments , now forward now backward ; there are and wi ll a lways
be various deviat ions from tpe average type and mean tempo
of the movement . We canno t know how rapidly and how suc ce ss- 1 30 -

fully the vari ou s his t orica l move100 nt s in a given e poch will

the hug
d evelop , but We can and do know _ whi ch class stands at
the
,
content
main
its
g
terminin
de
r,
anothe
or
of one epoch
ics
cterist
ra
cha
in
ma
the
,
lopment
deve
main dire ction of its
of the hist o rical si tua tion in that epoch , e t c . Only on that
bas i s , i . e . , by taking int o a ccount , in the f ir s t p la ce , the
fundament al distinct ive featur e s of the various ' epochs '
( and not single e pi sodes in the history of individua l c ount
rie s ) can we c o rre ctly e volve our tactics ; only a knowledg e

of the ba sic feature s of a given e poch can se rve as the foun

da t ion for an understanding of the spe cific feature s of one
5 Thu s , Lenin empha si se d that a defini
countr,y or nother. 11
t ion of a hi st ori ca l e poch should be grounde d in an ob j e c

t ive c la s s a pproach, which cannot depend on the way the over

a ll historica l proc e s s is modifie d in individua l countrie s .
The borderlin es of an e poch a re e stabli she d within a n inter
nationa l framework . An e poch give s expre ssion to the typica l
socia l proce sse s in which a particula r so cial c la s s a s sume s
the role of a leading and de termining force . In imparting
a concre te content to the concept of e poch, and in e s tabli sh
ing the trend of so cial deve lopment il:lherent in a given
epoch , Lenin at the same t ime constant ly cautione d aga inst
s impl ificat ion , a stere o type approa ch t o the charac teri st ic
of an e po ch. " An epoch , " he sai d , " is a sum of varied
phenomena , in which , in a ddition t o the typica l , there is
a laz s

some thing e lse . 11 6

Afi historica l e poch is in no way a logical a bstra c t ion.

It take s in the sum of vari e d phenomena and pro ce s se s , bo th
typica l and non-typic a l , gre at and small , and peculia r to
b o th advanc e d and ba ckward countrie s . In an a rticle ent it le d
"The Military PrograDBne o f Pro le tarian Revolutio n" , Lenin
wro te a bout the war of 1 9 1 4- 1 9 1 8 : " The pre sent imperia li s t
war i s the c ontinua t ion o f the imperiali st po licie s o f two
groups of Gre at Powers , and the se policie s we re engendere d

a nd fostere d by the sum total of the re la t ionShips of the

imperia lis t e poch. But this very epoch must also neee ssari
ly engender and f oster policies of struggle a ga ins t na t ion
a l o ppre ssion and of pro le tarian struggle a ga inst the bour

geoisie and , conse quently , a lso the possibili ty and ineyita- 1 31 -

The dynamism of the hist orical pro ce ss finds expre s

b ility , firs t , , of revo lutionary nationa l rebe llions and

wars ; second , of prole tarian wars and re be llions against the

s ion, not only in a chaDge in the a lignment of force s between

bourgeoisie ; and , thi rd , of a c ombinat ion of bo th kinds of

various forllll!l t ions but also in substant i a l change s wi thin

is some time s define d as "an e poch of wars and pro le tarian

maturity , deve lopment and dec line , this c anno t but exert

revolutionary war , e t c . 117 That is why the imperia li st e poch

revolutions " .

ta ins

The Len inist understanding of an hi stor ical epoch con-:-

e

definition of a lea ding trend in social deve lopment

each format ion. Since they a ll go through various s tage s of

a.n influence on the historica l epoch in que s tion. The re sult

is a nee d to distinguish, wi thin every hist orica l e po ch , the

individua l periods tha t re fl e c t. its interna l deve lopmen t .

and a

definition bo th of the c la sse s tha t s tand a t the hub

of the historica l process and give dire c tion to its a dvance
and the cla s s force s tha t stand in o pposi tion to e a ch o the r .
The his torica l proc e s s is examine d , no t i n a n bstra c t fa
shion but in the totality of the concomitant

concre te phe

nomena .
Highly important in principle are Lenin ' s words

tha t ,

his torical e po ch and anothe r , the s e shou ld not be absoluti

.

. c ontains indiv idual periods that co rre spond t o the growth

stage s and the mounting impact of so cia l i sm on world deve lop
ment.
Conse quently , every his t or ic a l e po ch c an have i t s own

in a de terminat ion .of the c oncre te bo rderline s be tween one

sed

The pre sen t historical e po ch , which i s marke d by the

revolutionary transition from cap it alism to so cialism, a lso

"Here , of c ourse , as everywhere in Nature and so cie ty ,

the line s of . division a re conventiona l and variable , re la

8
tive , not absolute . " This proposition is dire c te d aga ins t

a dogma t ic striving to pe riodise the historical proc e ss a l

mos t by the day and hour, and to abso lutise the s ignificance
of concre te histories dat e s , this ult ima te ly leading to an

ove rs implifie d understanding of hist ory .

The concept "historica l epoch" is indi ssolub ly linke d

interna l diyi. sions . It gee s without saying, tha t t.a.e perio

d isat i on of world hist ory ca lls for extensive pre liminary
re search, e spe cial ly in re spe ct of tho se distant t ime s when
regions were far more i so late d from one anothe r and the in
teraction be twe en various forma ti0J1s wa s le s s felt than in
la ter time s . Prio r to world history b e coming an " empiri ca l
fac t " , i . e . , the emergence of the world system of capita l
ist e conomy , the his tory of mankind was , as it were , " spli t '
into various se lf-conta ine d are a s , where internal soc io-e c o
nomic p ro ce s se s mature d aut onomously .
Th e farther w e di'p into the pa st , the more d ifficult

with the llarxist-Leninist theory of the progre s sive suc ce s-

it prove s to provide a more or le ss pre cise dating of histo

sion of socio-e conomic forma t ions . One

rical proce sse s and phe nomena . This is e spe cia l ly true of

cannot speak of a!J3

his to rica l e poch in the a bstra c t from the s o c io-e conomic

formation s existing in tha t epoch .

An

hist o rica l epoch is

defined s a lengthy historical pha se tha t is marke d by more

or le s s sta ble inte rre lat ions be twe en two or more coexi stent

the so cia l re vo lutions which brought about the transition

from non- c la s s to c la ss soc ie ty, and then from: .the slave

owning sys t em t o feudali sm. In the former instance , the re

volutio na ry p ro ce s s wa s lengthy and la rge ly sponta.p.e ous

s ocio-e conomic formation s . The chrono logical framework of an

and i t' is only with a ce rta in degre e of a pproximat ion that

historical epoch hinges on the radical change s in the align

one can de termine its s pa t io- tempora l bo rderline s .

ment of force s be tween such format ions . Every e po ch is narked

by a dominant trend in the deve lopment of socie ty , this find
ing expre s sion in the progre ssive conso lidat ion and mount
ing re la tive wei ght of a more advance d socio-e conomic fp rma
t ion.

The concep t o f historical epoch a s grounde d in the

theory of socio-e conomic forue t ions makes i t pos sible to
perio dise his.tory
sary a longside

on a global scale . Howeve r , what is ne c e san overa l l periodisa tion of the world-his-

torica l proce s s is a scient ific e la borat ion of the loca l

- 1 3 2 -.

- 1 33 -

pe riodisat ion ,of hi s t ory. An intimat e

e stabl ish ,

link cannot but exi s t

even in the approximat ion,

hi storical proc e s se s on the

be tween t he two , f o r both are ultima t e ly de t e.nn ined b y the

the dependence -o f loc a l

overa l l t rend o f soc ia l deve lop

overa ll law-governe d pa t t erns in the progre s s ive advance of

ment as expre s s ing the fundament a l law-governe d pat tern in

s o c ie ty ,

mankind ' s a dvance .

i . e. ,

again by th e progre s s ive succe s sion of soc io

In a number of c a se s ,

e conomic forma t ions. The opera t ion of these pa t te rns can be

h i s t or i c a l e p o chs ,

count rie s w i th out exce ption,

d ire c t ion of their inne r evolution. Thus ,

tra c e d in the deve lopment of all re gi on s and even individua l

but the concre te his tor ic a l

overal l progre s s ive movenent is no t the same ,

a s a rule . The s o lution is to be

of a system of the

"hierarchies l " dependence of pure ly loca l

the ir turn ,

in the

on the more genera l one s ,

while the

la tter ,

on the hi story of a pa rticular country or pe ople ,

it

in

In a work
is p o s

sib le and ne ce s sary to de te rmine concre te landmarks in the

local histor i c a l pro ce s s ,

tha t proce s s.

pro ce e d ing from the

Such lo cal i se d periodisat ion i s ,

c ivi lisat ions ,

t ive f orce s .

the

from ancien time s ,

mos t ly in forms of gro s s vio lenc e--conque st

concomitant de st ruc t i on of the pro duc

The hi story of the pe ople s o f the Ame rican

.
and African continent s pro ce e de d amidst the same conflic t s ,
a 1 though in a some wha t different fashion,

In Sovie t hist or iography ,

i:nne r log i c of
as it we re ,

fo r examp le ,

in the p re - c o loni

al period.

the

lowest stage in the general system.. The next and highe r stage
is provided by fa c t s that

zone of the Euro-Asiat ic continent--wa s ,

and p lunder--with the

which find expre s s i on

qua l i tative feature s of an his t orica l e p o ch.

in the deve lo pment of indivi dua l regions as de termining the

a n arena o f c la she s be tween d iffe re nt c la s s-e thnic forma t i ons ,

s e en in the e s ta bl ishment

his torica l phenomena on the regiona l ,

can s peak o f

priinitive margina l a re a of c l a s s soc ie t ie s--the exten s ive

t iming f o r individual re gions or c ountrie s to a chieve e qua l

d e gre e s in the

one

pro c e e ding from the ext e rna l conditions

cha ra c terise the his t oric a l deve

lopment of an ent ire re gion w it h a ppropriate chrono logic a l

links . A comparison of da t e s te s tifying t o similar pro c e s se s ,

this on a purely loc a l and re gion a l s ca le , make s i t p o s sible

t ion of the

the English bourge o i s re vo lu

1 7 th century i s consi der e d the

of "modern hist o ry " .

starting point

his periodisat ion i s grounded in the

English re v o lution being the fir s t vi c t ory of bourgeo i re la

t ions over the feuda l in one

of Europe ' s leading countri e s .

I t wa s thus tha t the English revolution ushered i n the epo ch

of a re vo lutio na ry transit ion from the feuda l forma t i on t o

to e s tablish the grea ter or le s se r degree of interdependence

the capita lis t .

be twe en these pro ce s se s and permi t s mapping out an. out line

the forma ti on princi ple a s a criterion of historical pe rio

of a single

disat io n , but we cannot pre clude other variant s of the s o lu

periodisa tion involving bo th the re gion as a who le

and it s component e lenent s .

this way are ,

a s it were ,

Fina l ly , the da ta obt a ine d in

superimpo sed o the o bj e c tive ma te

Conse quently ,

t ion of thi s problem.

w e see

here

the operat ion of

Without infiinging on the a bove-menti

one d princ iple of so cial forma t ion,

we can a lso re c ognise

ria l tha t provide s the groundwork of the worl d-hi stori c a l

a s the onse t of the e p o ch of trans ition from feuda l i sm t o

periodisat i on. This permit s e st abli shing the p l a c e he ld

capita li sm e i the r the e a rlier Ne therlands P.e vo lut ion of the

particular re gion in a concre te historica l epoch. Thus ,

by. s
the

re s e a rcher is enabled to approa ch the e sta bli shment of the

degre e of the

1 6th century or e lse the

impa ct exert e d by the overa ll world hist ori

cal pro c e s s on t he f a te bo th of a given re gion and the pure

ly loca l e lement s that enter it . Of c ourse , the a s certa in

ment of a definite

" re sultant " is conventiona l in its nature .

But any periodisat i on cannot but be a pproxima te and c onven

tiona l. Jfa j'Or histo rica l proc e s se s and phenomena

- 134 -

The Ame rican Re vo lution of the 1 8th century,

c e de d the Fre nch Revo lut ion ,

whi ch pre

wa s in the main anti-colonia l

i st and playe d no independent role

from the v iewpo int

of

. the f o rma t ion approa ch .

.g.anno t b e

da t e d with a b so lut e pre cision . What is more important i s to

later French Revolution of the 1 8th

century.

tury

A defini t ion of the Engl ish Revo lut ion of

a s the

the

1 7 th p en

start ing po int of the e po ch of modern history

- 1 35 -

The Fre nch bourgeo i s re voluti on, whi ch dea lt mos t ra

cannot be absoiutise d eithe r . Like a ll chrono logical land

feuda l orde r of things , wa s not the begin

marks in the deve lopment of soc ie ty , it is conventiona l , for

dica lly with the

a l l th e possible variants of the starting point of the

new epoch have the right to exi st ina smuch as they do not

ning but rather the cre s t of the new hist ori ca l e po ch on

infringe on the princ ip le of social forma t ions . At the same

tiona rine s s .

t ime ,

there are certain we ighty argument s in favour of the

variant accepted in Sovie t hist oriography .

England played a very important ro le in Europe ' s poli
tica l life , far more than the Netherlands. Karl Marx consi
'

rea ching which the bourgeoi sie quite rapi dly sh e d its re vo lu
Undoubte dly , mos t o f the countrie s that were re lat ive ly
more e conomical ly deve lope d ( though s ti ll feuda l ) a l re a dy
saw, in the 1 7th century, and a t pla ce s e ven e arlier , mo
lecular pro ce s se s of the emergence and enri chment of bour

h e wrote : " The physici st e i ther observe s physical phenomena

ge o i s element s , and the a ppeara nce of the capitalist struc

ture . These proce s se s exe rted a d ire c t or indire c t influence
a lso on o ther countrie s with s lowe r rat e s of e c onomic deve lop

where they occur in the ir mos t typica l form and mos t free

ment .

from di sturbing influence , o r , wherever pos sible , he make s

A concre t e ly historical ana lysis wi ll show tha t , in

different his t oric a l periods , various people s become ve ctors
of a dvanc e d trends and c ome into the forefront of world his
tory. Countrie s and peoples that were previously mo re ba ck

dered it a " cla ssical country" of the capit alist mode o f

produc t ion. In the Pre fa ce to the first edition of Capita l ,

experiment s under conditions tha t a s sure the oc currence o f

the phenomenon in its normality In thi s work I have to exa

mine the ca pita li st mode of producti on, and the condi tions
of produc tion and exchange c orre sponding to tha t mode . Up
to the pre sent time , their classic ground is England. That
is the re a son why England is used as the chief illustrat ion
10

in the development of my the ore tica l idea s . "

When the revolutin wa s c omple te d , England wa s a l re a dy

a maj or c olonial power who se influence extende d far beyond
the borders of Europe .. Be sid_e s , be cause of i t s compromise

nature , the Engli sh Re volut ion may be considere d as the s tart

ward would catch up with and s ome t ime s out strip those which
had been the first to s e t out on th e highway . of so c ia l prohist oric a l circumstangre s s . Al l that depende d on concre te
ce s .
rat e s
The experie nce of history speaks o f the variab le
country
lar
cu
parti
and intensi t ie s in the deve lopment o f any
or people .
B i g feudal powers that had long been predominant later

ing po int of the e po ch of struggle wage d by emergent bourge

f e l l fa r behind in the ove ra l l hist oric a l proce s s . Thei r

o is re la tions agains t the pra c t ically unive rsa l feud.a l re la

impac t o n the c ourse o f world event s , -which s temmed ma inly

t ions. The compromise na ture of the Engli sh Revolution was

from aggre s sive poli c i e s o f c onque st pursue d by the ru ling

manife s te d ma inly in the sphere of the superstruc ture . Karl

llarx

emphasised that , "whe re ver the conditions ha nde d down

from his tory were a t variance with, or did not corre spond
to , the re quirement s of cap i ta list produc tion
they were ruthle s s ly swe pt away ;

on the land ,

thi s applie s not only to

the position of the vi l lage communities but to the village

c ommunitie s themae lve ,

not only to the habita ts of the ag

c la s se s , wa s in the ma in ne ga t ive . The de cline of such count

ries wa s predetermine d by the weakne s s or subservience of
element s of progre s sive so cia l re la t ions . Example s of such
deve lopment are provide d by feuda l Spa in, the Ottoman Em

pire , and the Mongol state of the Jenghiz ids .

There is nothing rep re hensil>le in ill. d ividual countrie s
o r pe op le s now a dvancing into the forefront , now re ce ding

ricul tura l popula ti on but to the agricultural populat ion

into temporary obscuri ty . No people s can be inhere ntly back

itself, not only to the origina l centre s of cultivation, but

11
to cu ltivat ion it se lf. 11

ward or inherently advanced. Throughout the course of word

- 1 36 -

his tory , any peo p le can, at soma pa rticular s tage , become

- 1 37 -

. Iii certain con

involve d in the overa l l histori ca l proc e s s
contrib ution t o
di tiol18 , an.y pe ople is capable o f making a

mankind' ' s a dvance .

ma j or
It would be e qua lly wrong to suppose th.at only
a ll
at
s
s
progre
s
'
mankind
in
tone
countri e s can se t the

nce of his tory

stage s of hist or ical deve lopmen t . The experie
feuda l socie ty ,
in
crisis
a
has sh own tha t , in conditi ons of

aro se first in a
more progre ssive so ci o-e conomic re la ti o ns
a time came into
sma ll oountr,y , the Ne therlands , which fo r
the f ore ground.

Of cours e ,

one

cannot ignore

the interna t i

the ob j e c tive de gonal role o f a.ny partic ular country , and

Netherla nds Revo
The
.
s
state
ther
o
on
e
i t s influenc
ree of

so cial is
lution did not le a d t o the triumph of bourgeo
world
a
on
ao
s
s
le
the
,
e
1.a tions even on a , Europea n scal
s in
lution
vo
re
the
s ca le . That prov e d po ssible only after
Engla nd and Franc e .

A study of the ba sic lines of deve lopment and of the

''unadult e ra te d "

h i s to ric a l proc e s s , and it is to the la tter tha t priori ty

primarily calls

for the ma instream of so cie ty ' s a dvance to be examine d , with

d isre gard o.f se condary streams which do not exert a d e c isive
influence on that moveme nt . World hist ory is not c ompri se d .
of the sum of particu lar historie s .

When they sum up the va st

ma terial ava i la ble a nd s tep back t o t ake in the overall pic

ture ,

scho lars must a sce rtain t he main dire ct ion of socie

ty ' s deve lopment in i t s mo s t ty pica l fo rms . The periodisa

t ion of world his t o ry must also be grounded

in tha t .

be given in an appra isa l of t he course of world his

should

t o ry. Tha t make s it pos sible to bring out the le a ding and

in the histori c a l proce ss which pro

pre dominant elements

vide it s qua litat iv e chara c teristic a nd permit e s tabli shing

to which so c ial f orma t io n a c onc re t e re gion or country be

longs in a given his torica l per

19 d.

Such a definition be come s po s sib le whenever a kind of

"yardst ick " can be

found . fo r a given s oc i a l forma t i on :

pre sence of a soc ia l ,

e'conomi c ,

and " re pre sents " i t ,

as it were . The identif icat ion

of the mos t unadult era ted forms of histo ric a l proc e s se s or

phenomena mus t go hand in hand with the a scerta inment of the
o bj e c tive law-governe d pa tterns tha t de termine the l ine o f
deve lopme nt o f soc ie ty i n t h e given concre t e c ondition s .
It is i n the

"pure " fo rms of socia l a dvance tha t th e

law-governe d pat terns manife s t themse lve s mos t di st inc t ly .

Where tho se forms are blurred be cau se o f various " a dmix
ture s " and s e c ondary circumst ance s ,
do no t operat e so di st inc t ly ,
vea ling the mse lve s ,

the obj e c tive pat terns

though they are

in the f irst place ,

in the soc i o log ic a l sense ,

Th i s ha s a certa in bea ring o n chronology a s

tha t the gene ra l often

we

1 1 . The

world-hi storic a l phenomena cannot be c onsidere d a b s o lute .

is worthwhile
due a ccount should be t aken of

In many c a se s , historic al f a c t s t e s tify to the simultaneous

type ,

are

while of the s ame

not dire c t ly interl inke d . In thi s c onne ction,

se d by B; Piotrovsky in respect of the his t ory of ma t er ia l

culture :

"A certain sum of the

:e lement s o f the pro duc t ive

istance s of the wo rld-histo rica l pro ce s s deve loping, not

in a s t ra ight line but in " de tours " ,

we ll a s the c orre s ponding production re la t ions ,

a longside

the

as it were ,

a long vari

" pa rt icular " . However ,

the pa rti a l and the "pa rti cu lar" in hi storic a l

deve lopment i t is important t o e s tablish what i s the mo st

- 13 8 -

it

to r e c a l l a highly intere st ing opinion expre s

f orce s a s cha ra cter ising the leve l of the ir deve lopment ,

ous channe ls of the sp e c ifi c ,

but

above-mentioned t ime-differe nce s in typologic a l ly overa ll

pro c e s s .
Conse quently ;

re

not the summa t iona l .

ma turing of proc e s se s and phenomena which,

I t is through 1le particular

pre se nt ,

as a ma in t re nd ,

such import-
Here , of course , one should not disre gard
dua l countries whi ch
ant fea ture s in the d eve lopmen t of indivi
single histor ica l
give grounds to speak o f varian ts of a

reve a ls itse lf.

the

poli t i c a l and cultural c m

p lex tha t embo die s the typic a l fe a ture s o f that social for
ma t ion ,

s t ruggle of progre s sive p incip le s against the regre s s ive ones ,

which form .a single world his t oric a l pro ce s s ,

expre s sion o f the ba sic trend in the world

s idere d a s a de finite s oc ia l degree

materia l culture
t oo ls ,

as

c an b e c on

in the deve lo pment of

Similar ne eds have le d to primitive

similar in function and similar in form

- 1 39 -

Culture s

of the Aene o lithic age pro duc e a considerable s imilari ty in

the t o o ls and other a rt icle s use d

of tha t s tage similar in nature are

Complexes of artic le s

to be seen at a consi

de rable t e rrit orial and t emporal d istanc e from one another

12
( fo r example , the Aene o li thic age in Africa and Japan ) .

In la t er per i o ds ,

too ,

there a lso existe d

a certa in

unity in the founda t i ons of the ma teri a l and spiri tua l cul
ture of diffe re nt. peo ple s . The repe t i tivene s s ( and para lle l
existence ) of certa in hist or i c a l phenomena in pe oples tha t
have never even known of e a ch other ' s existence unt i l re
cen t ly is COIIWlOll knowledge .

In re spe c t of the deve lopment

of feudal re lat ions , N. Konra d wrot e tha t one

amaze d a t the

can only 11be

c lo s ene s s in time in the deve lopment of this

proce s s in thre e le ading s tate s of the anc ient worl d : in

13
Ea st Asia , the Middle Ea s t , and in We s tern Europe " .
He

no t e d the ama zing c oincidence in the external forms of the

nobi li ty ' s le gi slat ion when absolutist sta t e s were c oming
into existenc e
Japan,

in the e a rly 1 7 th cen tury in France and in

a l though no cont a c ts be tween the se two countrie s exi s

t e d at the t ime . Re gu la t i on o f the b ehaviour of pe a sant s by

two absolut i s t stat e s so profoundly different from e a ch other
a nd l o c a t e d at the oppo site ends of the e xtensive Euro-Asi
an wor ld wa s close ly +e la t e d even in the termino logy used.
This shows that in diffe re nt countrie s abso luti sm s a spe
c ia l form o f the feudal stat e fa c e d problems tha t were c om

mon,

irre spe ctive of re gional o r loc a l fe ature s . This can

a l so s e rve as ano the r confirmation of the unity of the world

his to ri ca l pro c e s s .
While France experienc e d t he immedia t e impac t of the
Japan cou ld never have done

so , yet both in France and in Japan one can e a s ily e s ta bl ish

c oncre te deve lopment la ndmarks pe culi ar only to them, whi ch

can underlie a loc a l per iodisat ion of his t ory. At the same
it is po s si ble

to compare such part icul:ar pe riodisa

t i ons with world his t ory,

i.e. ,

t o c onsider the his t o ry of

France and Ja pan aga i ns t the ba ckground o f such historic

eve nt s as ,

French and of Japanese so c ie ty . In re spe c t

is

qui t e obvious :

of France ,

the Engli sh revo lution , no doubt ,

tha t

spe e de d

u p th e anti-feudal t re nds which a century la ter ende d in a

mighty re volutionary uphe ava l . As fo r Japan ,

the c ollapse

of the policy of artifi cia l se lf-isola t ion as pursued by

the feuda l T okugava rulers wa s a ls o pre de termine d by the
overa ll

onslaught of the b ourge o i s ie ,

which wa s initia t e d

by the events in Euro pe . Ma .oy f a c t s o f Japane s e history in

the 1 7 th and 1 8th centur i e s fo l low the ma ins t re am of the

wold-wide proc e s s of the d e c line of feud a l i sm.

In this re spect ,

the hi s t ory of Russia i s no exception.

The emergence and deve lopment of Russian a b s o lut ism can be

underst o o d only aga inst the background of the overa ll crisis
of' the feuda l socia l fo rma t ion.
Synchroni sat ion of hist oric
al e vent s
taking p la ce s i
mult aneo usly in wide ly se
pa ra t e d plac es and , henc e
, indepen
dently of one ano the r , is
a spe cif i
me thod of analysi s use d
b y the founders o f s c ie nt
ific communism a s we l l .
I.

During the la st ye ars o f

his l ife , Kar l Ma rx di d a
va ? t
amount of work o n wri t.ing
a prec is of bo o ks on world
hist o ry
he knew , with s pe c ia l emph
a s i s on the dati ng of the
fa c ts
and e vent s take n note by
him. Afte r the auth or ' s de
a th Fre
deri ck Enge ls a lle d thi s
va st work , over 1 00 signa
ture s in
vo lume , " chrono logi ca l exce
rp t s " .
Use o f the meth od o f chro
no logi c a l corre la tion make
s
to compare the hi s t oric a l
deve l opment of diff e
rent coun trie s with in the
frame wo rk of one and the
same e poch ,
and , cons e que nt ly , pre se nt
s c onsidera ble inte re st fo
r a s c i
enti fic per iodi sat ion of
hist ory. The chrono logi cal
meth od
he lps to e s tabli sh bo th wha
t is common and wha t is diff
e re nt
in regi ons and c ountrie s
. It is pa rti cu la r ly impo
rtan t that
this meth od can a l so be use
d in. a scer ta ining the gene
ra l law
gove rne d pa t tern s in hi stor
y.
it po ssib le

Engl ish bourgeo i s re volut ion,

t ime ,

historica l pro ce s se s chara cte rising the deve.lopment bo th o f

fo r examp le ,

the tri umph of bourge o i s re la t ions

in England. This wil l he lp be tter unde rstand the sub s e quent

- 1 40

The unit y of the worl d-hi

s to rica l proc e s s conf irms
the
impo rtan t conc lusi on to be
drawn from the e st a blishmen
t of
part ial t ime -co inci dene e s
in de fini t e s ta ge s of worl
d deve -

- 1 41 -

With a l l
lopment , some time s at opposit e ends of our planet .
am o f
the numerou s particu lar depar ture s from th e mainstre
a nd ,
advance
that
of
ction
dire
overall
the
,
e
mankind ' s a dvanc
pe
and
s
e
countri
all
ch
whi
through
s
ge
conse quently , the s ta
de
c
economi
is
It
.
same
the
,
opl s pas s , are , in the ma in
the
terminism tha t ultima te ly re ctifies a ll. deviations from
of
nature
sive
s
logical and pre determin es the overa ll progre
tha t movement .
Without using the c omparative chronological me thod,

it

would be very ha rd to give a scientifi c typology of histo ri

cal proc e s se s and phenomena .

As follows

from the a bove , the Marxist pe riodisat ion

of world history as a ccepte d by Sovie t hist orians proceeds

from the fa ct of a law-ioverne d overa ll pat tern and a unity
of the economic pro ce ss as re ve a le d in the successive emer

geace and re pla cemet of so ci o-e conomic forma tions . Ye t--and

this should aga in be eaphasi se d-wi th all the ove rall t re nd

towards a conse cutive succe s sion of !!!.! soc io-e conomic forma

t ions with .!!l]; pe ople s , some of them, given certain condi

t ions , can bypa s s individua l stage s in mankind ' s

overa ll a d

vance . Thus , in particular , most Slavic and Germanic

tribe s

were able to bypa s s the slave-owning system and went over

dire c t ly from primit ive-communa l re la t ions to feudalism.

draw
Mention ha s al so been made of the possibi lity of
ll.
we
as
ory
hist
ing up a ,purely loc a l periodi sat ion of
of histry ,
Equally possibl e i s a particular periodi sat ion
i of the
tha t i periodi sat i on in re spe ct of eve n micr.onucle
, the
social o rgani sm ( province s , towns and so on) . However
force s de
impo s sibili ty of reve a liJ:lg the deep-lying iJlner
oming of
chortc
main
the
is
ty
i
soc
of
dvance
termining the a

largesuch particular per iodi sati ons . Only a suffici ently

sse s
proce
ical
histor
of
eration
soa le approa ch to a consid
d
erne
law-gov
their
of
nt
and phenomena can permit a judgeme
with
linked
ctly
dire
nature . The prob lem of period isation is
b a si s
the methodo logical point s of departure . Only on the
a genuinely
of the ma teria list understanding o f histo ry i s
that i s free
one
,
e
possibl
ory
hist
of
ion
sat
scientif i c periodi
of sub j e ctiv i sm.
pime
A de tailed knowle dge of the factua l materia l is -a
t ion
riodisa
pe
ive
ct
e
obj
conditi on for the e laborat ion of the

verigiven
only
of b.iHtory ( like any genera lisation) . It is
orical
fied data on all the p rameter s of a concre te hist
rame of
proce s s that they can be re duce d to a s ingle time--f
groupillg
r e ference . Further , the re searche r must se t about
.
e
bl
availa
ion
t
the histor ica l informa

The periodi sa t ion o f wo rld history calinot be e ffected

ular socio
sole ly on the basis of the exis te nce o f any partic.
pe oples of
the
e conomic forma tion. Tha t is impos sible , since
histori
our plane t have gone through. definit e stage s of the
cal proce ss at different t ime s .

- 1 42 -

Among the people s iDhabit ing the Sov ie t

Union there are such

that bypa s se d the capitalis t fo rma tion and went ove r from
feudal re la t ions dire ctly to social i sm. Thi s , a s a rule ,
stems from the interna l " particular" law-governed pat terns

of the deve lopment of e ach people some ime s being modified

under the powe rful impact of .the milieu\ and be coming sub
ordinated to more genera l pat terns in s cial deve lopment .

The first sta t e format ions of the German

shape at a t ime when the slave-owning sy

and Sla vs took

d'f em

was go ing through

a profound cri si s and when the di sintegra tion of slave-own

ing emp ire s gave way to the gradual re plac ment of unpro duct\

ive s lave labour by the far more productive \ labour of dependent pea sant s . This faci li tated the . develop nt , amon tll e

Slavs and the Germans , of feuda l re 18 t ionshi ' s , a nd not of

\

n\e
p

the outmo de d re lationships of slave ownership . The formerly

ba ckward pe ople s illha bi ting the margina l are a s of the forme r

Rus sian Empire , which ha d pre se rved feuda l and even patriar
cha l re la tions , di d not fo llow the discre di te d cap ita list
road afte r the triumph of the socialist re volution in Russia ,
but took to the roa d of so ciali sm.
World history ha s been ma rke d by the s teadily growing
interlinkage and mutual influence between all countrie s and
pe ople s . While , .in ancient t ime s , tha t influenc e was re la
t ive ly inconsiderable and limited to contacts be twe en imme

dia te neighbour s , in class sooie tie e--s la ve owning , feuda l

and e sp e c ial ly capita li s t--e conomic , cultural and poli tical

t ie s between

the most di s tant area s be came c ommonplace . Tha t ,

- 1 43 -

of course ,

promote d

no t only to higher ra t e s of histories

deve lopment but a ls o the overa ll pa t te rns of the deve lop

ment standing out in eve r bo lder re li e f , w i th e ver fewe r pa r
t i cula r deviat ions .

In ge ne ra l ,

ple s do away with the

communica t ions be twe en peo

illus ory ide a s of the a llege d existence

of spe c ia l and spe c if ic laws of the d eve lopment of Europeans

and A sians ,

b la cks and white s ,

a lway s be en common,

and the

like . Such l aw s have

though the forms of the ir manife s ta t ion

do no t a lways co incide .
The pa rticular que stion some t ime s arise s of the pos si
bi lity of an inde pendent per io disat ion o f individua l a spe c t s
of s oc ia l a c tivity a s conventionally examine d out side the
ove ra l l historic a l pro c e s s ,
the hi story of culture .

I
!

I;

:r:

'
.11
I
I ' '
t'

!11

l:
+

hi story ,

fo r examp le ,

a veriodi sat ion of

Cultura l proc e s se s ,

on the

a s we ll a s severa l othe r pro ce sse s ,

plane o f

c a n undoub te dly

deve lo p a cco rding to the ir own internal laws . For examp le ,

the Rena i s sance

can be re garde d as an indepe ndent complex

of inte rl inke d cu ltura l pheno100 na ; c ons e quent ly ,

have i t s own inte rna l pe rio disat ion .. Howe ver ,

it c an

i t is import

a nt no t to. lo se s ight of the fact tha t the Rena issance wa s

the out come of a qu ite co ncre te per iod of world hist o ry .
Though the

chrono logy doe s n o t a lways co incide ,

one c anno t

disre gard the inte link be twe en various a s p e c t s of the multi

lateral his toric a l proc e s s .

Such is the e lement ary demand

Ob j e c tive indicat ors of the c ourse o f a.ny country ' s

in e s tablishing criteria for the periodisat ion of that count
ry ' s his tory .. Such crite ria include manife sta t i ons of substan
tia l advanc e s in the material pr oductive fo rce s , the ir ine s
c apable re fle c t ion in the sphere of production re la t ions ,
landmarks in the c ourse of ma s s so ci a l move 100 nt s ( with the ir
and

the dire c t or indire c t impact of ma j or interna t iona l event s .

he c o lla t e s such indi cators ,

the re se archer cannot but

come up aga ins t the non-coincidence of concre te da t e s a.nd nu

merous variants o f internal proc e s se s ,
the pe riodisat ion of hi st ory ,

but ,

in de termining

the priority must go to even t s

tha t have exerted a dire ct impa ct--po si tive or negative--on

- 1 44 -

i s ult ima te ly de termine d

by

the f ormation a pproa ch a ls o a t

Al l other a t t empt s to pe riodi se his t ory canno t but be

sub j e ctive ,
date s ,

for they permi t an arbitrary cho i ce of various

and pre ferenc e for certa in par t i cular event s ,

irre s

pe c t ive o f th e ir a c tua l significance in the overa ll course

of the his t or ic a l proc e s s .

Example s of such a t t ra ct iv e ly

s imple pe riodi sat ion are prov ide d bY" the

thought le s s div i sion

of history a ccording to the f o rma l chrono logy :

ry of the

1 6 th century" ,

l ike . Another example

"The hi sto-

or "hist ory down to 1 500" and the

of an a c tua l re j e c t ion of the ob j e c

tive approach is provide d by a t temp t s to periodi s e , h i s t o ry

a cc o rding t o f ormal

cha ng e s exclus ive 1.y i n t h e are a of con

st i tut iona l law. An extreme example is the s o-ca lle d " dy

n a s tic h i st ori e s " .

Re cent years have s e e n the a p pe a ra nce , i n histo riog

ra phy abro a d ,

of a t re nd that subordina t e s histori ca l perio

disat io to the po li t i ca l intere s t s of de finite s o c i a l

group s ,
t i cular ,

from a highly nat iona l i sti c vie wpoint .. Thus , i n par

a t temp t s have be come wide spre a d .

to " i so la t e " th e

histo ry o f one ' s " own" country from the proce s se s o f world
and in s ome mea sure

to contra pos e to those pro c a s se a

the course of so cia l deve l o pment on a loc a l nat ional scale .

so cio-e conomic deve lo pme nt shou ld b e the point of departure

When

In o ther

an ob j e c ti ve a ppra is a l of a concre t e hist ori cal proces

the given leve l o f periodisation.

hi st o ry ,

pre sent e d by the Ma rxist-Lenini st _ a pproach t o hist o :ry ..

corre sponding inf luenc e on supe r- s t ructura l c a tegorie s ) ,

the f a t e of the dominant s o cio-e conomic re la t i o ns .

words ,

This is done both to artificia lly " enhance " the imp&rtance
of one ' s " own" nat i o n or nat i ona l sta te and corrE spondingly
be lit tle the imp a c t of world event s ,

and a ls o to " just ify"

na t i ona lis tic and hegemonic a spira t ions or e ve n t e rritori a l

claims .. O f c ourse , a ny nat iona lis t ic interpre ta t ion o f h i s
tory has nothing in c ommon with s ci ence ..

In some case s ,

a t

tempts are made to artificia lly " ext end" the hist ory of a
part icula r country on the f a lse pre sumption tha t the more
a nc ient a particular people or i t s culture ,
f icant i t s ro le ,

the more s igni

no t only in the pa s t bu t e ven to day .

It should be remembere d ha t at time s a nationa li s t i c

cl

interpre tat ion o f the his tori a l p a s t o f a given pe ople ,

which ha s only re cently c a s t o ff the yoke of c o lonia l i sm. ,
..; 1 45 -

c an be a re a c tion to a 1ong- standing ignoring or del iberat e

e conomic eve lopment bo th on a wo rld-wide and a re giona l

d is tort ion o f that pe o p le ' s hist ory b y the colonia li s\ im

sca le .

plante rs of

" culture " .. Howeve r ,

even if such a one -side d

One can fully a ccount for bourge o i s his tori ca l scien

approach to the hi story of a given c ountry can b e a ccounte d

for,

tha t

cannot in any way se rve to justify a l l a.B.d eve ry

na t iona lis tic d i st ortions of the his torical past .

The non-a c ce ptance of the Marxist princ iple s of histo

is who lly de t e rmine d by i ts reftisa l to re c ogni se the obj e c t-

t i cula r ,

v o lutionary re p la cement of so ci o-e conomic fo rma t ions ,

hi s tori c a l pr o ce s s ,
.for a l l time ,

is the s tand taken by the We s t German author F . Scha lk ,

i.e . ,

an

t o ry . As an examp le ,

..

be r ' s " ide a l typ e s " or w

ance

of the conc e pt of

humanism and the exis tence of the

Scha lk ' s opinion,

is de termine d . not

chara c teri s t i c s as by the

concept of the Kiddle Ages ,

humani sm ,

which . aro se simultaneously with

e s tablishe s it s re la t i on with antiquity ( links

and distinc t ions )

ons is ,

so much by obj e ct ive

ide a o f it 'a s a new e poch. The

from F.

..

An awa re ne s s of l inks through dis t inc t i

Scha1k ' s point of vie w ,

dation of hi st oric a l perio di sation

..

14

the theore t ica l foun

Attempt s have b e en ma de in bourge o i s hi s t or iography

to find grounds for me chanic a l a.oa logy in an examinat i on of
events perta ining to diffe re nt historica l e pochs and c onse
quently e s se ntia lly different and de fying compari son.

Such

is the a ppro a ch of A. Toynbe e to the hist ori ca l proc e s s ,

which he s e e s at a suc.ce.ssion of unconne cted and a llege dly
independent cultura l his t orical c omplexe s , .

or " c ivi lisa

t ions i . Stric t ly speaking, A . Toynbe e proc e e ds from a the o

logi c a l interpre tation o f history ..

15

While di s s o c ia t ing them

s e lve s from Toynbe e .' s co nc e pt , many We stern bourgeo is his

torians have rej e c t e d the val i di ty of a perio disation that
proce e ds from a c omparison of the ob j e ctive fa c t s of so cio-

- 1 46 -

We

Ro s t ow ' s

a s the f ounda t ion of pe riodi sat ion ,

While i t s qua l i t a t ive ly

defined fea ture s a re ignore d;

ide o logic al proce s s which

e po ch of Humanism. As an integra l conc ep t , humanism in

and trie s to

-" stage s of growth" , in

\
which se condary e lement s in _the historical proc e s s a re seen

in

F. Scha lk ma ke s reference to the appe a r

bourge o i s his toriography fla t ly denies the

substitute f or it vari ou s kinds of succe dane a such as M.

whose opinion periodisation is the p ro ce s s of man' s histo

re fle c t s in its own way the c la sh of various views on his

" a cme " of c ivilisat ion.

very conc e p t of " so c io-e conomic fo rma tion" ,

t ions . Mos t We stern historians have advance d purely ide a l

i st i c grounds for a periodisation of histo r.r . An example

shows tha t cap it ali sm doe s not e xis t

and is not the

As a ru le ,

in par

i ts negation of the theory of s o c i o-e conomic fo rma

rica l se lf-de t e rminat ion ,

'Wh i ch ,

by reve a ling the overa l l law-gove rne d pa t tern in the wor ld

rica l pe riodi sation by tra ditipna l bourgeo is hist oriography

ive law-governe d pa tterns of so cial deve lopment and,

ce ' s negat ive a t t i tude towards the . Marxis t the ory of the re

Of la te years ,

bourge ois so ciology ha s se en the spre a d

;of a t tempt s to pe rio dise hi story a cc o rding t o the

! a spe c t ,

te chnica l

in the a bstra c t from man and from the sys tem o f

l so cia l re la t ions . Chara c terist ic i n this re spe c t i s the

l trend towards re pla cing pa ten t ly ide a l i st conc e pt s of the

!hi s torica l

proc e s s with a kind of pseudo material ist inter

,pre t at ion, by means of which the course of his tori ca l de ve 1

lopment is re duce d e ithe r to change s in the e xc lusively

1te chnica l a spe c t s of soci a l production or to the evo lution

of o b j e c t s o f ma t erial culture ,

By

the "his t ory of things " .

p ro c la iming the priority o f produc t io n proc e s se s in the

1 deve lopment of soc ie ty ,

the We st German hist orian Th. Schie

de r cla ims tha t it is po ssib le to "defe a t his to rical ma t e r

16
i ia l i sm with i t s own weapon11
In divorcing the deve l o pment

1 of the productive force s from the re la t i ons of produt ion ,

:Th.

Schi e der has de libera t e ly d i s t o rte d the ver.r c onc e pt

1 o f his tori ca l material ism. The

same device has been use d

l by othe r bourgeo i s hist orians who try in one form or an

other to "e l imina t e " so cia l problems and " substantiate "
the conc ept of the eonve rg8nce of capit a li sm and so c ia lism ..

'

The te chnica l proc s se s at any leve l of deve l o pment

1do not exist of themse lve s a s a blend of pure ly mechanic a l
1 e lem.ent s . Like t e chno logy ,

t e chnic a l proc e sse s a r e the pro-

- 1 47 -

d uct of soci a l man ' s a c t ivitie s an,d are ,

t ima t e ly c onne c t e d w i th a concre te
Tha t is why the

two

conse quent ly ,

in

soc io-e conomic s t ru c ture .

cannot be examine d in i s o la t ion from

the pre dominant forma tion which it

on t o re pla ce . The
s o c ia l re la t ions

is re s t ricte d at f irst ,

so cie ty ' s organisa t i on. Al l a t temp t s to spe cify the stage s

new s tructure

of progre s s ive deve lopment ba s e d exc lusive ly on te chni cal

nomi c forms . Neverthe l e s s ,

i ndica tors ,

and wi thou t an analys is of the dominant s o c i a l

re la tions are who l ly unt enable .

It i s impossible t o re place

ina smuch a s i t te s t ifie s t o the a ppea rance

of s o cia l cont ent .

be ginning t o de termine

s tructure of so cie ty ,

i s de s igne d t o glo s s ove r the antago

ni stic contradic t ions inherent in capi ta li sm.

The a dherents of the

Bourgeo i s ,

ind ' s

in m

the a ccusat io n

de ve lopment which is

its a dvanc e .

re formist and re vi sionis t-na t iona l i st hi s

toriography fla tly re fuse s to

" t e chnica l " approa ch t o the pe

riodisation of his to ry some time s br:.ish a si de

the very fa c t of the emergence

of wha t i s ne w c a l ls for its re fle c t ion in the pe rio disa

t ion of hist ory ,

o f a gene ra l trend ( law)

which ignore s the c la s s

and the emergent

i s the harbinger of more a dvance d soc io-e co

human hist ory with the hist ory of ma chinery a s s t rippe d

Such a st an d ,

is ult ima t e ly c al le d up

t e rrit or i a l l o c a t ion of more progre s s ive

"a cknowledge " tha t the Gre a t

October Soc ia l is t Revo lut ion was an hi storic

ushere d

divide which

in a new e p o ch of hi st o ry, contemporary his to ry . Que s

that they have gone over to materia list positions which

tions of his t orica l pe rio di sa t i on are

involve the re co gnition of the priority of the e conomic

ne c t e d wi th overa l l wro r l d-view problems ,

fa c t or s . For-instance ,

gical confronta ti on be twe en oppo sing s oci o-e conomic sy s t ems .

w. Ro s t ow says tha t e conomi c fa ctors

Change s in the wo rld-hi st oric a l proc e s s and the a c ce le ra t

ing pace of so c i e ty ' s a dva.nce w i th the t ra nsi tion from one
s o c io-e conomic forma t i on to anothe r ,

of external pre s sure --re a l or imaginary--exerted by the

s ive one-- the se are

s t ronger over the .weaker .

tori ca l scienc e .

out in def'ence of the

considere d fortuitous,,

In thi s c a se , llos t ow ha s come

" the o ry of force " . This cannot be

for he

" the o re t i c a l ly " just ifie s the

imper ia l i s t pra c t ice of forc ibly implanting " culture " on

de ve loping c ountrie s .
Chara cteris t i c of mo s t bourge o i s hi st orians

id e o lo

im

the e conomic force s but in a kind of re a c tion to some fo rm

17

wi th the

no t in

do no t play any de c i sive pa rt ; he cla ims tha t the f irst

p e tus towards e c onomic moderni sat ion should be seen,

thus int ima t e ly con

is the de

Hence

that

is more progre s

ob j e ctive fa c t s long e st a bl i she d in hi s

the ne e d to

spe ak of " time " in terms of his t ory .

The succ e s sion of his torical e vent s in the t ime sca le i s

one of the mo s t important a s pe c t s of t h e hi s t o rica l proc e s s ;
it is o b j e c t iv e

in cha ra c t e r and independent of anyb o dy ' s

consci ou sne s s . But

"his t or ica l time "

is n o t a const ant mag

s ire t o t o t a l ly abandon any global per i o di sat ion of his

nitude .

t ory ,

t ions of soc ie ty ' s existence . The d ifference s in the deve

with t he

o disat ions .

pre ference going to l o cal or "partial " pe ri

In th is re spe c t , one c anno t bu t not e how clo se

this posi tion stands to effort s

by

nat iona list e le ment s to

It change s in a c c o rdance w i th the o b j e c t ive condi

lopment ra te s of soc io-e conomic format i ons a ls o de termine s

the d i s t inc ti ons in the t ime -count .

Thus ,

"his t orica l time "

c ons truct exclusively "nationa l " periodisations of his t o ry ,

is a kind of s c a le for measuring s o c ie ty ' s a c c e le ra t ing for

which a ls o glo s s over the pro c e s s of the revo lutionary re

ward movement .

pla cement of soc io-e conomi c forma tion s .

Problems of "hi s torica l time " a re s ignificant for

In de a l ing wi th the pro blem of hi storica l perio di sa

tion , one cannot take up any quant i ta t ive ,

or ari thme t ic

the pe ri o di sa t io n of hist ory as a who le .

of

The d e t e rmina t i on

time di ffere nce s in the development of various pro ce s -

approa ch to the sum of phenomena which te s t ify to the ap

se s he lps spe cify the ir ro le in soc i e ty ' s overa l l moveme nt

pearance or

and to e s t a b li sh the

the onse t of new and more a dva nc e d soc io-econo

Ilic re la tions. As a ru le , the .new is at first weaker than
- 1 48 -

length ,

ra te ,

definite f o rms of th a t movement .

onse t and c onclusion o f

In the opinion of P . Anev ,

- 1 49 -

the Bulgari an,_hist or ian,

an important pa r t i s playe d by th e

ca l proc e s se s or e vents are under way ; d is ta nc e s lose th e i r

the e c onomic pro ce s s , he write s ,

f o rme r s ignificanc e and the t ime re quire d fo r re la t e d pro

lays the ground for the

deve lopment of s o c ie ty ' s poli tica l and inte l le c tua l life ,

ce s s e s or e ve nt s to be ta ken in is re duc e d ,

which po s s e s s e s i t s re la t ively independent dynami sm and

even extensive t e rrit ori e s . The highe s t a c c e le rat ion ra t e

rhythm. The re la t iv e ly rhy thmi ca l nature

p roce s se s in antago.n is t ic

( c la s s )

of so c i o-po lit i c a l

forma ti ons manife s t s it

s e lf in the c onst ant suc c e s s i on of periods of exac erbat ion

of the c la s s contradicti ons during the e po chs of compara

18
t ive ly pe a c e ful deve l o pmen t .
Of course , the prob lem of the
r a te of the / hi s t or ical proc e s s canno t even be pos e d wi thout
r e sort to the c a t e gorie s " soc io-e conomic forma t ion" ,

"his

tori ca l epoch " and "his t or ic a l perio d " .

rhythm

" In hist ory ,

( pe riodic i ty )

change s i t s nature in the c ondition s of dif

1
ferent e po chs and s oc io-e conomic fo rma t i ons . " 9
Within the framework of any so cio-e c onomi c fo rmat i on

there may take p la ce both quant i ta ti ve change s ( a gre a ter

or le s se r -numbe r of variou s phenomena ) ,

and qual itative

c hange s ( the a ppe arance of new and pre viously unknown as

pe ct s ,

which make i t p o s s ible t o speak of the onse t of the

new stage in the deve l opment of a given f ormat ion ) . Qua l i

tative change s in soc ie ty are his tor i c a l s ci ence ' s main and
d i re ct ob j e c t of s tU<;ly ,

and the hi storian is in :duty bound

to study phenomena a s they a ppear in terms of time . Other

wise ,

it will be hard fo r him t o d e t e rmine , not only thei r

imme dia te cause s but the ir a c tua l s ignificance ,

the i r place

in the chain o f other phenomena .

Alongside

his t or i c a l time ,

a definit ion of the

spa-

tial borde rs of phenomena under study is of grea t signifi

cance to his tori cal re se a rch . Sov ie t his t or i c a l li tera ture
ha s dea l t with the que s t ion of a hist orica l re gi on a s an in
de pe ndent c a te gory

in his tori c a l science .

There

is no

doubt that the very conc e pt of regi on cannot be examine d in

i so la t ion from histor i ca l t ime .
ca lls for a single

Any

hi st orical phe nomenon

spa t ia l and t ime chara c teris t i c .

The a c ce lerat io n

tha t involving

o f s o c ie ty ' s a dvance i s to be se en in peri o d s in wh i ch the

m o s t ra dical change s take pla c e ,
t ime

the c ou.irse of his.tor i c a l

hinging dire c t ly on the dynamism o f the soc ia l pro

ce sse s taking pla c e .

Que st ions of hi st ori ca l peri o di sat i on have a number of
a sp e c t s of pra c t i c a l significanc e .

Thu ,

in parti cu la r ,

the

tea ching of history ha s a lway s been ma rke d by a c onventi

ona l divi sion into anc i ent , me diaeva l , modern, and contem
pora ry his t ory . As w i l l re adi ly be re a l i se d ,

tha t st ems from

the ne e d to provide a compre s s e d compedium of hi stor ic a l

knowle dge convenient for the pro c e s s o f tuiti on. B y ancie nt
hi story is underst o o d mankind ' s deve lopment within the f rame
wo rk ' of two s o cia l fo rma t i ons :

the primi t ive-communa l and

s lave-owning. :Me diaeva l hi st o ry

the predominant po s i t ion he ld

by

is in fa c t ident if ie d wi th
feuda l i sm. Mo de rn hist ory

is unde r st o o d a s

the pe rio d o f th e triumph o f bourgeois

so cial re l a ti ons ,

wi th .Marxist and a llie d hist ori o gra phy

s e t t ing the b e ginning of contemporary hi sto ry at the c omp le

t ion of the w orl d ' s fi rst vic tor ious so.c i a l i s t re vo lut ion

in Oc tober 1 9 1 7 . In bourgeo i s li tera ture ,

the line of divi

sion be twe en me diaeva l , modern and contemporary hi st ory is

drawn differently.

Of course ,

though t he four-element div i sion o f wo rld

history is pra c t i ca l ly conve nient ,

it suffe rs from s ome

short coings of an ove ra ll and te rmino logi c a l nature .

ancient hist ory includes bo th pre-cla s s
antiqui ty " )

re

Thus ,

la t io.ns ( " de e p

and the f ir st antagonis tic s o ci a l forma t ion.

It . wou ld be a dvisable to tre a t pre -c la ss so c ie ty under a

separate rubri c .

th e rate o f so ci a l deve lopment in

de finite per iods is a lso linke d wi th te chno logic a l pro gre s s ,

f o r example in the are a of communi cat ions . This ha s exerte d

a de f ini te influence on a te rritory where certain histori

rhythm o f his tori c a l deve lo pment . The rhythmic a l nature of

- 150 -

The t e rm "Mi ddle Age s " ma ke s sense only i n i t s appil

ca tion to Europe .

In mo s t As ian countrie s ,
- 151 -

feuda l re la t ions

3 Karl
Ma rx , Capit a l , Vo l . 1 , Mo s co w , 1 9 6 9 , p. 2 1 .

aro se e a rlier1 than in the We s t and c ontinue d to e xis t over

a far gre a ter length of t ime . Tha t is why ,

in the. ma in ,

one c a n spe ak of "mo de rn histo ry " i n re sp e c t o f the pe o p le s

of Asia and Africa in the s ense that the e me rgence and tri
of the Europe an bourge o i s ie were dire c t ly linke d with
rie s and
the ir co loni a l expansion into the Afro-Asi an c ount

umph

the latter ' s enslavement . Conse quent ly ,

In , the. the o re t ica l sense ,

En.ge l s ,

F.

'

..

23 , p . 80 .

B Ibi d . ,

Vo l .

2 1 , p. 1 46 .

the re la t i on be twe en the

Fo r de t a i l s ,

ca l proc e s s corre sponds t o the dia le c ti ca l int erl ink b e t

1111

we en the

rn

be n o le s s e rroneous t o contra s t them wi th each o ther ,

l! !

logi c a l and the hi st orica l ( the empiri ca l ) .

The se

but i t wi l l

two conce p t s should no t be ma de fully identica l ,

since

10

11

12

Karl Ma rx ,

Capita l ,

Karl Ma rx ,

The orie s of Surplus-Va lue ,

Vo l .

1 , p. 1 9

13

v. Ha j iniko lov ,

Bulga.rian hist orian ha s de fine d the pe ri

14

odisation of his t ory as a t ime-divi s ion " a c co rding to the

in i t " .

(V.

Ha j iniko lov,

" Some Metho do logica l Problems

in the Perio di sat ion of Hi sto ry " ,

The Methodolo gica l and

Hi storiographi ca l Problems of Hi stor i c a l S cience ,

K.

Marx and F.

Enge l s ,

1 9 6 9 , PP 503-504.

S e le c ted Wo rks , Vo l .

- 1 52 -

Part

2 , Mo s c o w ,

1 9 6 0 , p. 1 6 2 ( in Rus sian) .

H. Diller ,

F . Scha lk ,

" S tudien zur Pe ri od i s ierung und zum

1 5 A.

T oynbee ,

Wie sbaden,

1 97 2 , No . 4 , pp . 1 57 - 1 6 0.

A S t udy of H i s t ory , Lond o n , Vo l . 1 , 1 93 4 .

Sofia ,

1 973 , Vo l . 1 , . p. 571 in Bulgarian ) .

'

N . I . Konra d , "The Middle Age s

in His to r i ca l Sci ence " ,
From the History of Socio-P oli ti c a l I dea s , Mo
scow , 1 9 5 5 ,
p . 82 ( in Rus sian ) .

Epo chebegri ff " , Mainz ,

qua l it a t ive dis t inct ions of the pro c e s se s ta king place

2 1 , p . 1 45 .

Histori ca l Ma terial i sm and the Soc i a l Phi los ophy

of the

Bourge o i sie Today , Mo sco w ,

Vo l .

1 978 ( in Russian ) .

1 9 68 , p. 237 .

the logica l is ult ima t e ly hi st or i cal ( empiri ca l ) .

Mo s cow,

s e e : The Primitive Periphery of Pre -Capita l

i s t So c ie t ie s , Mo s cow ,

s c ie nt ifi c pe rio disation of hist ory and the a c tua l histori

''' I

19 , pp . 398 , 404 .

2 29 .

Vo l .

Vo l .

C o l le c te d Works ,

V. I . Lenin,

Ibi d . ,

fo rmat iona l content of

s the
that impe rfe c t t e rmino logy . Al l th i s a ga in empha s i se
c onventi ona l .na ture of hi storica l periodis ation.

.K. Ma rx ,

6 Ibid . , Vo l . 3 , p
5

me dia e va l , mo de rn

which aro se on a Eurocent rist ba sis c a l l s

f or a de taile d de fin i t ion of the

the use of the t ra

d it i ona l d iv i s ion of his t ory into ancient ,

.and contempo rary

16

1 , Mos c ow,,
.

Th.

Sch i e d e r ,

" G:rundfragen d er neueren d eu t s chen Ges ch i ch

t e " , H i s tor i s c he Ze i t s chr ift , Vo l .

p.

3.

- 1 53 -

1 92 , Part I , 1 9 6 1 ,

17

'
W . Ro stow , Po lit ics and the Stage s o f Growth , Cambridge ,

Mass . , 1 97 1 , P 3 .
18

P . A.nev , "Time and Struc ture in the Histo rical Pro c e s s " ,
Kethodological and Historiographica l Problems of His
torical Science , Sofia , 1 97 3 , Vo l . 1 , p . 3 1 ( in Bulgari
an ) .

1 9 Ibid. ,

P 30.

SOCIAL PROGRESS

Many pre sent-day do cument s , books and artic le s , spe e ch

e s and o the r public addre sse s make frequent mention of
soci a l progre s s , the hi st orical progre ssivene s s of vari
ous so cial phenomena , and progre ssive trends in the de
ve lopment of mankind. The ve ry word " progre s s" ha s come
into gene ra l use and is constantly be ing used to expre s s
the i de a of forward movement , the victory o f the new over
the old , the transition to higher forms of deve lopment ,
and the like . For instance , we often speak of " teehnolo
gical progre ss " , a term which stands in no need of any
spe c ia l explana tion .
But what i s meant b y 11 socia l progre ss " , or, in othe r

words, by progre s s in the development of soc ie ty ? What is

the c riterion of social progre s s ? Doe s it exist at all?
Though such que stions may seem el ementary , they stand
at the hub of an acute ideological struggle and are one

of the sourc e s of irreconcilable difference s be tween Varx

ist socia l science and various trends in bourge ois so ci
ology and historiography.
Though this struggle aro s e in the fairly distant pa st ,
we would like to dea l he re in brief with tbe que stion a s
i t stands today.

- 1 55 -

The i dea o'f progre s s is expre ssive of improveuent , a

transition to higher stage s of development , the e limina

of history ha s provided a genuine ly scientifi c inte rpre

tation of mankind ' s roa ds of' deve lopment and ha s ma de

tion of what is obsolete and outmoded, and the vic tory

p o s sible a comprehensive study of the inception, develop

of what is new and advance d. Social progre s s , i .e . , prog

re s s in the development of so ciety , has a similar mean

ment and de cline of succe ssive so cio-e conomic formations :

ing. It is a que stion, first and foremos t , of mankind ' s

forward movement .

and c ommuni st . The se are ascending stages in the develop

ent of human society , be ing di stinguishe d from one another

The Sovie t s cholar Bori s Porshnev wa s quite right v.zhen

he wrote : "The main distinction between the :Marxian theory
of progre s s and the Hegelian one is that Marx placed . .the
la tter from its head onto i t s fee t , and revealed the ma

the primi tive-communal , slave -owning, feuda l, c apitalist ,

first and foremo st

by the leve l of the development of

the productive force s and the social conditions of their

utili sation.
Change s in the nature of the productive force s compri se

dom . . . . In the pla ce of the se lf-deve lopment o f the spi

the foundation that determine s the breakup of the old

product ion re lat ions and the emergence of new one s , the

of free dom, Marx put the development of th e productive

lopment . That is why Lenin had every re a son to call the

force s , succe s sive change-over in forms of ownership, the

deve lopment of the produc tive force s the ''highe st cri teri
on of soc ia l progre s s " . 3 The concept ''productive forc e s "

teria l content of the movement from non-freedom to free

rit and tbe corre sponding progre s s in the consciousne s s

law of the antagonism betwe en, and the struggle of, cla s

transition from lower to higher stage s of soc ie ty ' s deve

se s . " 1 Thus , inhe rent in the materialist unde rstanding of

include s not only the eans and implement s of labour but

hi story i s the idea of socia l progre s s , the mo st gene rali

also the activiti e s o man a s user of tho se means . Tha t i s

why the productive fo rce s cannot be divorced from the pro

se d expre ssion of which i s the succes sive repla cement of

socio-economic forinations by new ones , - inasmuch a s each
of these is a highe r stage in the development of society.
The idea of social progre s s , i . e . , the forward movement
of society , is in e ssence revolutionary. It means the de
ve lopment of socie ty in an - a scending line , in other words ,
not a regre ssive or circula r moveuent , not marking time ,
not stagnat ion, not the conse rvation of existing social
forms and phenomena , but the unfailing replacement of obso
lete and outmoded institutions by new one s that are young
and in a state of development . Just a s the . slave-owning
system yielded place to the feuda l, and the f'eudal to the
capitalist , the latter, i .e . , pre sent-day capitalism wi ll
be swept away by a mo perfe ct soci a l structure that
ha s been prepared by the entire previous deve lopment of
socie ty--by communism,
Marxism regards socie ty a s "a living organism in a state
of constant develop1119nt 11 2 The lll! terialiet understandillg

- 156 -

:Ei

duction relations tha t corre spond to them. The productive

force s do not exist of and for themselve s , or without a
close interaction with socie ty. The ir revolut ioni sing in
fluence i s due to change s in the produc tion re l t ions ,
which may sometime s lag behind or be delaye d but must ul
t imately come into ke eping with the product ive force s . As
an example , mention might be ma de of the Industrial Revo
lution in bourgeoi s England at the turn of the 1 9th cen
tury, then spreading to o ther We st Europe an count ri e s .
Its ma terial ba sis wa s provided b y industrial invention s
which brought about a revolution in the proce ss of produc
tion ( the loom, the steam engine and othe r technological
innova tions ) . All this gave a con side rable impetus t the
progre s sive development of the productive force s and al
mo st imme diately led up to substantia l change s in the pro
duction re lations. The manufa cture stage in the develop
ment of capitalism wa s succee de d by the machine stage ,
which encourage d the capi tali st soci a li sation of labour

- 1 57 -

on a ma s s s ca le and c onsolida t e d bourge o i s produc tion re

lations .
There s o on fo llowed the c oncomitant change s in the
s o cio-political sphere of c apita l i st s oc iety ( the c onso li
da tion of the prole tariat a s a cla s s , the s truggle for
unive rsal suffrage , a c e rtain " demo c ra t i sa t ion" o f the
b ourge o i s state and so on ) .
The c onsi stent revolutionary transition from one ' socio
e c onomic fo nna t ion to anothe r , from a lowe r to a higher
one ,

is an expre s sion of so c ial progre s s in i t s mo st gene

ra l fo rm. But within e a ch soc io-e conomic forma tion there

takes pla ce a constant struggle be twe en what is new and

what is o ld , between wha t is outmode d and wha t is coming

into the . f o re ground .

supe rstructural phenomena may provide

a powerful encouraging or c ramping impa ct on the ma teri a l

conditions of socie ty ' s life . The a c t iv i ti e s of eociety ' s

progre s sive fo rce s help to e limina te wha t holds up the ad

vance of so ciety , and c onvey a forwar movement .

,;," 1t
Marxism, which regards progre s s a s an ob j e c t ive pa t-

tern of so cia l deve lo pment , e schews a primitive unde rstand

ing of so cial progre s s a s an a scent in a stra ight line .

The law-governe d pa t tern in soc ie ty ' s a dvance from l o r

forms of exi stence to ' higher . one s proce e d s amidst an acute

s t ruggle be tween the progre ssive and the outmo ded . The

transition from one socio-e conomic forma tion to a highe r

one i s re vo luti ona ry, no t evolutionary in na ture . Lenin

e mpha sise d that "it i s undia lec tica l , unscientific and the
o re ti ca lly wrong to regard the c ourse of world hi story a s
smooth and a lways i n a forward direction,

without occa sion

a l gigantic leaps ba ck" . 4

The course of historical development cannot but en

gende r the new , which contains certain transforme d elements
o f the old. As Lenin empha sised in this conne c ti on ,

exi st s "a deve lopment tha t repea t s , a s it were ,

have alre ady been pa sse d ,

but repe a t s

them in.

the re

stages that

a diffe :re nt

way , on a higher ba sis ( ' the negation of ne gat i on ) , a de

ve lopment ,

so to spe ak, that procee ds in s pira l s , not in a

- 1 58 -

straight line . n

He often expre s se d the i de a of the in

evitable growth , with manki nd ' s forward development , not

only o f the s ca le o f the ma sse s ' activity but a lso of the ir

1 dia te impact on the course of history. In the e arly
i1111e
anta_goni stic cla s s forma tion s ,

the bulk o f those directly

involved in pr0duction remained more or le s s pa ssive pa i-

1ticipants i n th e historical event s of t he time . However ,

under capitalism,

the re alre a dy appea re d a new so cia l cla s s ,

the proletaria t , which,

primarily because o f i t s ob j e c

tive posi tion in the proce s s of production, has proved

able to become a great revolutionary .force . The s pe cia l

TOle of th working cla ss grew steadily a s capitali sm she d

its progres sive role . The working c la s s , which has ra llied

.about itself the va st ma sse s o f the people , : is a vital fac

tor o f progre s s

in world history. The a ct ivity

of the

toiling ma s se s , and in the first place the wo rking cla ss ,

i s a powerfUl a ccelerat or of so cia l progre s s . The mounting

tempo of mankind ' s progre ssive development is a dire ct out

come of the involvement in it of fre sh hundreds of millions

of people , a s Lenin pointed out . 6

Re cognition o f th e development of th e p roductiv e fo rces

a s the ''highe st criterion o f social progre s s " should not

oversimplify the problem a s a whole ,

or reduce historical

progre s s to a cut-and-dried scheme All overall criterion

can provide only an objective foundat ion, whose existence

p re suppose s a concrete analysis of particular alld loca l

manife stations of socia l life .

Plekb.Snov wrote : "We must study the facts of the pa st

life of 11Snkind in order to di scover :In them the laws o f

its progre s s .

On ly h e i s capable of fore se e ing the future

who has understood the pa st ""7

As the experience of hi story shows , soc ia l progre ss

prior to the epoch o f socialism is not effected a long a

straight line , and painle ssly. The entire his tory of man

ldlld

until the emergence of the first phase of the co11111lJ1

mark

.of

i st format ion bore an indelible imprint , inde e d a kind of

Cain:

social progress carved its way with fire and

sword , with blood alld iron. Thi s wa s achieved by meaus that

- 1 59 -

were a to rment

to the ma ss e s of the people alld a ppe ared

of millions of namele s s victims that capitalisa emerged

in the role of an unc ontrollable and fe ar-inspiring :force .

on the world scene a s the then vehicle of so cia l progre s s .

Under the primi tive-communal system , a s point e d out

by Porslmev ,

profoundly un:fre e ,

or tribe . In

the capitalist world are in e s sence directed against capi

the c ontext of world

talism and are linke d with i t s negation, with numerous

fa ctors that promote the revolutionary transition from

this primitive non-free dom o :f man wa s even :ful

ler and deeper than slavery. "

capitalism to socia li sm. The struggle f or soci a l progre s s

in capitalist countries i s a struggle f or the destruction

Ye t the slave-owning mo de of produc tion was a tremend

ous stride forward ,

of the rule of the monopoly upper crust of the b ourgeoi sie , .

progre s s as against the previous thou

a struggle for the unity and cohe sion of the democrati c

force s a s headed b y- t he working cl a ss , a struggle dire c te d

sands of years of the s upremacy o f primitive-communal re

lations .The ruthle s s exploita tion of slave labour speede d

towards thwarting the military plans o f the imperialis t s ,

up the advance o :f socie ty. As Frederick Enge l s pointed out

in .Anti-Diihring :

social progre s s is no longer c ompa tible wi th

c api talism. All the progre s sive phenomena tak:lng place in

since the individual did not s tand out

:from the clan, comnunity,

progre s s ,

Today ,

"All were e qua lly free but at the same t ime

"It wa s . slavery that first made po s sible

the divi sion of labour be tween agri culture and industry on

a large scale , and thereby a l so Hellenism, the fl owe ring

hold back the onslaught of th e re ac ti onary monopolie s

against the l iving standards and the political right s of

the working people ,

give a re buff to bourgeo i s ideolo gy ,

o f the ancient world. Without slavery , no Greek state , no

which i s vitiating th e minds o f t he ma s se s , and ensure the

But without the basis laid by Grecian culture , and the Ro

only with manlrind ' s transition from antagonistic class for

Greek art and science ; without slavery, no Roman Empire .

man Empire ,

also no modern Europe . We should neve r fo rget

that our whole econ6mic ,

poli tical and intelle c tual deve

spread of advanc e d social ide a s ,

tho se of sociali sm. It i s

mations t o social i sm tha t socia l progre ss she ds it s contra

dictory and dual nature and ,

for the first time in hi story ,

lopment p re suppo se s a state of things in which slavery was

9
a s ne ce s sary as it wa s universa lly re cognised. "
,

ope re te s openly and in a straight line .

the ruins of the slave-owning ey:stem, a ctually rule d :for

of world progre s s-wa s shared by the overwb.el.ming majority

The feudal socio-ec onomic formation, which arose on

ove r a thousand years . Feudal relations of production were

a new and considerable forward step in the deveio pment of
socie ty , a s against slave-ownership . This form of exploi
tation wa s le s s bruta l than i t s predece s so r , ye t throughout
the enti're existence of feudal state s , the latter were
of new,

capital-

i st produc tion relation s in keeping with the rapid change s

in the nature of the productive f orce s--and thi s wa s a
profoundly progre ssive phenomenon-wa s ac companie d

by

the

massive and forcible expropria tion, the impoverishment and

death of very

manY'

people . It wa s literally on the bone s

- 1 60 -

of hi storians ,

the

ide a

in th e specif ic sense

including tho se who , on the whole ,

a dhe re d

t o the ideali stic positions . In 1 907 , th e e ditors of :the

well-known multivolume Cambridge Modern History pointed out
in the Preface that the ide a of mankind ' s pro gre s s should

be ac cept e d as a scientific hypothe si s for the writing o

0
Bourgeo i s historians were not yet apprehensive

hist or;r. 1

rocke d by ant i-feudal movement s .

The birth, within feudal soc ie ty ,

Even in the e arly yea rs of the 20th century,

of progre ss in world history--true ,

of the idea of prog re s s in world hi story , whi ch they linked

now with an overall rise in culture , now with the develop
ment of rat iona sm and even wi th -;l;he s truggle for the free
dom of conscience a nd political convictions.
Of course , there were numerous a ttempts to inte rpre t
the idea of progre ss in a my stically speculative spirit and

- 161 -

to de duce it from various kinds of theological concepti

ons . Howeve r,

ly

sis in Brit i sh bourge o i s historiography. " In the

the idea of prog re s s was most fre quent-

nine teenth century , " Carr write s ,

a ssociated with the spre ad of e duc at ion, the deve

with scarce ly an exception,

lopment of idea s of free dom { in the ir bourgeoi s sense ) ,

At th e

markably rapid progre s s . History wa s full of meaning for

Briti2!h historian s ,

re ce de d into the pas t .

in the.

vered an addre s s on the philo sophy of his to J:Y , in which

belief

meaning of his tory ha s become a heresy. After the

place a linea r view of his tory by a cycli cal theoi:y--the

chara cteris tic ideology of a society in decline . Since

o-ry of progre s s in the stri ct ly constructive sense ha s

Toynbee ' s failure , British historians have for the most

hardly had aey significance in historiographica l pra c

part been c ontent to throw up their hands and dec la re

tice outside the Russian world . " 1 1 He dis torted the

that there is n o genera 1 pa ttern in hist ory a t a l 1 . " 1 2 It

actual state of afairs ani at the same time tried

i s noteworthy ,

to pre sent Jlar.rl.sm a s a pure J.Y "Russian" phenomenon.

Carr goe s on to add , tha t the most recent

prophe ts of dec line , the sceptic s , who see no sense in

Erich Rothscker himself i s , of course , a re pre sentative

history and c onsider that no progre s s exis t s , belong to

of the ba si c trend in bourgeoi s historiography., which

that part of the world ani tha t cla s s of so cie ty lilich

proce e ds from a negat ion of the unity of the world-hi sto

had playe d a leading role in the development of civilisa

rical proce ss and i t s law-governe d pattern, and advae s

tion for seve ral re cent generat ion s . !rhey can hardly find

the orie s of the cycli ca l nature of soc ia l developaent ,

c omfort in that role now having passe d over to others . 1 3

the ine scapable re petitivene s s of definite "cycle s " in

the life of mankind , le re garding world hi story

There can be no doubt that the idea o f so cial progre s s

now a s the sum of i so lated civilisations, e a ch deve lo p

which was originally sha re d by the va st aa j ori ty o f bour

i t s ()W?l period o:r ri se , efflo

geo i s philo sophers ,

sociologi st s and histo rians , has lo st

a ll it s attractivene ss to them with the e xace rbation of

re scence and decline , now as a vast conge ri e s of fortui

tie s , with.out alJ1' inner meaning.

the class struggle and the emergenee on the p oli tical

scene of th.e proletariat as the antipode . of the bourgeo i

In considering why mo st Wes tern histo rians have re j e c

ted progres sive ne s s in social development ,

turning,

.Pirst World War, Toynbee made a desperate a ttempt to re

he unequivocally stated tbe following : "The :Marxist the

with

so long as it seemed to be going

our way ; now that i t ha s taken a wrong

th Inter.national Congre ss o f Hi storical Scien

11
ce s , held in Stockholm in 1 960, Erich Rothacker deli

ing of itse lf a:nd

of hi..

expre s se d the ide ology of a society in a condition of re

with the improving we lfa_re of 'the population.

All that ha s, in the main,

regarded the c ourse

tory as a demonstra tion o'f the principle of progre s s : tbey

religious tole rance , the growth of cultural nee ds , and

fina lly ,

"British his t or ians ,

E. Carr see s

the cause s in the change s in the fortunes of th e eotill

tries they re pre sent and in a relative decline of such
countries ' role in the world hi st o rical pro ce ss. As an

example , carr make s reference to the evolution of the

views of li'. Jleineke who , with . the development of hi st o

sie . "The appearance of the proletariat on the poli tical

t

scene in England and France engendered in the mind of the

b ourgeoi sie uncertainty of the eternal durati on of 1hedr

s oc ial predominance ; progressive Prog re s s had los t its
cha rms. " 1 4

When capi ta li sm entered i t s monopoly stage , imper ial

rical event s , went over to ever more conservative , or,

i sm, bourge ois so ciety se t its historians and sociologi sts

a:>re precis e ly ,

the " social t a sk" of "proving" the the s is tha t capi tal

reactionary , po sitions in hi s interpre ta

tion of hist o ey . The same rea sons have :underlain the cri-

- 1 62 -

iam ie the ultimate s tage of development ,

- 1 63 -

the peak of what

can be achieved by mankind, so that radical evolutionar,y

city of' historical sourc e s in re spect of the Middle Age s

changes are impo ssible : it only remains for the capital

led Voltaire to the c onviction that they were a period

i st system to be improved along evolutioDar,y line s It

of barbarism and superstition.

was then that there began the corre sponding s eeld.ngs

in various directions , which have

_o:rten been diametrical

ly opposed to one another. Some bourgeoi s histor:fan s .hav.e

taken to di screditing the obj ective laws of. social deve

lopment and denying the role of revolutiomr,y changes in

history, doing so

by

invent "proofs" of the undying

na ture of capitalism. Others have tried t o " sub stantiate "

the perfect nature .of bourgeo i s social re la tions by a s

serting that capitali sm i s an e ternal c a tegory, who se

e lement s are to be found both in . the hist ocy of antiquity

and in e life of' all tribe.a and people s.
Although the development of the productive forces un

Conse quently, socia l prog re s s , in Collingwood ' s opi

nion, is the outcome of an uneven level of knowledge on

the part of' historians of separate historical periods ,
thi s because of the insufficient . number of' sources at

their disp o sal. The more re searchers delved into the his
torical pas t , tbe fewer documentary evidence they were
able to unearth , which :re sulted in the invention that the
farther removed an hi storical period is from the re search
e r, the more it was a period of " de cadence " , while clo
ser periods were seen as periods of "greet age s " . " e
old dogma .o f a s ingle histo ri cal progre s s leading to the
pre sent , and the modern dogma of hi st orical cycle s , tha t

der the capitalist system ha s re sulte d in an unparallel

i s , of a multiple progre ss le ading to great age s ' and

ed upswing, that system i s incapable of' fully realis-

then to dec adence , are thus mere projec tions of th:! his
15
torian ' s ignorance upon the screen of the pa s t. "

ing the vast scientific and technological potential a ccu

mulated by mankind. Unde r capi tal ism, even narrowly under
s tood, technological progre s s re ce ive s a one-sided and dis
torted development.
It i s the refore not fortuitous tha t almo st all pre sent
day bourgeo is histoography ha s either re j ected or a t
lea st denie d recognition o f' social progre ss i n history.
!r;fpical in this re spect a re the "radical" utterance s of
R. Collingwood , who has calle d all hi story nothing but

" the his tory of thought " . He has found the idea of his
torical progress totally unacceptable , for, a s he see s
it , i t ha s been a conse quence of' ignorance and a re stric
ted knowledge on the part of previous hist o ri ans , who se
hi storical outlook wa s hemmed in by

the limit s of the

iumediate pa st . When Voltaire pro claimed that al l his tory

is contempora ry and tha t notl;ling can be genera lly e stab
lished earlier th.Sn the end of the 1 5 th centur.y , he me ant ,
a s R. Collingwood wri te s , not only that we can le arn no
thing of' earlier periods but that such an earlier period
doe s not de serve anything to be known about i t. !he pau-

- 1 64 -

Karl _ .Popper al so que stions the possibi lity

tabli shing some kind of' "reasonable meaning" in
At the same time , he re je c t s the existentia list
the c omple te sensele s sne s s and e ven " ab surdity"

of e s
hist o r,y .
idea of'
of the

hi storical proce ss. In his opinion, it is possible , with

purely pra ctical purpo se s , to make histo ry "meaning

ful " , proceeding from e thical ide a s . The histo rian should
take up a definite stand , guided by his e thical views
and , on that ba si s ,. give his interpre tat i on of the course

of' historical event s. That kind of interpretati on is an

expre ssion of rational "pract ical politics" . For lf. Pop
per , 'there exi sts no law of' his torical deve lopment a s en
suring further progre s s . "The fate of that progre ss-and ,
1 6 In
at the a:me time" -our fate-depends on us ourse lve s. "
itself a denial of the ideas of progre s s in history te s
tifie s to a profound cri sis in bourge o i s historical
thought

When problems o,.f' the periodisation of world his tory

c8Jle up for discussion at the Stockholm Congre ss , s ome

- 1 65 -

We st German and
Marxi s t s ,

US

hi storians ,

in the ir polemic with the

a dvance d the the sis that it i s te chnologic a l

achievement s and di scoverie s promoting the development

of industry that are landmarks in the hi story of man

kind,

for they determine it s progre s sive ( sic l )

lopment ,

deve

and no t so cial revolutions , which mark a t ran

s ition from one soc io-e conomic formation to another .

Thus ,

for example ,

it wa s a s se rted that the indus tri a l re

volution i n Europe wa s "more impo rtant" than the French

bourgeo i s revolution of

the

end of the

1 8th centuJ."Y ,

and

that the discovery of nuclear energy is a more important

date than the

Great Oc tober Sociali st Revolution of

1 91 7

in Russia .

c ratic apologi s t s of capitali sm ,

magn.ilo

with the pre sent-day re vi sioni st s ,

are at one

who al so fe e l grea tly

drawn to the task of era sing the borderline be tween sci

entific and t e chnologic al pro gre s s and its conse quenc e s ,
in the s o c ialist countrie s and in the U SA .
Thus ,

the p seudo-scientific, and a llegedly obj e c tive

t e chnological theo ry of progre s s is an at tempt to c oncious

ly di stort the c ourse of the worl d-hi stor ic a l ' pro ce ss ,
justify c api ta l i sm and co loniali sm ,

and paper over the ge

nuine significance of so cie ty ' s forward movement ,

thi s by

absolutising the development of ' te chnol ogy and de libe rate

What is the s ignificance of thi s "the ory" ? The ma in

ly divorcing it from i t s de te rminative soci o-e conomic en

vironment .

that present a danger from the. viewpoint of the pre sent-

rie s , ho sti le to Marxism ,

to le a d people away from problems of social devel opment

day bourge o i sie

t o ry of technology.

by

towards

The

"calme r" a re a of

1 the his-

c oncept of soc ia l progre s s is

progre s s in techno logy. But the genuine hi s

tory of mankind is complex and multi-co loure d ,

ri ch in

such events as clashe s be tween antagoni stic cla s s force s ,

socia l and na tiona l moement s , the appe a rance o f vari s
kinds of poli tical and e c onomic institution s , the strug
gle between ideas ,

and so on. All this is disrega rded by

the adherents of the theory of "teclm.ologieal progres s" ,

who are intere sted in ema sculating the c omplex, many
s ided and vivid proce ss of hi story and tre a ting it in a
one-sided and drab manner . The re can be no do ub t that

the t e chnologic a l the o ry of progre s s , which ha s been ta

ken up by ce rtain reformi st and revisionist element s ,

i s a kind o f subversion against Marxism.

There are people in the We st who have been impre s se d

b y th e alle ge d ob j e ctive and scientific nature of thi s

" the o ry " ,

so

volut ionary changes in the area of te chno logy ,

thing i s that i ts authors and propagandist s a re trying

re plac e d

who speak

quently of its "transformation" as conditioned by the re

which i s public i se d by the %ight-wing soc ia l

ists es "mate riali stic " . Karl Renne r,

an Austrian So cia l

i st leade r , wrote that it i s t e chnology tha t wa s ulti

7
mately "dterminative " in soc ial life . 1
The Social -Demo-

- 1 66 -

That is how th ings stand with the " fa shionable " theo
of the nega tion of soc ia l pro

gre ss o r the fa l s ification o f the idea of progre s s in pre

sent-day bourgeo i s hist oriography.

All th i s goe s hand in hand wi th the g rowth of suc.h in

t e rre la te d t:rends and phenomena in bourge o i s hi storiog

raphy a s :

1 ) a hypercrit ical approa ch to hi sto rica l events ,

and a :re je c tion of all a t tempts to explain or genera lise

them ; the reduction of hi st ory to a "microanaly si s " of

individual document s and particular re search into narrow

theme s ;

2 ) a negation of the very p o ssibility of o b je ctive

hi.sto rica l e search ,

and the proclama tion of extreme sub

gec tivi sm in his toriograpby a cc o rding to the princi ple :

" eve ry hi storian i s himse lf a creator of historytt . Then

comes an a c tual negat ion of hi story as a sc ienc e ,

thi s be

ing linke d with the spread of the vie w of his tory a s a

spe cia l art ;

3 ) an up surge of voltmtari sm , which le ads

t o a conscious fa l sific a tion o f histo ry in the s p irit of

the "pragmatic presenti sm" , now fairly wide spre ad in the

U SA . Hi st o rians belonging to this trend wilfully "ada p t "

hi story to the ne eds of the ruling so cia l upper c ru st ,

and engage in an "inte rpre t at i on of th past for the sake

- 1 67 -

of the present' .. Substantiation of an 'At lantic

community'

the " superiority of the American way of life " and anti

mankind ' s forward movement , who se global expre s sion i s

the progres sive suc ce ssion of socio-e conomic format ions .

c ommunism-such is the e s sence of thi s trend..

al Hist ory of Civi
In hi s gene ra l prefa ce to A Gener
ca tegori c ally de
et
Grouz
ce
Mauri
sa tions , its e dit or

li
omparison betwe en indi
nie s the ve ry po ssibi lity of e c
ation , and tba more so
vidua l epoch s and the ir c la s sific
of progre ss or the laws
the justi fi cation of judgement s
satio ns .. 1 8 Thus , we have
of devel opmen t of various c ivili
abili ty of the world
here a conc eptio n of the inc ognis
ion , that stemming from
hi sto rical proce s s and i t s negat
iple s in present-day
the overa ll metho dolog ic a l princ
, if the world-hist o
usly
Obvio
bourgeo i s historiography.
, whence a movement
t
exis
rical proce ss as such doe s not
advance s indiffe
which
,
that embra ces a ll this proce s s
ard ( regre s s ion) ..
rently ( progre s s) or move s backw

finds

hi stori ography
In e ssenc e , pre sent-day bourge o is
tion becau se of its
i t se lf in an indiv idiou s situa

his tory .. Such an allre j e c tion of soc i al progre ss in

its tra in a pes simi stic
in
s
bring
out negat ion inevitably
of mankind and the
ation
concl usion regarding the stagn
opmen t. Tho se bour
devel
s
absence of any p ro spe c t s for it
use the term " so ci a l pro
geois his to rians who cautiously
i t s revol utiona ry c on
gre ss" e s chew any r e c ognit ion of
socia l progre ss a s a
t en t . In thei r unde rstand :tng of
organ isati on of socie
system for the improvement of the
with fundamenta l improve
ty , they are unwilling to agre e
the revol utiona ry roa d ..
along
ments being achievable on

1:Y

( de c larations and programme s of poli t ic a l o rgani sations ) ;

the term " social progre s s " ha s a c quired extensive use ,
it is nec e s sary to d ist inguish the use of thi s concept in

it

can be regarded a s measures de signe d to improve the o rga

nisation of

givn s o c ie ty ,

including definite loca l

reforms , which a re not ne ce ssarily revo lu tionary i n na

ture . In everyday use ,

so cial progre s s i s often under

stood in this limited meaning .

The resea rcher h a s to take ac count of both meanings
of the term in the appropriate context.
In i-t s narrow senf!e ,

social pro gre s s i s , . a s a rule ,

de layed in i t s ac tion. It s genuine hi storical signifi cance

may difer in c onnection with i ts so cial conten t ,

dire c

tion and scale . The re searcher into history ha s c onst.ant

ly to dea l with the

origins of a:ny parti cular re form o r

t o di scover i t s initiator s ,

s o a s t o b e able t o determine

with greater or le sser c onfidence the a c tual significance

of the various progre s s ive transformations. One c omes up
against so-ca lled mini-refo rms , whi ch form part of the
ove ra ll concept of so cial
sense ,

progre ss taken in the narrow

but the a c tual significance of which should not be

exaggerated .. The hi st orian ha s to take into a ccount tha t

the various man ife stations of social progre ss in the nar
row sense of the term,
able ,

right down to the moat inconsider

are an area of constant struggle , with human pas

sions flaring up , with the variegated inter e s t s of cla s

se s ,

the ir se ctions and individua l groupings being re

cidental intere sts of classes or big so cial groups are

c onducive to the c oncept of social progre ss b eing given
a c ontent tha t reflec ts the particular ai ms pursue d.
Socia l progre s s in it s :f'undamental and broad sense is
of particular importance to mankind ' s h i st orical de sti

its broad and na rrowe r meaning.

the first and funda

mental me aning of . the term 11 socia l progre ss" expre s se s

- 1 68 -

social progre s s doe s not have

content .. In it s narrow sense ,

vea le d .. Practic e ha s shown tha t c ontrasting o r non-co in

Ina smuch as in lite ra ture and in p o litical documents

As ha s already been pointed out ,

In i t s se cond mean:t.ng ,

such an a ll-embra.oing

nie s . !oday social progre ss is synonymous with the c ons

truction of communism in the USSR,
the world soc2a list system,

the succe s se s score d by

the liberation of oppre ssed

- 1 69 -

peoples from the yoke of colonialism, the mounting scale

but also its concre te results. We c an observe the varie ty

of class battle s in the cap italist c ountries , the tr.tumph

o f forms in the transition from capi talism to sociali sm

and study the highly effectual methods of dealing , in an

of the force s of pe ace , and the, .\:further decline and di s-

- integration of the world capitali st system.

The

unparalleled brief period of time, with va st and hitherto

irresolvable social problems.

que stion of the rates of social progre s s is o f

methodological significance i n principle . One hundred and

fifty years after the English bourgeois revolution, the
French evolution broke out . Fifty years lie b e tween the

French bourgeois re volution of the end of the 1 8th cen

tury and the 1 8 48 revolution. Then a somewhat shorter pe

riod3 4 yea rs-lie s between the first attempt to set up

a dictatorship of the prole tariat--the Paris Commune-

and the 1 9 05- 1 9 07 revolution in Russi a.

Ten years after the defeat of the first Rus si an revo

lution, the February Revolution broke . out , to be followed

V. I . Lenin, Collecte d Work

s , Mo scow , Vol . 1 , P 1 6 5
3 Ibi
d. , Vol. 1 3 , P 243 .

by the October Revolution of 1 9 1 7 , wbich ushe re d in a new

epoch in human history. The ma s se s who carried out the
1 9 1 7 Revolution in Russia were not relegate d into the

4
5

background and stripped of the fruits of their vic tory ,

e s d always been the case in great bourgeo i s re volu

6
7

t ions. On the c ontra ry , those masse s . became full ma sters

of their own fa te . The growing rate of historical develop

tence as a single al).-embracing \'K>rld system.

j or hi storical events which are de termining what lies in

10

kind of 'gigantic laboratory which is evolving a new human

11

We enj oy an opportunity , rare in hist ory , of sensing

i t s pul se ,. c ompa ring the two oppo site worlds , two c ivi

li sations , in the ir struggle and competition. As a result ,

the 1very notion of progre s s in world hi story and in its
b roade st sense ha s los t i ts abs tract na ture and i s becom
ing tangible . Since we are in a posi t ion to c ompa re the
two socioe conomic fo rmations , we can distinc tly see , not
only the overall directions of mankind ' s forward movement

- 170 -

Ibid . , Vol . 2 1 , p. 5 4 .
Ibi d. , Vol . 3 3 , p. 1 58.
G .V. Plekhanov , Sele c te d Phil
osophica l Work s , Vol . 1 ,
Mosc ow, 1 97 4 , p . 5 1 0.

store fr future generations The . world of today is a

socie ty.

Ibid . , Vol. 22, p . 3 1 0 .

.8 B
.F. Porshnev , op. ci t . , p.
61.
9
F. Enge ls, Anti-Dtili.ring , Mosc
ow, 1 9 69 , p. 2 1 6 .

ment is ever more reducing the time for cap italism' s exis
We are liVing in highly intere sting time s rich in ma

B.F. Porsbne v, "The Per iodi sa

tion o f the worl d-Hi sto rica
l
Progres s in Hegel and Marx
" , Tran sact ions of the Hipjh
er
School . The Philo sophical
Science s , 1 9 69 , No . 2, p .
61
( in RUss ian ) .

12

The Cam bri dge Mod ern His

tory , Cambr idge , Vol
. 1 , 1 93 1 ,
p p . V-VIII .

XI Congre s int erna t ional de

s scie nce s histo :rigue s . Rap
port s , Stoc kholm , Vol .1 , 1 9
60 , p . 3 .
..

E. Carr , What Is Hi st o;r? y

London , 1 9 6 2,
13
Ibid . , p . 1 1 1 .

14
15

p. .

37.

Paul Lafa rgu.e , Le determinisme

conomigue de Karl Marx,
Pari s , 1 928 , p. 1 7 .

R . Collillgwo o d , The Idea o f

H:f.. st or;r, New York, 1 95 6 ,
p. 328 .
- 1 71 -

Sinn
1 6 K.
Popper , elb s tbetring durch ias Wiesen . In der
328.
p.
der Ge sch:l.chte , Jfunich, 1 946.,

17

Section III .

The Researcher ' s IB bo.rat ory

Private Law and Their

Social Functio ns, London, 1 95 4 , pp. 282-283

K . Renner , The T.nstitu tions of

sat i ons . Vol .

1 8 His to ire Generale des C iv i l i

1 , Par i s , 1 9 60 , .

THE

P IX.

H!STORICAL FACT

The "his tori cal fa9 t " cat e gory is the foundat ion of
No development

the ent ire ed ifice of hi s to r i cal s c i ence .

of historical thought is conce ivable w i thout fac tual ma

terial.

But the " fac t " concept i tself re quires spec i fi

cat ion , for i t has very mSJJy asp e c t s .

The ma in f'eatlire of

its s tudy , from the historian ' s s tandpo int ,

is that it is

no t ,_ as a rule , an obj e c t d irec tly o bserved by the research

er , but one s tudi e d t hrough some sourc e s .

The material i s t

conce p t ion of. history pos i t s "fac t " a s an o bj e c t o f s tudy

exis t ing outs ide the hi storian ' s cons c iousness and independ
ent of it .
ones .

conne c t e d fac t s ,
fac t .

are

There

s imple fac ts and more compl i cated

The hi storical pro cess ,

be ing a chain of inter

in i tself may be regarde d as a historical

At the same time refle c t e d in the cognis ing subje c t ' s

thinking is the more or less accurate content of the fac t ,

mediated though i

It does not change i t s

is by a source .

essence even when pass ing through the Pirism o f human per
cept ion , and remains o bj e c t ive real i ty.

Approximat ion to

that real i ty cons t i tutes the subs tance of hist 9 r i cal cogni

t ion.

Historical s c ience has gone through a rather comp l i cate d

At first

evo lut ion in i t s at t i tude to fac t .

it was assumed

a priori that the re searcher ' a task was to gather fac t s ,

.pro blem of the nature of' facts not

Qe i

Later the contradi c t ion b e tween the faot and i t s inter

pre tat ion gradually be came aparent .

- 1 73 -

the

cons idered at al l.

Some his torians

pers i s t e d in rej ect ing the need for general isat ion and a
substant iated exp lana't ion of t he emp irically given reality.
They believed t h.at fac t s somehow los t t he ir obj e c t ive s igni
fi cance if t hey were in any way interpre t e d .

regarded the historical fac t as " the impact of t he given

ind ivi dual ' s cons c iousness on the environment , part ic ularly
on the social environment 11 1

The obj e c t iv i ty of such an approach has always been

purely illusory. In actual fact even the ini t ial record
ing of data by any researcher canno t be absolute ly neutral.
I t refle c t s to a certain extent his p o s i t ion. Essent i'ally ,

o f present ism - in the USA , ins i s ts that historical fac t s are

fac'ts as obj e c t s of historica l research cannot exist by

themselves , without any evaluat ion.

As long as bourgeo is historical s c ienc e held comparat

ively progres s ive 'po s it ions , taking i ssue w i t h feudal t heo
logical and o ther react ionary interpre tat ions of the histor
i cal process , moa t his torians re cognised t he organic links
b e tween hi s torical fact s and t he ir general i sat ions . As
ts
the crisis in bourgeo is his torio graphy grew, t hese concep
shift
sharp
a
was
came into conflic t with each o t her. There
from the original rais ing of historical fac t s t o an absolute
rej e c t ion of the ir independent s ignificanc e . Already late
11 1 ,

isted
in the 1 9 t h c entury a number of promine nt historians ins
sub
the
by
d
ne

determ
irely
ent
were
facts
cal
that histori
" c reate "
j ec t ive posit ion of the s cholar who was t hus said to
them.
Two extreme views of histori cal fact s s t ill exis t in
bourgeois h istoriogra phy. One of t hem may be characte rised
as rais ing fac ts to an absolute and rej e c t ing the need for
the ir interpre tati on and evaluat ion. The Prench historian
was
Fus t e l de Coulang es believe d that t he writ ten source
ts
the be-all. Any step p ing beyond t extual stua, of documen

was que s t ioned or condemned .

T h e o t her and exact oppos ite approach that has become

mo s t widely spread now is based on negat ing the exist ence

of facts as o bj ec t ive real i t ies.

In the view o f the support

ers of this s tandpo int , t he concep t o f fact is formed in

t he historian ' s cons c iousne ss .

W. Windelband , H. Rickert ,

as well as the :i,:r numerous imitators , advocated "from crit ical

C . L . Becke r , one of the mo st prominent repre s etat ives

illusory , and that it is no t t he fac t s but b ias that guides
the historian.

He doub t s the reliab i l i ty of any hist orical

fac t s whatsoever be cause " t hese vanishe d real i t ie s give

place to pale refle c t ions , impalpable images or ideas of '
themselves , and t hese pale refle c t ions , and impalpable
images which anno t be touche d or handled are all that is
2
oncurren ce " .

left o f t he actual

R. Coll ingwood comple t ely rej ects t he independent s i g

nificance of so urces , emphas ising the ir arb i trary int er
pre tat ion by t he historiau. In his o p inion , the researcher
is an autonomous interpre ter of the pas t , which deprives

the lat ter of o bj e c t ivity._ The "histori cal fac t " concept
thus turns out to be largely illusory. 3

. Cfa.Xr bel ieves that it is not any event that may be

regarded as a historical fac t , but only that event which

has historic signif icance . The scholar mus t know the great
est poss ible number of fac t s pertaining to t he period under
study , in order to be able to selec t a few s i gni ficant fac t s ,
thus turning them into his torical fac t s and d iscarding the
ins ignificant fac ts as non-histor ical . In Carr ' s view ,
history is interpre tat ion ; interpre tat ion is history ' s arte
rial b lood.

He s t resses at t he same t ime that t he scho lar

is no t a " tyrannical mas t er" of fact s . The relat ions between

the historian and fac t s are tho se of e qual i ty .

each o ther.

They need

A historian without fac t s is not on solid ground ,

he is useless ; the. fac t s wi thout h im are dead and meaningless .

In answering the que s t ion "what is hi story? " , Carr states that
history is a cont inuous process of interact ion b e tween t he
historian and his fac t s , an unending d ialogue between the
present and t he pas t . 4
J . Topo lski regards h i storical fac t s as a dynami c in

p o s i t ions" t he , unknowabi l i ty of !act s and , conse quently ,

tegral sys tem ( ho l i sm) , underlining that they are in a s tate

the historian ' s arb itrar;y approach to the ir evaluat ion.

a ,
A. La.ppo-Dan ilevsk:y , a Russ ian pre-revolut ionary histori

of coDS tant change .

- 17 4 -

"!!!h e que s t ion arises , " he write s , "at

- 1 75 -

what moment w deal w i t h t he given fac t and at what o ther

5
moment , w i t h a d i fferent one . "
However cond i t ional the trans "j. t i ons from one s tate t o
ano t he r , hist orical knowle d ge cannot d o w it hout record ing
t he exact quali tat ive defin i t ene s s of t he o bj e c t under s t udy.

'' 1

:: :

f1
11 1

1: 1

1!

' 1
I

11'!
U' i

i:1

ii

t o confuse

It

is no t advisable ,

for

his torical fac t , such as t he preval

enc e of opportunist i c e lements in the Second Interna t ional ,

and t he conc e p t of re form i sm.
In s e l ec t ing c ertain facts from an infin i t e number
of event s ,

at ive defin i t enes s .

course of analys i s of dat a , he rises an ever h igher leve l o f

I f this assump t i on i s re j e c te d ,

the

they can only be d e fine d if t here i s a

At
pre ? ise qual i tat ive charac t er i s t i c of t he fac t i t self.
as
d
regarde
e
b
the same t ime To p o l ski ' s formulat ion cannot
final boundar ie s ,

d ef in i t ive , a s cove r ing t he pro blem w i t h a l l i t s nume rous

Ho l i sm , that is , the uni ty of the obj e c t under
face t s .

s t udy , d o e s no t alt er the si tuat ion in which t he researcher

working with certain data is no t capable of exhaus t ing all
o f the ir asp e c t.a .

One and the same o bj e c t may be approache d

from various po s i t ions and cons i d ere d from d i fferent angles

il 1

example ,

The very formulat ion of t he que s t ion o f ho l ism , that i s , of

the int egrity o f t he h i s t orical fac t , pre suppo s es its qualit
res earcher w i ll slip towards unre s t r i c t e d relat ivism lead ing
As for t he ini t ial and
to the " d i sappearanc e " of fac t s .
ii
:: 1

whi c h t he historian has to deal.

d e p end ing on the concre te task the researcher has s e t himself.

For examp le , t he s t atement that in t he Presnya d i stric t t he
revolut ionary workers ' re s i s tance d uring t he De cember 1 90 5
Upr i s ing in Mo s cow was s tronger than in o ther p laces may be
us e d by d ifferent h is t or ians in varying d e grees d epend ing o n
t he ir concre t e go als
o f t he
There is a t endency t o complic ate t he pro blem
nature
s
t
i
of
ion
cuss
Dis
.
essarily
unnec
his to rical fac t

.
and me t ho d s of i t s c las s if icat ion are m o s t ly spe culat ive
aim
,
rule
a
as
,
t
no
do
ect
ubj
s
s
The numerous bo oks on t hi
at mak ing concre t e h i s tor ical research eas ier.

Neverthe le s s

a general t heore t ical formulat ion o f t he que s t ion se ems to

t he h i s t orian already begins t he ir t he o re t ical

interpretat ion

and explanat ion in a real sens e .

t he ir comprehens ion.

In t he

A s h e r i s e s above the emp irical leve l

of research ,

t he hi s t orian increas ingly uses the me t ho d o f

abs trac t ion ,

that is , t h e logical m e t ho d , which reveals

the real e s s ence o f t he h is to ri cal .

The view is o ft e n expres s e d that a d is t inc t ion should b e
made be tween fact a s o b j e c t ive re ali ty an d fac t a s t he o b j e c t
o f s t udy ,

" t he his tori cal fac t " .

" A s c i ent ific fac t i s no t

6

the event as s uch but i t s refl e c t ion in a s p e c i f i c form11

The conc e p t of the so-call e d hi s to r i o grap hic

fac t , t here

fore , gaine d some currency among Marxi s t h i s t orians ;

it

d iffers from t he " ord inary" h i s torical fact in that i t i s

regarded as a ne c e s sary component of t he h i s t orian ' s res earch.
The Po l i s h h i s torians c . Bo b inska and J. Topo lski d e f ine t he
his torio graphic

fac t as a s c i ent ific recons t ruc t io n or as

a resul t of the creat ive pr o c e s s ing of fac t s by the re

s earcher. 7

Apparently i t wo uld be more corre c t to s p eak of inter

pre tat ion rather t han of recons truc t ion of h i s t o r i cal fac t s .
It would be wrong to oppose h i s t orical fac t s as a certain

real i ty ( o b j e c t ive truth refle c t e d in consc io usne s s ) t o

arb i t rary us e o f t he given phenomena i n t he h is torian ' s
work.

The area of search for new h i s t o r ical real i t ie s would

be ne cess ary .
The his torian ' s work i s a k ind o f synthe s i s o f the
emp irical and t heore t i cal approaches to t he obj e c t of study.
The very process of s e le c t ing fac t ual data as sume s that the
his torian has no t only purely profe ss ional qual ificat ions
but also a t heor t i cal conce p t ion or hypo t he s i s mater ially
affect ing the p rocess of select ion.

The d is t inct ion is often

drawn be tween " the his t or i cal fac t n. and " the concep t " , with
- 176 -

b e mad e unj us t ifiably narrow if we rej e c t ed t hem as non

his t o ri cal from the outse t s imp ly b ecause t hey are as yet
inaccess i b l e to h i s t oiograpby.

H i s t ory i s a cont inuously

deve lop ing s c ienc e , and what was ye s t erday a "non-fac t "
may tomorrow prove t o b e a we ll-e s t ab l i shed and generally
recognised fac t .

It

is t heo re t i cally wrong to regard as

ac t ually ex i s t ing only tho se phenomena which are refl e c t e d

in , the his torian ' s cons c iousnes s .
- 1 77 -

I f we accep t e d this v i ew ,

we would invluntar i ly be moving towards a purely sub j e c t iv

i s t appro ach to the h i s t orical process .
Taking all this

only.

into account ,

it appears to be suffi

c i ent to view as " h i s toriographic "

all tho se fac t s whi c h

is re c o gn i s e d ,
cannot

were i n s ome way refle c t e d in historiography { o ften extremely

one-s idedly ) .

One nee d no t apparently cons truc t any o ther

ar t ificial class ificat ions of historical fac t s .

A ny obj e c t ive reali ty is a his tor ical fac t .

It follows

that no phenomenon be comes hi s t orical s imp ly for the reason

that h i s torian A.

has no t i c e d ,

d i s c overe d ,

or de scribed i t .

One can eas ily assume that t he given fact m i s s e d by his torian
A. w i ll

.be d is covere d by his torians B . and c.

under d i ffer

ent- external circumstances and at d ifferent moments .

I
I

A de c is ive cond i t ion for select ing fac t s in his t or ical

research is mas tering the general princ iple s whi ch permit
to pro c e e d from the part i cular to t he general on the bas i s
o f the concep t ion o f re curret phenomena ,
hi stori cal laws.

the exis t ing

The historian s tart s on his work armed w i t h

a knowle dge of certain

fac tual materials a s we ll a s w i th

pre l iminary i d eas about what he can exp e c t from t his ma terial

and the d ire c t ion of his re sear ch.

The obj e c t ive quali ty of

selec t ing factual data i s fully de termined by the h i s tor ian ' s

general wo rld-view .

part of the work of t he his torian , who us e s t he e nt ire sum o f

A s i t uat ion

i s also qui t e poss i b l e in which the given fact will in ge

t ent , non-historical.

be non-exis

The h i s tor ian is cont inually s earch

ing for knowled ge , and he bas pract i cally unl imi t e d poss i

b i l i t ies for augment ing t he s t o ck of his s c ient ific instru

ments { in t he f ir s t p lace of fac t s and s o ur c e s ) .

It would

be unj ust ifiable to res t r i c t his scope o f v i s ion to an al

ready e s tabli shed range o f fac t s reco gn ised as his tor i c al .
This

has no d ire c t bearing on the important

que s t ion o f

The abso lute s up eriority o f the mat erial i s t concep t ion

o f hi story and , c onse quently ,
lies

Ye t the dependence

i t s e l f appears as a derived magn i t ude d e termined by t he

researcher ' s me thodological po s i t ion and qual if icat ion as
well as by the number of new ,

previously unknown and re cently

discovered h i s t ori cal fac t s .

I t would thus be wrong t o

" canonise "

in any way the historical fac ts fam i l i ar to the

scho lar as d i s t inc t from the as ye t unknown ones , which

are neverthe less j us t as real and j us t as ind ependent of his
cons c iousness .

the general soc io logical theory o f historical ma t er ia l i sm .

torical fac t s by the llarxist h i s torian are no t ar b i t rary at
all .

He be gins his research wi t h s tudying the concre t e

c ircumstances ,

in, the c o gn i t

ive pro c ess , Topo lski takes i ssue w i t h Bo b inska ' s cri t i c ism
of t he approach to histori cal fac ts as s c ient ific cons truc t ions

- 1 78 -

p lace and t ime o f t h e h ist orical event ,

.and

w i th e s tab l i shing t he ro le i t can play in the overall soc io

e conomic develo pment of the given epo ch.
The external hi stori cal communi ty is invariably re
presente d by a s o c io-e conom ic format i on .

It

is pos s i ble to

reveal the e s s enc e of - the h i s t o ri cal fac t only i f the context

of the epoch i s properly taken int o acco unt , and f irs t and
foremo s t of the format ion in which i t exi s t s .

Only the

d iale c t ical-mat erial i s t e p i s t emology can ensure the s cholar ' s

obj e c t ivity in s e l e c t ing and evaluat ing h is tori cal fac t s .
!he data wi th which. the historian d eal s may prove

to be

in

suffic ient for draw ing convincing conc lus ions or for subs tan
t iat ing

In empha s i s ing t he h i s torian ' s a c t ive role

o f Marx i s t histor ical sc i ence

in its princ iples o f data s e le c t ion on the bas i s o f

Both the s e le c t ion o f and the approach to t he mass o f his

c lass if i cat ion of histor ical facts and certain hierarchical

dependence s es tabl ishe d b e twe en t hem.

Sele c t ing fac t s is a very respons ible

his knowl e d ge drawn bo t h from t h e sources an d o t her channe l s .

I t s exi's t

in hi s to r i cal con s truc t ions .

I t is wrong to d e c lare an und i s c overed fac t to

1 i

the " cons truc t ion" of historical fac ts

be regarde d as sub j e c t ivism.

proofs adduced by . t he historian in his s t udy.

enc e w i ll inevi tably be i gnored

Ii

These

as long as the exi s t ence o f

indep endent of t h e co gn i s ing s ubj e c t ,

external c ircums tances may undoub t e d ly aff e c t the chain of

neral remain unknown to anyone for a long t ime .

I i

T o po lsk i b e l ieves that ,

o bj e c t ive real i ty ,

c e rtain c onc e p t ion ,

h i s ini t ial assumpt ions .

or it may comp l e t ely refute

The researcher ' s duty i s in t h i s

c a s e t o t ak e measures for extend ing the range o f sourc e s

-.&11.4.

materials o r ,

i f this is o u t o f the que s t ion ,

- 179 -

to introduce

explaned on t he bas is of the p r inc iple o f h i s t o r i sm , and

the necessary ,correct ions in the working hypo the s i s . The

his torian canno t ignore the fac ts , even if they run count er
to his ini t ial conc lus ions .

The part isanship of the Marx

i s t hist orical sc ience res ts on the rel iab i l i ty , authenti

c i ty o f the fac t s on which it i s based.
But the hils torian is no t pass ive w i th regard te t he

fac ts that he has coll e c te d and verified. His duty i to

establish the " hierarchical" po s i t ion of these fac t s in
the chain of o ther fac t s that are already known. That is

achieve'd through the ir j u:x:tapo s i t ion and analys is o f t he ir

interdependence and mutual influence s . Each his torical

phenomenon must be considered in i t s deve lopment and move

ment rather than stat ically. Lenin demande d of the research
er: "Cri ic l.sm must cons i s t in comparing and contras t ing the
given fac t w i th ano ther fac t and not wi th an idea; the one
thing of moment is that both fact s be invest i gated as accu
rately as possi ble , and that they ac tually form , in resp e c t of
each o t her , d ifferent moments of deve lopment ; but mos t import
ant of all is that an e qually accurat e inve s t igat ion b e made
of the whole s eries of known s tates , the ir s e quence and the
relat ion between the d ifferent s tages of development11 8 On
numerous occas ions he ,ins is t e d that "we mus t take no t ind i
vidual fac t s , b ut the sum to tal of fac t s , wi thout , a s ingle
excep t io n , relat ing to the ques t ion under discuss ion.
O therwise there w ill .be the - inevi t able , and fully j us t ified ,
sus p i c ion that the fac t s were selected or comp iled arb i ttari
ly , t hat instead of historical phenomena be ing pre sent e d
in o bj ec t ive interconne c t ion and interdep endence and treated
as a whole , we are present ing a ' subj e c t ive ' concoct ion to
j us t i fy" .

There exists a reliable Karxist historiographic

tradi t ion regarding the historical fact .

K. Pokrovsky

interpre ted explanat ion of a h i storical fact as " t he e stab

l ishment of cause-and-effect l inks b e tween them [the fact s .

Unt il the real links are establi she d , as well as the causes
o f the origin o f the fac t and the cons e quences fo llowing
from i t , it

(the

incomprehens i ble .

fac t

is acc idental ,

unexplaine d , isolate d ,

And this fac t bas to be explained histo

rically rather than soc iologically , that is , i t should be

- 1 80 -

the inevitab i l i ty of i ts emergence under concre t e con d i t ions

'

of place and t ime should be shown , as well as t he fac ts and

10
Pokrovsky as
events that cond i t ioned its emergence " .
cribed different ro les to d ifferent fac ts in hist or ical

cogn i t ion , emphas is ing the dep endence of a fac t on its o b

j ec t ive role in the historical process by us ing spec ial
t.rms : " the bas ic fac t " , " the primary fac t " , " th:e. character
The bas ic or dec i s ive fac t s includ ed
i s t i c fac t " , e tc .
t hose which refle c t e d the his tory of e conomic re lat ions and
of class s truggle , those whic h ac tually d e t ermined the
e ssence of maj or event s , e ress ing the inevi ta b il ity of

11
these events and processes cond i t ioned by o bj e c t ive laws
Pokrovsky j us t ly assume d that the " crude work" of e s tabli sh
ing historfoal fac t s , which demands a great expend iture o f
labour and t ime , is i n i t se lf a compl icat ed me tho do lo gical
process .
Academic ian Yu. Frantsev s tressed this idea: "There
is no such s c i ence of his tory that is engaged in merely
amass ing fac t s .

Just a s there is no such s c ienc e of hi story

which would no t rely on the fac ts but merely rep eat t he

truisms about the logic of the historical pro cess .
what is

an

appraisal of fac t ?

But

I t impl ie s revealing t he ac t ual

obj e c t ive links be tween certain . fac t s and t he tendency of de

ve lopment o f historical real i ty . . A sc ient if ic approach is
inconce ivable wi thout linking up fac t s , e i t her newly d is
covered or previously known but incorrec t ly e luc i date d , w i th
o ther fact s and phenomena , w it hout contras t ing t hem w i t h
general tendenc ies of historical deve lopment , i n t he first
12
p lace w i th the course of class s truggle " .
Some bourge o i s h is t or ians expre s s t he view t hat the .
researcher cannot and should no t take into account all the
E. Ses
fact s relat ing to the subj e ct-mat t er he has chosen.
tan remarks , for example , that subj e c t ivism dominates bot h
the select ion of the subj e c t of study and of the fac t s for
researching t he sub j e c t . This cho ice , he s tate s , " is con
d i t ioned by t he environment and the t imes in whi c h the
historian l ives , his views of l ife in all i t s aspe c ts and
p roblems--polit ical , economi c , so c ial , religious , and mo- 1 81

ral11 1 3

Sc ienc e , I ssue 3 , 1 9 65 , p .

Indeed , t he h is t o r ian ' s cho i ce is ult imately de

term ined by his s o c io-po l i t ical po s i t ion , but t ha t does not

Mo s cow , 1 97 4 , p .

s ignify e ither any arb i t rarine s s in selec t ing the fac t s or

sub j e c t ive d e fe c t iveness of his con clus ions .

I t all dep ends

on the c lass and me t ho d o logi cal views d e fend e d by the re

s earcher.
C ons i de rable a t t ent ion is paid in h i s t orical l i t erature
to the s e quence of processes involved in t he s tudy of h i s to
r i cal fac t s .
as a norm .

1 09 ( bo t h in Rus s ian ) .

c . Bo b inska , H i s toryk , fak t , me t o da , Warsaw ,

8 V . I . Lenin , C o l l e c t e d Works , Mo s cow , Vo l .

9
10

A.A.

Govorkov , M . N . Pokrovsky About the Subj e c t-llia.tter

o f His torcal S c ience , Tomsk ,

of fac t s , or whe t her he wants to e s tablish t he i r p lace in

Rus s ian ) .

fo rme'd on the b as i s of o t her sources .

In the lat t er cas e

the historian has previously d e t e rmine d the int ernal and

external regular i t ies operat ing under the given concre t e
cond i t ions .

He ,

therefore , c an , following t he d e duc t ive

me t ho d , pro ce e d from general theore t i cal premi s es in analys

ing the given fac t or some o ther add i t i onal fac t s .
T he founders o f s c ient ific communism were unanimous in
s tat ing that in

any

s c ient if i c area , natural or h i s tori cal ,

the ava i lable fac t s s hould be the s t art ing po int .

It fo l lows that e st abl i shing fac t s is the primary
ne ces sary func t ion of

any

and

h i s to rical s tudy .

A . S . Lappo-Danilevsky , The Me t ho d o logy of History , S t .

Pe tersburg ,

C . L . Becker ,

1 9 1 3 , Issue 2 , p . 322 ( in Russ ian) .

"What Are H i s torical Fac t s ? " , Wes t ern Po l i t i

cal Quarterly , 1 95 5 , Vo l . VIII , No .

3 , pp . 330 - 3 3 1 .

3 R. G . C o l l ingwoo d , The Idea of H i s t ory , Oxford , 1 9 46 ,

pp .

5 6 , 2 5 9 , 27 1 -281 , 305 .

4 E . H . C arr , What I s H i s t ory? , London , 1 9 62 , pp. 1 8 , 22-24.

5 J . Topolsk i , Me tod o logia his tori i , Warsaw , 1 97 6 , p. 62 1 .
6

A . I . Uvarov ,

" The Struc t ure of The ory in H i s t o rical

- 1 82 -

1 , PP 1 66 - 1 67 .

I b i d . , Vo l . 2 3 , pp . 27 2 -27 3 .

be gins his s t udy w i t h an analys i s of a given fac t or group

a conc e p t ion of t he content o f an event or pro c e ss that was

1 96 4 ,

49- 50 ; J . Topolsk i , o p . c i t . , p . 1 50 .

pp .

This se quence canno t , o f course , be s e t down

I t largely d ep end s o n whe t her t he h i storian

3 6 ; see also V . A . Dyako v ,

The Me t ho d ology o f His t ory in t he Past and Pres ent ,

1 97 6 , pp . 2 3 9-240 ( in

1 1 I b i d . , p . 2 48.
12

H i s tory

13

E.

and So c io logy , Mo s cow ,

1 96 4 , p. 3 3 4 ( in Rus s ian).

Ses tan , The H i s t ory of Events and t he His tory o f

Struc ture s , Mo s cow ,

1 970 , p . 6 ( in Rus s ian ) .

range of ma eria ls and methodologi es of their s tudy) leads

to great er different i ation of historical kn.owledge ' and , more
over, result s in c onsiderable i solati on of it s various bran
che s . Along with this proc e s s , however,

and es a natural re

action to i t , there is a lso an increase in the int erdependence

between the historical discipline s . At the same t ime hi st ori
ans more and more extensively use the meth9ds and data of
THE HISTORICAL SOURCE

the natural and mathemat i c a l scienc es . The so-called related di sciplines appear. All of this increa ses the range of
scientific instram.ent s that can be applied in hist ori cal
study. A hist orian ' s specia.l profes sional qualifications some
times prove inadequat e for carrying out a thorough hist ori
cal analysi s . Cooperati on with other cont iguous and even un
relat ed sciencea i s nee ded.

A:rJ.y

information pertaining to mankind ' s past may be

hist ori c a l source . Hist ori cal sources being het erogene

ous , this requires their classificati on (writ ten sources ,

monument s of material culture ,

et c . ) .

Mo st important for histori cal inve s t i gat ion i s ,

of

cours e , attr i butive c lass i ficat io n , that is the e stab l i shment

of the correlation between soil.roes and the spat io -temporal
complexes under study1 rether than a formal clas sification
of historical sources of different types.
The success of hist orical invest igation largely dep ends
on the ut ilisation of an ensemble of sources providing com
plementary information and not on the study of' one part icular
kind of sourc es ( archaeological or document ary mat erials ,
etc . ) . 1!b.e more ext ensive and vari ed the s ources relat ing
t o a definite pro cess or event ,

the more reli able the re

It i s of course diffi cult t o judge the degree of import

ance of hist orical sources without

taking into account the

c oncret e circumst ance s . Their significanc e is entirely uet er

mined by the nature of' the problem th e hi st orian i s c oncern
ed with.

Here it is important t o stres s the great divers ity of

means which the hist orian has at hi s di sposal for reproduc
ing and evaluating the past . Being an independent branch of'
histori c a l s cience ,

source study generali se s these instru

ment s and a chieves a synthe si s of' the diverse data studi ed

by the special auxiliary hi st orical di scipline s . The latt er
include :
palaeography ,

studying outward chara ct erist ics of an

cient writt en sources ;

sphragist ics and heraldry ; studying seals and c oats

of arms ;

searcher s conclusions. Close cooperation i s therefore es

diplomati c s ,

studying o ld official document s ( a ct s ) ;

sent i al between speci alists in different historical disci p

epigraphies ,

studying inacripti ons (writt en sources

lines , including the so-called auxiliary di sciplines , for

the s olut ion of diverse problems arising in hi stori cal stu
di es . Scient ific analysi s of sources also requires sp eciali
sat ion of researchers a ct ive in various branches of history
( archaeology,

palaeography,

et c . ) .

Specili sati an of individual historical di sciplines

exclude d ) ;
numismati c s , studying coins and medals ;
chronology and metr ology,

studying systems

archaeography, working out the principles of source

publication.

expanding a long with their inner development ( increasing

- 1 84 -

of time

measuring, weight s and measures ;

- 1 85 -

Kost llJOlll"c es studied _by the _ am:iliary h.is.oriQ.al d&.-

ciplines relat e , of course, t o . remote hist orical epochs.
storians speciali sing in the study of th:e aore recent his
orical periods are in a comparat ively bett er position, for
they have much better systematised and complete data at their
disposal. And yet they run into juet as many objective dif
'f'iculties in using the historical sources of modern and con
t empora;ry times as historians specialiing _ :l.n the hitory of
.Antiquity and of the Middle Age !S .
Each hi storical source bears the imprint of the domi
nant socio-economic relations and their corresponding ideolo
gcal "load " . However rich the archive , statistical, and other
data characterising the modern and contemporary times may
be , they are no more :free of bias than those pertaini.Dg t o
:the more remot e epochs .
A historical source is a monument of the past reflect
'ing the time and conditions of its creation. In other words ,
source is it self a hist orical phenomenon and can be correct
iy underst ood and int erpret ed only if the vital interests
and ideas of it s authors are taken into accout . "The source ,
tradition, ,, not es Th . Schieder, "gives preference , as a
rule , to the dominant alld in:f'luential strata : politica.l a;nd
s ocial influence i everywhere linked with influence on his
t oric al tradition;.-not only through a tent tious impact
but also by the very preponderance of written records pos
sessed by the rulers , high-ranking officials , and the stra
ta with a monopoly on education. The behaviour and mental ity
of the lower classes usually leave no direct written re
cord ; they do not appear clearly as a sub j ect either in of
ficial papers or in individuals ' testimony such as lett ers
1
and personal reoords . " These words chara ct erise the actual
origin of mot written sources . Nevertheless , these sources
contain a great deal of information, .indirect though it may
b e , throwing light on the non-privileged classes and at times
on that of the social lower strata .

In recent years , source study has achieved considerable

successes. Thi s is particularly true of Soviet source study.
A typical example here is V. Yamn ' s book Essays in Interdis
2
ciplinar:y Source Studt. :Mediaeval Novgorod. The progress in
- 1 86 -

this area is mostly due to the interdisciplinary approach t o

the s ources analysed and t o a combination o f different metho
dological procedures . The facts contained in the s ources in
a mediated form, can only provide the historian with valuable
informati on if he use s the entire range of instruments for
making the s ource " speak" .
v. Pashut o evaluates the various aspects of source ana
lysis as follows : " A source may be analysed chronologically
(we have in mind a more common case when the formal t exto
local analysis has already been done and we have a good
publi cation available ) , or vertically, comprehending the
dynamic s of the t ext ' s development : the pla ce of the source
in the hi st ory of the collection in which it is contained
and the place of the collection ( or code) as a monument of
the socioeconom:l. c , political and cultural life , in the
struggle for the assertion of a class or group . It is by no
means a matter of indifference t o us when, where , and in whose
s ocial interest s the given act was c ompiled, where a given
chronicle came from, and whether it was written as a whole ,
or forms a code or part of a code ( codes ) . The purpose of
the ana lysis i s , therefore , clear--determining the reliabi
lity of a source , an it em of information or , finally, of a
fact . A source may also be analysed t erritorially , compara
tively and hi storically , which involes juxtaposition of
syn.chronic monument s written in the same or in foreign lan
guages , or different provenance , referring to one and the
same event . Here t oo the main point of departure i s defining
the political , clas s and group interest s refiect ed in the
monuments of each of the centre s compared . " 3

We know that the most ancient written s ources which

s erve as valuable historical sources often contain various
superimposed layers , later int erpolations and additions in
other authors hand. The arti cle by Yu. Kizilov cit es numer
ous examples of ?igni:f'icant ideological divergences between
the earlier and the lat er chroniclers--the authors of the
c lassical Tale of Bygone Years . "The study of the t ext s of
The Tale of B:rgone Years" , writes Yu. Ki zi lov, "writt en by
chroniclers of different ages and traditions , shows once
again how promising i s a more careful study of the hist orical
- 1 87 -

thinking of it s various authors .. !l!leir world-view reveals a

s ignificant evolution from pagan to Orthodox Chri stian forms ..
The st ruggle between these religious systems , p aganism and
Chri sti t y ,

largely det ermined the development of the s o-

ci al consci ousne s s o f Old Rua ,

and unless one t akes i t int o

account , it is difficult to conceive even in genera l out

line the evolut i on of the historical i deas of the Old Russi

an chroniclers " 4

other words ; a hi st orian cannot extract the neces sary infor

mation :from a s ource unless he has certain qualific ations
for that .
J. Topolsky sugges t s the following order in the his

t orian ' s re search :

( 1 ) !l!le choi c e of study area . ( 2) Formu

lat ion of the problem

..

(J) Finding out the sources for the

study of the problem. ( 4) Int erpreting th e information obtained from the s ources . ( 5 ) The . st udy of authent icit y ( ex

..

Real life i s always richer than i t s reflect ion i n any

document .. In his Lett ers , Bolingbroke writes, not without a c
rimony, about near-cont emporary event s : "You will want no
mat erials t o form t rue notions of t ransactions so rec ent ..

( 6) The st udy of reliabilit y (int ernal

(7 ) Establishing facts about whi ch there is direct

ternal crit que ) .

criti que ) ..

informati on in the sources . ( 8) Est abli shing fact s about which

there is no direct information in the s ources ( along with

Even pamphlet s , wrote on different sides and on different

verification ) . ( 9 ) The a s certainment of causa l relations

authority than pamphlet s , will help you t o come at truth ..

( along with verifi cat ion) .. ( 1 1 ) Synthet ic int erpretat ion (.the

occas ions in our party disput e s ,

and histories of no more

Rea d them with suspicion, my lord , for they deserve t o be

s uspect ed : p ay no regard to the epithet s given, nor t o the

judgement s passed ; :neglect ell declamation, wei gh the rea

s oning and advert to fact ,. n 5

tings of large and small collectives--an import ant source

on the hist ory of revolutionary movement and s oci al trans
formation , briefly recording the decisions taken.. These do
cuments are as a rule dep osited in the archives , and hist ori
ans willingly refer to them .. Archive sources are 't'ra ditional
ly regarded as the most authoritative and reliable .. Every
living witnes s and participant of' s ome concret e sitting may
c onfirm he>Wever that the final record does not give a real '
idea of the work preceding the briefly formulat ed decision.
The debat e in the sit ting , the concrete arguments which

ultimat ely det ermine the final out come leave es a rule only

dry and scant tra c e in the archive records .. The his

t orian has to find additional means for reconst ructing the

circumstances whi ch det erinine d the decision .. These may in

clude such more or eas obj ective dat a as statistical mate
rials as well as subj ective

( 1 0) The

answer t o the resea rcher ' s quest i on) ..

ascert ainment of laws

( 1 2 ) Ade qua t e evalua

ti on of hi st orical fa ct s ..

J . Topolsky point s out that of the research operations

6 and 7 ) are bas e d on knowledge

indicat ed , only three ( 5 ,

The same thing is evident from the minut es of the s it

a very

( along with verificaton) ..

proof's (private lett ers ; me

moirs of the parti cipant s in the de ci sion-making , et c .. ) ..

The histori an ' s training (general theoret ical and pro
fes sions). } is a neces sary condition for his research
- 1 88 -

..

Ill

directy obtained from the s ources . The rest are ba sed on

knowledge obtained out side the sources . Nevertheles s , know

ledge obtained from the s ources plays the great est role in
establi shing fact s .. "We e st abli sh fact s on the ba si s of
sources , a lthough it is easy to see that we could not have
obtained relative information from the source w ithout kn9w.

. ledge from out si de the sourc e . n

A critical attitude of the hi storian t o the s ource and

the need for it s repeat ed verification presuppo se a clear un
derst anding of the fact that the source i s always a more

or less di st ort ed reflect ion of obj ect ive reality .. Dialec

tical conne ctions between the obj ective and the sub j ect ive
are manifest ed in the following two a spects of cognit ion :
first , the source i t s elf appears as the sub j ect ive element
with regard t o the ob j e ct ive one which it reflect s ; s e c ond ,
the hist orian working with this source st ands in relat i on
t o it-Sli.b j ect t o obj ect .. The hist orian ' s c ognitive work
as sumes a profound creat ive process revea ling the dialect i c s
o f the int errelation between the ob j e ct ive and the subj otive ..
- 1 89 -

In using documentary sources , the res earcher i s almost

a lways

a position to verify again and again the reliabi

lit y of the information contained in them by comparing va

rious document s pertaining to the given sub j e ct . However, a
. crit i c al att itude to writ t en s ources should not develop in
to hypercrit i ci sm.

study. "The his t ori an ' s task is the division of the informa
t ion contained in the s ourc e into two part s : the ob j ective
reflection of the hist ori cal situation and it s int erpreta

t ion by the source ' s author covering the cla s s p o sition , the
motives for the cre at ion of the s ource , i t s complet ene s s ,
8
reliability , dist ort i ons , suppres sions , et c . "

Source criti que is usually divi ded under the hea dings
of external and int ernal . By external criti que of a s ource
is meant it s deciphering and a s certaining i t s authent icity.
Here the hist orian often resort s t o the methods of auxiliary

K. Barg not es that every time the res earcher has

to

overcome the barrier o f "realit ies transformati on" to pasp

the es sence of things hidden behind their appearanc e . "In
it s t urn , appearance also has two forms :

( 1 ) ob j e ctive ,

hist orical di sci:p lines , such as epigraphies , t extology, and

when the relat ions are revers ed by the course of the proces s

t ic analysis of the sourc e which helps to est abli sh it s ori

relat i ons , phenomena , and event s are p erceived as revers

9
ed. "

p alaeography. Of considerable import ance is also a lingui s

g in , age , and the nature of the social mi li eu in which it

:c ould be created. Inner crit i que of a s ource demands that
it s origin, primarily it s so cial orientati on , and the degree
of reliabili t7 of the information contained in it b e estab
l ishe d .
I t i s di:fficult and hardly exp edient t o divide the cri
t ique of a source int o external and int ernal even with re
gard to the order of operat ions . Deciphering the source and
defining it s orientat ion are very closely int errelat e d and ,
as a rule , si1111lt aneos processes .

and

as sume fantastic form,

( 2) sub j ective , when s o cial

Bourge oi s hist oriography mostly t akes up sub j e ct ivi st

positions in evaluating the role of sources . In the view of

s ome authors , the signifi cance of a sourc e is wholly det er

mined by the historian ' s int e llect and hi s ability to use

the information cont ained in it ( e . g. , Jlarrou 1 0 ) . The hi s
t orian ' s qualification and training , inde ed , either increa s e
o r re duce hi s abi lit y t o u s e the hi st orical s ource fully and

rationally. But evaluat ion of the obj ective significance of

a source should not be made dep endent on i t e individual p er

The possibility ()f hist ori ca1 pro cess experimentat ion ,
ment a l as well a s rea l , with the aim o f verification and
partial correction of data contained in the sources, cannot
be re j ect ed out of hand . N. Erofeyev cit es several examples

cepti on .
Re cent ly ,

some hist orians abroad have complet ely rej ect

ed reliance on sources in establi shing hi st orical fact s .

Scept ic!! insist tha t even aft er the pre liminary very pains

of experiment s in the s phere of historical sci enc e . In par

taking work of est ablishing the authent icit y , sub stantia

voyages as well as that by the . American s . Morrison who , in

rem$ly problemat ic , for it allegedly s eparates the hist orian

t i cular, he mentions Thor Heyerdahl ' s "Kon-Tiki " end "Ra "
1 939-1 9 40 , followed the route of Columbus . Using

Columbus '

log , Morri son reached the Western Hemisphere and verified

the degree of preci sion of the not e s and observat ions made
7
by Columbus .
The study: of historical sources has as i t s first t ask

revealing the intentions and the mood of their authors . In

thi s case the sul;> j ective feature that is inTisibly pres ent
in every source it self becomes a most important obj ect of

- 1 90. -

tion of dating a source , and so on , i t s value remains ext

and. the hi stori cal fa ct .

There ere , of course , no compilers of writ t en document s

who would be absolut ely impartial with regard to it s cont ent .
Thi s weakens , to s ome ext ent , the obj ective qua lity of the
data cit e d

in the source . But that does not mean that the

source it s e lf is worthles s ; it means me rely additional re

11
search work for the historian.
Some bourgeo i s historians
( for inst ance ,

E. Tapp) go so far as to insist , absurdly,

- 191 -

that the soure in general pertains t o the sphere of thinki.ng , having no - exist ence out side men ' s imaginat ion. 1 2
Recen t ly , spec ial interest has been d isplayed in a
spec ific form of the histori cal sourc e--the so-called ora l

history.

The term means the use of oral test imony of par

t i c ipants of h i stor ical events that are no t recorde d in
do cument s . However , due to the w i d e use of s tenography
and sound-re cor d ing , t he data of oral history are , as a

rule , transformed into a variety of do cumentary sources .

Oral hist ory i s of particular import ance for the peo

ples that have no wriyt en language of their own. Data con
cerning the hi st ori cal past of thes e peoples are often con

cotlnt e d by the people i t s elf ' . This t rend , now headed by the
historian and lit erary critic D. Likhachov, t akes pains t o
alive the hist orical approach t o the epo s ; i t can also
keep
.
.
14
be referred t q as the Soviet hi storical s chool . "

The study of oral hi st ory is of import ance not only

for t he peoples who have no writt en language of their own.
It sll ould be borne in mind that almo st in all the . count ri e s

o f the world ma ny original writ en sources o n hist ory w ere ,

for ariouB reas ons , lost . There has always been the po ssi
bilit y of the cont ent o f thes e no longer existing sourc es
being retained in the f orm of oral legeds , although this
post!!i bility calls fo:r: a very criti_cal attitude on the part

t ained in legends tansmitt ed from generat i on t o generation

of res earchers .

by word of mouth. D.P . He:ninge , the Briti sh. speci ali st on

Afric an traditional societies , is rathe r sceptical about the

The search for new , earlier unknown s ources extending

our knowledge of the past is going on.

import ance of oral

l egends as a hist orical source . Tradi

tional tales were int ended for singling out and rendering
the aspects of the past which were considered import ant for
the present . That presupposes an att empt to att ribut e a form

1 Theoor. Schieder, "Unt erschiede zwischen hi st orischer und

s o zial-wissensohaft li cher Kethode " , The 1 3th Int ernationa l
Congres s o f

of continuity ( as a rule , within the life-span of more than

three generat ions ) to orally recount e d event s . Therefore , a s
He:ninge point s out , folk poetry , heroic legends , fairy tales
and other forms o f . folk oral tradition ar e excluded :f'rom the
study as they bear no reference to either continuity or s e
13
quence of event s
B . Grekov and B . Rybakov hold an opposit e vi ew . B . Ry

b akov ' s fundamental study Old Rua . Fairy-Ta les , Bylinas ,

Chronicles consist ently expounds the i dea that bylinas as

' Vol . 1 , Part 1 , Moscow , 1 97 3 .

. int eresting att empt at comparing the prot agoni st s of the

Russian bylines with the persons that actually existe d in

hist ory and , moreover, at synchronising the events describ

3 The Kethods of Stud:y:l.ng the Kost .Allc ient Sources the

Histor:y of the Peoples of the USSR, ed. by V. T . Pashut o ,

Mos cow , 1 97 8 , P 3. ( in Rus sian) .

4 Yu. A . Ki zilov ,

"The Hi st orical World Outlook of the Authors

of !fhe z,.ie of Bygone Yea:rs " , Voprosy i st orii , No . 1 0 ,
1 97 8 ,

as folklore epi cs is based on art isti c invention , Rybakov

relies on Grekov ' s studies. He writ es : "One of the trends

p.

78 ( in Russi an) .

5 Lord Vi scount Bolingbroke , Lett ers on the Study and Us e of

Hi story, London , KZOOCXCII , P 386 .

ed in them.
In hi s critique of the view that the cont ent of bylines

J. Topolsky , " On the Role of Knowledge Obtained from Out

si de the Source in Hi st oric al Studi es " , Voprosy filosofii ,

No . 5 , 1 97 3 , PP 80-8 2 .

N.A. E:rofeyev, What Is Hi st ory? , Moscow , 1 976 , p . 93 (in

Rus si an ) .

tollows Grekov ' s correct thesi s : ' A byline is history re- 1 92 -

Papers for the Cong-.

2 V . L . Yanin , Es says in Int erdisciplinary Sourc e study.

Mediaeval liov5orod, Moscow , 1 977 ( in Russian) .

a type of oral sources always reflect a ctual hist orical

event s that t ook place in the remot e past . He has made an

Hist ori cal Scienc es .

- 1 93 -

v.v. Kosol apov , The Methodology and

Logic of Hi st orica l

Resea rch, Kiev,

:9
. Jl .A. Barg ,

1 977 ,

p. 3 1 5 ( in Russi an)

"Hist ori cal Facts : Structure , Form,

Cont e t " ,
1 97 6 , p. 60.

Ist oriYa SSSR, No . 6 ,

10 H
. Jlarrou, De la conna is sanoe hist origu
e , Paris ,
pp . 1 07- 1 08.

'11

1 95 9 ,

Fo r detai ls see A. P. Prons tein, Metho

ds o f Hist orica l
Source Study, Rost ov-on-Don, 1 97 6 (
in Russi an) .

1 2 E.
Tapp ,
13

"Knowing the Pa st " , Journal of P.b.i

los ophY , Vol . LY ,
1 9 5 8 , No . 1 1 , pp . 460-467 .

HIORY

AID

OUR !IDS

D.P. Heninge , The Chronology of Oral Tradi

tion, Oxford ,
1 97 4 ,

14

CONCLUSION

P 2 .

B . A . Rybak v , Old Rua . Fairz-Te les

1 :Bylines ,
1 963 , p. 42 ( in Russi an) .

Moscow ,

Chroni cles ,
Never before ha s hi storical science--or, incident al ly ,
all the othe r social science s--gaine d such serious signi
ficance for our t ime s and for the progre s s of mankind a s
i t ha s t odst i n the countrie s where the a dvanced a m re
Tolutionary llaist-Lenini st worldview ha s triumphed attd
beco11e completely dominant . Hi st orical knowle dge i s aso
ac quiring ever gre ater practical significance , which , of
course , in no -.y means that it

become subordinated

to vulgar utilitarianism. In the countrie s of social i e'ia,

a scientific understanding of mankind ' s vast his torical ex

perience is e ssent ia l , not only to substantiate and con

solidate the diale ctico-mat&rialistic wo rldview , and in
culcate socialist pa tri o ti sm and internat ionali Slll, but al
so to be instrumental in t)le construction of a new, com

llU.Dist society . !rhe study of many ide a s which

have

become

pa rt o f hi story, an analysis of pa st at tempt s to iple11ent

such ide a s , and the ascert aimllent of the concrete causes

for the succe ss or failure of many initia tiTe s of the pa st

all the se pro?ide material of the greate st int e re s t and
value . !he rich heritage of the pa st can and should be. ful
ly use d to extract the obj ective les sons of hi st ory which
of gre at iaportance for the construction of collllllIDi sm .

- 1 95 -

Lenin of'tn empha sised the value of' the lessons of . hi s

tory to our time s and the future : "We must
sum them up ,
draw conclusions , draw from the experience of' today ' s hap
penings le ssons that will be useful tomorrow. 11 1 It wa s
.ne ce ssa ry , he wrote , "to write the history o.f' the pre sent

- day" and -11to write it in such a way as to promote the spre ad

of the movement , the conscious selecti on of' the means , ways ,

_ and me thods of' struggle that , wi th the lea st expenditure
of' effort , will yie ld the mo st substantial and permanent
re sult s " . 2 For that , two fundament al conditions . have to be

me t : in the first pla ce , history should be an objective sci

ence re flecting the views of' the a dvanced cla ss in p re se nt

day Society, and , second , there must be a de sire and readi

ne ss on the pa rt of citi zens to learn the le ssons of' hi story
and make use . of' them :l.n concre te soci a l prac ti ce .
Of the utmost importance are those le ssons of hi st ory
which link toge ther historical proce sses and phenomena that
a re closest to us in terms of time or a re still under way.
The study of pre sent-day history provide s anSlfers to many
que stions po sed b;r life itself' , the reby greatly enhanc
te practical Talue of' history as a scienc e .

e pre sent shoul not b e c ontraposed to the pa st , for

the events of today stem from those of' ye sterday , the current
course of socia l development cannot be understood or

cor

rectly a ppra ised without a knowledge of' its source s. Histo

rica l studie s have borne out tha t the pa st-even if

far

removed from us--can reveal the roots or begimdngs of' pro

ce s se s that

-have re ce ived the ir fulle st exp re ssion in our

e the
and thus enable s us in . certain mea sure to forese

mor-

row.
is high
The borde rline betwee n the pa st and the pre sent
a
of
es
ly relative . Jlarx and Lenin gave cla ssical exampl
event s, there
rigorously scient ific analys is of' contemporary
icance . Al
by laying ba're the ir genuine hist orical signif
bar the
Marxism
of'
s
ssic
cla
the
o:r
mo st a ll the wr1 tings
inc1udes
ctics
diale
that
show
ism,
imprint of profound histor
pro
orary
contemp
then
the
hi storilfDl , and while dealing with
ion
cognit
d
profoun
ce sses and events serve a s mode l s of a
A vivid ex
of' reality with a dire ct bearing on practi ce .
by Karl
ample of' such hi storic al writing s is provid ed
e spe cially
and
rte
Bonapa
s
Loui
of'
re
Brumai
:Marx ' s !he 1 8th
analys is
d
profoun
a
which
in
,
France
hi s The Civil War in
for
Karx
to
sary
s
nece
proved
of' the event s of' those d$Ys
.
le
strugg
tionary
practi cal conclusions in the revolu
scienc e
The further development of lfa :r.z:ist histo rical
century
th
9
1
and all its a chievement s since the end of the
s of Lenin.
a re indi ssolubly bound up with the activi tie
cally impo s
practi
be
would
poch
e
t
curren
The study of' the
the
alism.,
imperi
on
works
ental
sible without his fundam
move
tionary
revolu
world
the
hi story of' the Russia n and
on concre te
ment , the history of' the communi st Party , and
of' the
theory
s
'
que stions of socia li st constru ction. Lenin
h
researc
socia list revolu tion laid the groundwork for
rioa l
into the ba sic proce sse s and patte rns of' the hito
sm. Six
epoch of the transi tion from capita li sm to sociali
ne s s
correct
the
out
rne
bo
have
nce
ty odd years of' experie
of' . Lenin ' s theory .

time s .
Consequently, the concept of' "the pre sent" in re spe ct
of his torical science cannot be re duced exclusively to a
mat ter of' chronoiogy . Parallel with the study of hi st orical
processe s and events that mark our t ime s , histo rical science
analyse s tho se phenomena and proce sse s which a ro se in the
pa st but are still under way o r are exerting a direct in
fluence on our days. At the same time , it pays a tten tion to
everything that holds out a promise of further development

s c onso
Lenin ' s develo pment of' ma te rialist dialec ti c
t into
insigh
lidate d the me thodol ogical :founda tions for an
. Kany propo si
the roads of' mankind ' s progre ssive a dvance
tched out in
tions of Marxism as foramlated or only ske
co'llJllUlli sm were
ific
scient
of
rs
the writings of the founde
t of' new
accoun
due
th
wi
e labora ted in de tail by Len:Lli,
, not only
called
which
data and a new hist orical situat ion,
'their
o
.
n
for a specif icatio n but al so for an enriclrae
- 1 97 -

- 1 96 -

t eore tical vi.$ws. Lenin e laborated bl detail the question

of the vanguard ro le of the working c la s s in the develop-

ment of

eoeiety , the role of the Party ,

dictatorship ,

the

ve factors in tbe revo lut ionary pro ce ss ,

Cif

proletarian

re lation between obje ctive and sub je ct

and the state .

exoptional importance is hi s theoret ical formula tion

of the highly compl,ex national. _

que stion.

Lenin ' s writings on the his to ry of Russia provide a

odel of concrete scientific analysis grounde d in a pro

found pene tration into t e e ssence of socio-economic phe

nomena and gigantic fa ctua l mate rial ;

including stat isti c s .

. Lenin wa s n o t a profe ssiona l hi storian;

he usually re

e rre d to himse lf as a publicist . Thus , he titled hi s e

.oretioal work on imperialism very mode stly as a "booklet " .
Di sregrding a l l other varie ga te d aspe ct s o f the a ct ivi
tie s of Le nin ' s genius ,
that he wa s
of the word,

an

it should ' , nevertheless be said

hist o rian in the fulle st and broa de st sense

but wa s firt and foremost a great :re vo lution

ary. His historical studie s were always purposeful : he s ought

in the pa st re plie s to maey que stions of the day a s raised
1
by life . The study of hi story wa s never an end in i t self
for

Lenin,

for i t wa s ne ce ssary to him t o a chieve a be tter

understanding of his

wn.

time s , and a corre c t cientific

apprai l . of proce s se s tha t were under way o r were reap

pe aring and would enter the f'Utu:re . His public bt writings
be aring ,

in particular,

on the period during which the so

cialist revolution wa s being prepa re d be tween Karch and

Octobe r 1 9 1 7 end publi she d day by day in the Party pre ss
in the immedia te wake of the political events we re a model
' of a full blend of hi story ,

revo lutionary theo ry . and prac

ti ce . 1!b.e logic in such an a pproa ch is self-evident . The

principle of hi stori sm ,

of an a pprai sal of socia l phenome

na in their dynamic development ,

is integral in Jlarxisn

Leninism.

that of Jla r:x: , wa s int.ense ly revolutiona ry , thi s being di

re ct ly linked with the KarXist-Leninist doctrine a s a wo rl d
view o f the most advance d and world-transforming soc ia l
force s , which look fearle ssly into th e future and are
therefore capable of ob j e c tively appraising the pa st aJ:id
the present ,
pa st ,

and of seeing the promise of the future in the

of understanding the historically transient . nature

of' the antagoni stic socia l re la tions .

In addressing himee lf even to the most di stant hi s-

. torica l sub j e ct s , he invariably found , in events ot the past ,

, links wi th our own t ime s ,

those permitting a comprehensive

unders tanding of the obj e ctive historica l pro ce s s and the

. present time .
Highly characteri st ic wa s his profound pene tration
into the motivations and mo tive force s in the ma ss move
ments of the pa s t . He called for a thorough analysis of
their strong and weak a-spec ts end the cause s of their suc
c e sse s and reverse s . Lenin had the greatest re spect for re
volutionarie s who se activiti e s were in keeping with the
o b j e c t ive demands of the.ir own times and promo te d so cial
progre ss , even if they often ended in failure and le d up
to tragic conse quenc e s . In his analysis of the experience

of the Paris Commune of 1 87 1 ,

Lenin followed llarx in de

noting the c ause s of its . defe a t and its e rro rs . The ob j e c

tive hi storica l conditions ,

both ext e rna l and internal ,

wb.i_flh deve loped in France in the se c ond half of the 1 9 th

century did _ no t favour the e stabli shment of working-cla s s

rule . Marx h a d warned that t he a c tions of the ColmUDards

were prema ture , whic]l did no t prevent him from. giving the
mo st energe t ic support to the cause of the Paris Commune
and p opu la rising it . In exactly the same W8'3' ,

Lenin vo iced

his a dllira tion of the he roism of the Communards , and recog- 1

ni se d the tremendous historic significance of the first
a t tempt in hi st ory to e stablish a pro_letarian d ictato rm i p .

Lenin ma de constant use of the principle of hi storism

to reveal the bankruptcy of metaphysica l c once pte

ught

forward by _ the enemie s of Ma rxism. Lenin ' s historism,

. - 1 98 -

'

like

In Lenin ' s writings the theme of the Paris Co'lllDlUe

U

is alost invariably a sso ciated or compa re d with the Sovie t

. experience of prole tarian dictatorship. Thus ,
- 1 99 -

for example ,

ili. his s pe e ch ,to the '!hird Co:ngre s s of Sovie t s in January

. 1 9 1 8 , Lenin called the Paris Commune " the embryo of Sovi e t
p9we r" .

!O'!

He went o n t o say tha t , unlike th e dictatorship

the working cla ss in Ru ssia , which enjoyed the support

of millions of the peasantry , "the first experience of' work

.
s'
ove rn.iaent" in France wa s not underst ood by the va st

a:r

ma j ority of' the French pea santry . Be side s ,

the Communard s
.
o;1d no t create . a ma chine ry of' stat e , a s was done by the
ctorious pro letaria
of Russi a . That wa s why the Paris

-rl.

workers , who held out for two months and ten days , "perish
ed at the nds of the French Cade t s , llensheviks and
Right
So cialist-Re volutionaries of a Kaledin type " . 3

He often drew upon the experience of' the pa st , yet

there was no . more re so lute enemy of' all and every d oubtful

and arbitrary historical ana logies than he wa s . He ri diculed

the anti-hi sto rism o f those poll ticians or authors who ar

tificially brought toge the r externa lly s imila r social phe

nomena , which they examine d out side the framework of' time
and space . To him, a s a genuine schola r, the main thing

in the sphere of hi storica l science a s well wa s 'the a sce r-

. ta

nt

of the inne r objective pa tterns of social develoP

ment , which only make it po ssible not only to understand

but a l so to fore se e th furthe r dire c t ion of' society ' s a d

vance .

spe cifi c s or e l se under the fal se flag of' a struggle against

dogmatism di ctated

by

a fal se c oncern for the repla cement

of a l legedly outmoded propo sitions of Jlar.rl sm , have tried

to rum in bourg ois ideology by the back door. The pre sent

day a ttacks waged by the anti-c ommuni st force s against the

llarxist-Lenini st the or.r o f the working cla s s ,

torship of' the proletaria t ,

genuine ,

i.e . ,

the dicta

socia li st ,

mocracy , and socialist inte rnationa l i sm show wha t a

de

sha rp

ideolgic a l weapon that the ory i s in the hand s o f the

world ' s working c la ss , and how inte re st e d the world ' s

re a ct ionari e s a re in dulling the . edge of that weapon and
e liminating it from the revolut ionary a rsena l .
In themse lve s , Lenin ' s revolutionary acti vi ti e s comp

rise a mo st important chapter in world history. At the same

time , Lenin ' s manyfa ceted work i s exe rting a dire ct and ,

i t may well be said ,

eve r gro wing impac t on our t ime s ,

on all world development . Hi s struggle against the enemie s

of' 11ar.xism,

against the

the o pportunist s of' the ri ght and the "left " ,

Iensheviks am the Trotskyit e s ,

and other natiolist s ,

the Bundi s t s

a struggle over the f'u.ndamental

que stions of the theo ry and pra ctic e of' the revolutionary

movement belong both to history and to our time s . Suffice

it to re.call the pe rmanent value to our t ime s o f Lenin ' s

critici sm of' the libe ral-phili stine understanding o f de

Thus ,

the pa st and the pre sent we re not and could not

be divorced from e a ch other in Lenin ' s perception. On the
c ontrary , they were insepa:ra ble : in an ove rall sense , the
pre sent is a continuat ion of' an unbroken historica l proce ss ;

mo cra cr or an absoluti sation of the na t iona lly spe cific

.
ana the . nat ionally particular to the de triment o f what

i s fundamental an d overall in the revolutiona ry movement

and hi st orica l deve lopment . As Lenin po inte d out ,

ral talk about fre e dom,

" Gene

e quality and democracy is in fa ct

in the particular sense , a knowledge of' his tory and i t s

but a blind repeti tion of conce pt s shaped by the re la t ions

day movement .

p roblems o f' the d i ctatorship of the pro le tariat by such

laws fa cilitates a c onscious control of socie ty ' s present

Also of e ve rlasting significance in hist9rio al c ogni

tion is Lenin ' s acute struggle both against vulgar so ciolo

gi sm and spine l e s s empiricism . It enable s Jlar.z:is t hi st o ri

cal science to more . e ffectuall y exp o se the pre sent-day fal

sifiers of hi st ory ; it helps umna sk the la te st and "modish"

revisioni st theorie s , which, . on the. pr.etext _of na tional
.

- 200 -

of' commodity produc tion. To a t t empt to so lve the co nc re t e

generalit ie s is tantamount to a ccepting the tlre orie s a nd

4
principle s of the bourgeo isie in their entire ty . "
The pre sent-day nventors of prescriptions for the

ideological "erosion" of so cia lism devote spe cia l a t ten

t ion to galvani sing the pet ty-bourgeois understanding o f
democracy and t o an a pologia and fe t i ahi sa tion o f the

- 201 -

attribute s of 'formal , bourge ois democracy. The revis:Lonist

atteapt s to glo s s ove r the special role of the working

practice o f today has u.iq things in co1D1110n with the old

cla ss in the revolutioDe ry transformat ion of the world.

K:autskian attacks against the dictatorship of the working

All absoluti sa tion o:r the revolutionary , role of the pe a

Leninist doctrine .

logi s t s .

cla ss , and against the very foundat ions of the llarxis t

eantry

!'oday too ; the que sticm o f cla s se s and the cla s s ap

Lenin conducted a re solut e ,

,proaeh to an apprai sa l of socia l phenomena is focal in

who has a dopt

desire to e re ct a Chine se Wall around hi s nati ona li ty ,

tenaciously' attacking the theory of cla s se s and the cla s s

his nat iona l working-cla s s move?E nt ; he i s unembarra s se d

struggle . In the conditions of the scientific . and te chnolo

even by the fact that

e spe c ially fierce and . "ma ssive " a ttempt s

by

the gre at call f o r the

rallying and unity o f the prole tarians o f all na ion s ,

ra e s and all la:nguage s . "5 !h s proposition of Ienin ' s

in _ t he w0rking cla ss linked with inte l shift s in its

ranks as the comple te disappearance of cla s s distinctions

has been borne ou t

in oapi ta li st socie ty . !he bourgeo i sie are aware that the

by

al l

the experience o f the cla s s struggle

a t the present stage . !he efforts made by the Maoists and

revo,lutionary working cla ss i s their ma in and fully consi s

ot er nationa li st stooge s of imperialism. are dire cted t o

tent enem;y. l'fo. . other revolutionary force s can replace the

wards undermi ning the unity of all progre ssive revoluti

working cla s s e ithe r in carrying out the so cialist revolu

onary force s . In the strategy of anti-coDllRUli

l sm ,

tion or--the more so--in the construction of s ocialism.

specia l

prominence is given to at tempts to split up the socia li st

. c ountrie s , and oontrapo se them to one anothe r through the

u se of na tiona li st slogan s.

were linked with a striving to play down the class contra

dictions b-etween the .proletariat and the bourgeoi sie ,

Jlagnified nat ionaliam under the ui se of a defence

spread the illusion of t e po ssibility of " class pea ce " ,

of loca l national intere sts is dire cted against the world

and undermine faith in th e feasibility o f socia li st ideals.

socia list system as a whole , i . e . ,

ola s s or pre-cla s s nature of the stat e . It is not fortui

O f special topicality today i s Lenitl ' s call f or a fight

nationa list elements are gro ssly slandering the Sovie t

i solation" , and a conside ration of " the whole and the

Special e fforts were made to inculcate tile idea o f a non

little or re fute the leading role of the working cla s s in

those countrie s , and de tract from their significance as

the main force in hi sto rical devel opment . Pro fe ssors of

. the ultra-left

assert that the proletariat has become

completely bourgeo i sified and i s no longer an activ e re

volutionary force The ideologist s of capitalism speak of

the "deideologisation" o pre se nt-day socie _ty in the ir

- 202 -

is ultimate ly di re cted

towards weakening the main revolutionary force of our time s .

tous that today ' s revisioni st , re formist and bourge ois-

Union and the o ther socialist state s in an at tempt to be

hi s tact ic s o f division and dis

meabe:rment he is re ducing to nil

are being made to pre se nt particular structllral change s

Already towards the end of the la st century the f irst

"One

e d . the standpoint o:r nationali sm naturally arrive s at the

I!nin have shown that the enemie s of. Jlar.xi Sll-Leninism are

manife stati ons of revi sionism in the sociali st movement

energetic a n d ardent strug-:

gle against a ll kinds of nationa lf. sm. ,

the ideological struggle . The decade s since the death of

gical revolutaon,

i s ,chamcteristic o:r Jlaois t and pro-Vaoist i deo

"against small-nation na rrow-mindedne s s ,

se'clusion and

gene ra l " and subordina

tion, of "the particular t o the gene.
ral intere st " .

A re j e ction o f the c lass and 11arxist appra i sal of ph

nomena in socia l . li fe ,

of fa cts , acions ,

programme s and

slogans advanced by poli tical organi sations and the act i

vitie s of their leaders cannot but lead into the embraces

of the re a ctiona ry bourge oi sie . Wha tever camoufla ged fo::t'

mula s are inve.l'l.te d by renegade s from communism and

203 -

by

the

It should be no ted that a study of any historical period,

revisionist s , 'who speak of various mode ls of' so ciali sm

(now "humanistic " , now

and not only the contempora ry , calls for a new volume of

nat iona li st ically hue d) the re

knowle dge , new fa cts re garding previously non-existent

exi sts in the l'IO rld of today a cla sh only be twe en two world
out looks , two ideologie s : the soc ia li st and the bourgeois.
e numerous theorie s or points of view which satisfy the
individua li stic pride of bourge oi s profe s sors or pe t ty1bourge ois politicians are she e r fiction in the sense that
they all a re re ducible in fa ct to a re j e ction of a dis
,t inctly proletarian,

specific fea ture s of so cial phenomena and the like . Of

c ourse , one canno t deny a certain specific nature of re
search work on the part of the hi st orian of the pre sent
time but similar re quirements exi st for the historian

o f anti quity ,

the historian of feudali sm and the like .

i . e . ' genuinely scientific ' Lenini st

approa ch to socia l proce s se s and phenomena .

It is undeniable , however ,

Many hist orical writings by the cla ssics of sci enti-f'i c

communism have di spe lle d the pre judice still existent in

tha t the a dvantages of a

s tudy of pre sent-day hi sto rical p ro ce sse s cannot but be

recogni se d . These l ie in the historian ' s field of vi sion

and he sense s 'the pulse of l ife in c ontempo rary socie ty .

certain pla ce s , a c cording to which the hi storian should not

If he ha s taken up a firm st and on the cla s s and Party

engage in serious research into events that are contempo

po sitions of the progre s sive social force s , he is able ,

ra ry. Here re fe rence i s made to a lack of obj ective sour

a s a pa rti cipant in the event s ,

ce s , the una ccomplished nature of current proce sse s , and

j e c tive interlinks ,

the like .

the main trend in socia l development.

Of' course , the study of c ontemporary his t ory is linke d

with a numbe r of difficultie s : the hi storian who breaks

to e s tabli sh their ob

s tudy the motive force s and a scertain

.
Of considerable importance is the que stion of the to
p icality of hi storica l re search. "The problem of topica

new soil camlot ground himself in any historiographic

lity in science , " said Boris Ponomaryov a t the All-Union

t ra dition ,

Conference of Historians in 1 9 6 2 ,

since it is often non-existent. The hi stoian

" is not only one of a

ha s to take into a ccount both the insuffic iency or the

choice of theme s but one of the leve ls of. the ir e laborat io n ,

one-sidedne ss of the _avilabl e material , this enhancing his

the problem of the significance to our t ime s of the conclu

8
sions drawn in re se arch. "

responsibility for the conclusions he ha s arrived a t .

Elaborat ion of the theore tical and me thodologic al pro

In v. Ivanov ' opinion,

"a knowledge of o ur time s doe s ,

and a t the same time doe s no t , coincide with a knowledge

of hi story. These coincide , ina smuch as a lolowledge of our
1
t imes is a defin i t e l ink- in one ' s obj e c t ive knowle d ge of so

c ia l re ality as a whole . However , a knowledge of our time s

a lso include s a new volume of knowledge refle cting the new

and hithe rto non-existent specific feature s of pre sentday soc ia l phenomena (naturally , a lolowledge of p:re vious-

ly existent a spe cts a ls o change s , in keeping with the pre

sent-day level of scientific knowledge ) . In th i s sense ,

a knowle d ge of our t ime s does no t , of cours e , co inc ide with

the knowle dge of history ,

this te stifying to the diale cti c

al na ture of .' the unity Of histo:ey. and the pre sent dgy . n
- 204 -

blems of hist o ry on the basis of any conc re te ma ter ia l ,

including the a:rohaic ,

i s undoubtedly topical , inasmuch

a s it consolidate s the founda t ion s of the materia li st world

view.
The histo rian should not lose sight of the unbreakable
l ink between the pa st and the pre sent . Marx made the fol
lowing very profound remark :

"Wha t is c al le d hi s torica l

evolution d e pends i n gene ral o n the fa ct that the later

form re gards e arlie r one s a s stages in the deve lopment of
9
Thi s in no way means a sterile evolutionism in

i t se lf . "

the hist o rica l proce s s . It is a que stion of soc ie ty ' s de

t e rminative a dvance ,

in whi ch the re i s an enhance d po ssi-

- 205 -

po

bility for an objectiv e apprai sal of the pa st from the

s tions of today. SUb stantiation of the materialist view

o'f history of antiquity or feudal socie tJ'-this in a strug

gle a ga ins t Tarious bran4s of falsifiers-is topic l ,

since

promotes the onslaught against the ide olog ical po si t ions

of pre sent-day anti-commmima. Conse quently , the topica

lity of historica l re se a rch is ot confined to an elabra

tion

of pre sent-day probleas ,

to a

s tud.J'

at que stio

of

recent history. !heme s pertainillg to tb.e di stant past

can be

topical,

for exaw.ple such that are lillked w1 th the

rest orat i on of tb.e genue hi story

pe ople s ,

of

l r of African
a nllllbe

particula rly tho se whom the racists and 'the c olo

nialists have false ly called non-historical pe ople s th$t

ture

have a11egedly a c quire d cui

pean oonque st .

only as a re sult .of Euro

the material available "le s sons

ruptcy of such views have devoted a great deal of a tten

tion in re c$nt years to

study of turning points in the

history of mankind as marked

by

the

revolutionary t ra nsi

tion from Ol1e socio-economic system to another. such re

search is not only of a genera

cance . As a re sult of

me thodological signifi

the dbintegrat ion

of the c olonial

system of imperia lim, poli tical independence has been

won by a large number of countries in Asia and e spe cially

hi st or:1" tha t are re al

science , which is exceptionally high, make s it important

both for the historical re search referring to modern a.nd
recent time s and to those

that go back to the : mo st dis

t ant historical pa st .
!oday, s o cial elements some time s appe ar . on the poU ti
cal a rena , whose .emerge:nce or a,ctivity cannot be attribu

ted exclusive ly to current hi st orical pro ce sse s .An under

s tanding of such phenomena ca lls fo r a t tention to be pa id

to the pa st . This is most dist inctly to b seen in example s

of the vitality of certain forms of ideolo or the re
emergence of' slogans which .might seem engende re d by historical conditions belonging to the past . Alongside
basic socio-class ause s ,

Sovie t historians , who have shown the complete bank

of

ly obj e ctive . The world-view significance o f historical

the

a ce rtain role a lso belongs to

religious di stinc t is. All this is indicative of the clo se

links between the pre sent and the past and bears out the
continuity of the historical proce s s ,
lity to such

giving great t opioa

excursuse s into the distant past \llhi ch help

us unde rstand the event s

ot

their f'urther development .

today and s ome t imes fore see

" In e s sence ,

i t wi ll be no mis

take to say . tha t the degree of the impa ct of hi st orical

science ,

its status and pre stige in society , depend con

siderably on

the place our t imes hold in its range of

in Africa . Pre-capitalist relations are pre dominant in

p roblems and on the measure in which they are e ffi catious

through the ver:1 initial period of cla s s .format ion. In

concept of contemoraneity should not be vulgarised.

wri tea B.

many of the se countrie , while some of them are going

ly els.borate d , "

dealing with the queaUcm of pos sible roads of struggle

has long been known that one can write in modern te rms

countrie s ,

pect of our own time s . Histo rical works can be up-to-date

the

llogilni t sky . "Only the very

for socia l progre ss by the people s in the deyeloping

about

experience of hist o:ey and ,

in the genuine meaning of the term, which,

it is most a dvisable to addre s s on.e self to the

first and foremo st ,

to the

experience o f the construction ot so c ia lism in the USSR.

The rich heritage of the past can and should be mobi
lised and used in the inte re st m of the c onstruction o f
communism only given the condition that it i s conducted
by hist orians who are e quipped with the llarxist-Lenil11st
methodology and . stand firmly on the principle s of c ommun
i st partisanship ,

i .e . ,

are capable of extracting from

- 206 -

It

mo st distant pa st and ye t fai l to do .so in re s

based o n advanced metho d s o f research ,

i deas t ha t are

be sides

be ing

are imbued with

pogre s s i ve . for the ir t imes and at the same. _

time serve to furthe r sub stantiate the ir development as

we ll ,

thereby promoting the a ccomplishment of taalcs con

10

fronting society. "

The ideological struggle in hist orical s cience 1s often

wage d , not 9ver pre sent-day material but over problems of

- 2 07 -

'

he interpre tation of the d i s tant . Pa st . It is not fortui

i de ological function of the science of mankind ' s pa st i s

tous that bourgeoi s authors opposed to Ma rxi sm are c ons

not limited to such things . Wtltings on histor.r b ring

tantly atta cking the theory of soc io-economic forJJB t ions ,

people a knowlege of how present-day society ha s come into

an at tempt to prove tha t the di'vision o f history ac cord

b e ing. This obligate s his to ri ans to parti cipate in teach

ing to the social..;forma ti.on yardstick i s , inapplica ble to

ing and other e duca tive a ctivitie s , a m spread prog re s siv.e

pre-capitalis time s . They are out to eliminate the c ons

i de a s , drawing upon convincing arguments from a ll the rich

tructiv e and e ssential elements from the s ingle edifice

and varied concrete historical experience at our dis po sal .

of Marxist theo ry ,

:Marxi st-Leninis t hi storical science is e quipped with the

in a hope to weaken it . But the ma te

an(! .

ria li st understanding of hi story i s an integral world

advanced world-view

v iew , whi ch cannot be arbitrarily whittle d down to any

sive mobilisa tion and p ropaganda of the fine st revo lution

regional

aey ,

or temporal framework. The Marxis t apprai sa l

of the course and pat terns of the hi storica l proc e s s i s

grouxided in the totality o f hi st o rical da ta , from ancient
time s do to our day s. History should be e qually effe c

t i ve and pre s t i gious in

an

analys is of all hi s t o r ical pe

riods without exceptio n , all stage s in the development of

socie ty.

me thod, thi s making for t.h.e exten

patriotic and internationa li st traditions.

The histoTian s specia lisation in a:n:y particular per iod

should not and cannot be an obsta cle to hi s participa tion

in active ide ologica l work. There ere many example s o f
proce s se s a nd phenomena \'lhich would seem t o s tand o n th e
s ide line s

of the pre sent ideological s truggle , bec oming

o b j e Q t s of the c onfrontation be tween lfar.x:ist . and non-Marx

" The hi story of Soviet science , am our state inte re s t s , "

Boris Ponomaryov write s ,

"call for a study in our country

of all the most important p roblems of world hi story and

the working out of scientifically grounded viewpoints on
the se problems

the t a sk of having ,

i st historiography. Thi s is be st seen from the nume rous

a ttempts be ing ma de t o fal sify ,

in a nationalistic spirit ,

hi stoTical data and materials referring to the distant

pa st , attempts a llegedly d e signed to " sub stantiate " the

It is high time for us to se t ourse lve s

priority or even superiority of some particular nat ion. It

in all are a s of historical knowle dge ,

may be said that there i s no conc re te are a , even among the

scholars of a standing that will se t the tone in 'WO rld

ancilla ry histo rical di sc ipline s , tha.t can stand quite neut

science ,

ral in the se que stions.

whose opinions will be authoritative t o all ex

11
perts in thi s fie ld . 11

*
Thu s ,

enti.:re depa :ctment s in hi st o ri es 1 scieJJOe which are suscept

the t asks confronting hi st orical science /to day ,

and conse quently the historian s ,

are constantly be coming

more complex. History is among those. soca l disci pline s

which c annot but st and in the forefront of the ideologica l
s truggle . It is not so much a question

of a conc re te in

terpretation of hi sto rical events clo se ly linke d wi th our

time s but of an understanding of the c omplex me chanism of
social deve lopment ,

In recent yea rs , histo ri ans have be come eve r more prone

to speciali se in ever more narrow fie lds. There have a risen

the recognition or non-recognit ion of

ible not only to "self-dete rmina tion" but even to a certain

autonomy. It ha s be come the practice fo r international
c ongre s se s and conference s to involve e xpe rts on ce rtain
definite and s ome times very narrow departments o f his tory .
Of c ourse ,

there is nothing unna tural in th i s ,

ina smuch a s

such prac tice refle ct s the ob j e ctive development o f knowle dge .

At the same time ,

ce rtain negative fe ature s can be seen

in a certain departmentalisation of historians. In parti

the obj ective nature of socia l proce s se s pe rtaining both

cular ,

to our time s and to the most di stant pa st . Howeve r , the

We ste rn scholars to " split up " histo rical science not only

- 208 -

one should note the growing trend among certain

- 209 -

on a narrowly pro fe ssiona l ba si s . This can be seen

international congre s se s

on

f'r01i.

e conomic hi story , who se deli

berations reveal a sufficiently obvious intention on the

part of bourgeois histo riographer s t o " speciali se " e cono

mic history in such a way as to " libe ra te " it from acute

p,re-leas. connect e d

economic formations
gon i sms ,

with the re place100 n t of' some socio

by

othe rs ,

the hi sto ry of socia l anta

and o the r e s sential fa ctors without due a ccount

of' which no genuine e conomi c hi story can exis t .

The ob j e ct ive development o f hi storical science i s

a l so linked wi th integrational proce sse s . The e ve r gre a te r

complexity o f' obj e c ts of concrete re search call s . for cons

tant coopera t ion between hi st orians in different field s ,

whose , j oint effort s , given a spe cia li se d approa ch t o vari

ous a spe cts of the ob ject unde r study ,

should give it s

a llrotmd and :f'ully ob j e ctive character! sti c . Many succe s s

ful a ttempts have been ma de in Soviet lrl.storical seience

to IQ'Jlthe sise data :f.'roll varieus historical discipline s ,

for instance , histo J:'Y ,
t al studie s ,

archaeo logy , e thnography a nd Orien

so as to a c c ompli sh the t a sk of summing up

the ri ch existent ma teria l a s rapidly and fully a s possible .

The dialectic of differentiation and integration in the.

area of a knowledge of the past pre sents certain enhanced

1 V.I
. ,Leni Collected Worka , lloscow , Vol. 8 , P 1 04.
2 Ibidem.

3 Ibi d. , Vo l . 26 , P 45 .
5
4 Ibid . , Vol . 30 , P 1 1 6 .

5 Ibid . , Vol . 6 , pp . 5 20- 5 2 1 .

6 Ibid. , Vol . 22, p.
347 .

-7

v.v. Ivanov , Lenin on Some Que stions of the Relations

Between Histo;y and

Russian ) .

Time s , Tomsk ,

8 B.N. Ponoma
ryov , Sele cted speeche s and A,rti c le s , Jlo scow ,
1 977 , PP 1 84-1 85 ( in Russian ) ,
9
Karl Jla rx , A Contributi on t o th e Critique o f' Poli tica l

Econogy, Jloscow , 1 980 , p. 21 1 .

1 o B . G. Mogiln i
t sky , "Obj e c t ivity and Party Sp iri t i n His
tor i cal Sci ence " , Metho d o logical and Hi s t ori ograph i cal

Pro b lems of Hist orical Sc ience , Book 2 , Tomsk , 1 964 , p.

( in Russ ian) .

1 1 B . N. Ponomaryov , o p . c i t . , p. 1 8 :
5

demands also to historians themse lve s . With a ll the import

ance and nece s sity of spe cia li sation, .the 118rxist hist ori
an cannot fully confine himself' to a range of' hi s spe cifi c

and na rrowly profe ssional interest s .

There can be a single reply t o the que stion o f th e re

lation between hi story and our time : Marxi st hi storical

science , which is ste adily consolidat ing its inter.national

positions 'cannot but go with the time s , cannot but stand

at the leve l of topica l t a sks.

Suell

t a sks are determine d ,

f irst and foremost , by the hi st ori c significance o f the

va s t proc e s s of the e stabli shment of a conmnmist so c io-eco

nomic . formation, vmich is ushering a new and great era in

mankind ' s progre ssive development .

- 210 -

1 970 , p . 1 5 ( in

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