Marx and his Impact on Historiography

• Marx was not an historian – but his thinking has affected historical writings

• Hegel - The Dialectic. Starts with something called a thesis (an idea) – everything

thesis/idea has its complete opposite – antithesis. Thesis and its antithesis

cannot co-exist and the clash between them produces the Synthesis/new idea.

This new synthesis in turn has an antithesis and the cycle goes on

• For a Marxist this is clash of the Haves vs. Have Nots, Oppressor vs. Oppressed

i.e. Material Dialectic but it ends with communism – therefore Marxism is

teleological (progress to the perfect class system)

• Marxist history is a priory – you come with a preconceived idea i.e. you go

looking for the class clashes in history (Opposite to Von Ranke)

• Focus on economics – economics determines the class struggle and all aspects

of socio-economic development (law, media, ethics, education i.e. if your rich you

control the media and you make the laws and economic power allows you to

impose your ideas on everyone else) Therefore economics determines the

development of a society and consequently the development of history

• There are no non-selfish motives in history – everything is done for your own

benefit

• Anti-religion – believes it exists because it is used by the powerful to frighten

people into submission (i.e. burn in hell unless you do this) but dismisses it.

Religion is the opium of the masses (church gives people pleasure but at the

same time it is detrimental)

• It is Scientific that is there is inevitability about it – there is no chance or luck – it

is bound to happen (the Material Dialectic) Determinist (history determined by

economics)
• History usually focuses on upper classes but this history is history from below i.e.

looking at the lower classes. (Irony being that the communist leaders are middle

to upper class)

• Looks at history of oppressed nationalities or minorities groups

• Marxist is a new perspective – not better or more correct, just different

• Affected by government – governments control history therefore all communist

countries = Marx history

• 1930s – depression destroying capitalist society and the economy doesn’t work

therefore communism should work + nazi/fascism (totalitarianism) and the only

country that is standing up to Hitler is the communist Soviet Union – leads people

to believe communism must work

• Marxism doesn’t work. Human nature (greed) stops communism from

succeeding. Collapse of communism – Marx discredited – however; history not

solely determined by economics i.e. Marxism not crudely determinist (there are

other factors) therefore not the end of Marxism