On Historical Materialism

Posted On 16 Jul 2014

This pamphlet shows how and why the theory of Scientific Socialism as developed by arl !ar" and
#rederic$ %n&els became the &uidin& star of the international wor$in& class up to %n&els' death in
1()*+ Ta$en as a whole, the series covers the whole period from !ar" to !ao, ta$in& into account
developments since the death of !ao in 1)-6+ This pamphlet was written by the .or$ers' Party of
/ew 0ealand in 1))*+ The same writers also wrote an introductory te"t on 1ialectical !aterialism+
Introductory
.hen thin$in& wor$ers and democrats first be&in to study history and social development from the
!ar"ist point of view $nown as historical materialism it is as if a blindfold was suddenly stripped from
their eyes+ #or the first time the past 2 and not only the past but the present 3be&ins to ma$e sense,
and events and affairs which before were incomprehensible become clear+ One can in fact be&in to
ac4uire a new insi&ht into political and economic systems, into &overnments and their policies, into
the ori&ins of wars and revolutions, into the activities of nations and the social forces within them5 in
fact, into all of the ma6or spheres of human activity and $nowled&e+ One can be&in to understand,
almost literally, what ma$es the world tic$+
The materialist conception of history 7historical materialism, for short8 was discovered a little before
the middle of the nineteenth century by the &reat 9erman thin$er and practical revolutionary arl
!ar"+ :t was the first 2 and remains the only 2 scientific view of history+
;lthou&h this discovery was a milestone in the development of human thou&ht, historical materialism
is not tau&ht in our schools+ People who &o throu&h them come out with the idea that history is 6ust a
6umble of chance events involvin& <&reat men' such as $in&s or &enerals+ The reason for this is not
hard to find+ :t is because our education system has been developed to serve the interests of the
rulin&, capitalist class+ .hat concerns these people more than anythin& else is, maintainin&
capitalism+ They certainly would not allow te"tboo$s which show, as historical science does, that
capitalism is not eternal and is due soon to be replaced by socialism= that it is the masses of the
people who ma$e history, and not <&reat men'= and that man$ind's social development is not the
result of <9od's will' but is a material process &overned by impersonal, inner laws, $nowled&e of
which can be ascertained by man and as a conse4uence, put to use by him in the same way, say, as
the laws of biolo&y+ 7The words <man$ind' and <man' are used throu&hout to include both men and
women8+
.hen !ar" was still a youn& man he wrote5 <The philosophers have only interpreted the world in
various ways= the point, however, is to chan&e it+'718 The value of historical materialism to wor$in&
people and others who feel and see the rottenness of capitalism is this5 that it not only enables them
to understand the world of today 2 it &uides them in the historic tas$ of chan&in& it, of ma$in& a new
world, one free from the e"ploitation of man by man or nation by nation+
Production of Material Needs is Primary
>istorical materialism is based on the idea that <!an$ind must first of all eat, drin$, have shelter and
clothin& before it can pursue politics, science, art, reli&ion etc+'728
Simple thou&h this idea may seem to us now, it was very hard for man$ind to come at+ #or many
centuries the dominance of reli&ious beliefs made free scientific en4uiry into the ori&ins of peoples
and their institutions difficult+ The &eneral view was that nations and other communities 2 what is in
fact &enerally called human society 2 had been created with all e"istin& institutions such as
churches, laws, courts, armies etc+ ready made+
!ar" belon&ed to the materialist school of philosophical thou&ht= that is, he held that bein&, matter
and nature were primary, while thin$in&, mind and spirit were secondary, derivative+ The
philosophical idealists held the opposite view+ Thus, the &reat idealist thin$er 9eor& >e&el who
developed dialectics 7of which more will be said further on8 asserted that society was ruled by divine
will+
?efore !ar", the most able materialist thin$ers 7the #rench materialists of the 1(th century8 were
only able to reach the view that <ideas ruled history'+ That is, people in some way or other &ot an idea
that somethin& should ta$e place and then did it, thus brin&in& about an historical event+ /ot only
was it impossible for this view to e"plain how an idea came into e"istence, it was also impossible for
it to e"plain why this or that idea or event should emer&e at the particular time it did+ Only historical
materialism can &ive a proper answer to these 4uestions+ The very emer&ence of historical
materialism can be e"plained only by 2 historical materialism itself@
Origins of Historical Materialism
:n the first half of the 1)th century &reat chan&es were sweepin& %urope+ Ander the impetus of the
industrial revolution, factory production was advancin& in leaps and bounds, and with it, the
economic power of the manufacturers+ They became the most active section of the class of owners
of capital, standin& at the head of the other sections, the merchants and financiers, in a &eneral
stru&&le a&ainst the landownin& aristocracy for the position of rulin& class+ This class of capitalists
had &rown up since feudal times out of the small masters or <bur&esses' of the cities and is also
$nown by the #rench word <bour&eoisie'+
?ut the industrial revolution which pushed the manufacturers to the front also brou&ht an increase 2
and a far &reater one 2 in the number of factory wor$ers+ :t &ave birth, in fact, to the modern wor$in&
class+ #ormed out of the propertyless wa&e wor$ers of the towns, the wor$in& class or proletariat,
7as !ar" called them8 soon be&an to ta$e the sta&e as an independent political force+ :n ?ritain it
formed itself into the first modern wor$ers' political party, the Bhartists, whose stru&&les in the 1(C0s+
and 1(40s shoo$ the established order+ On the Bontinent it played an ever more prominent role in
the decade from 1(C1, when the first wor$in& class risin& too$ place in the #rench city of Dyons+ This
was the decade when in all the advanced countries of %urope massive class stru&&les too$ place
between the wor$in& class and the factory owners, even while the bour&eoisie was movin& to
political supremacy+
Thus the class stru&&le between the proletariat and the bour&eoisie forced itself to the forefront in all
spheres of life, and in doin& so compelled %uropean thin$ers to consider history anew+
;lready a revolutionary democrat, !ar" was impelled by the &reat social movements of the period to
ma$e a profound study of the different forms of human society which had e"isted up to that time+ >e
showed for the first time the overridin& importance of economic development as the underlyin&
cause of all important historical events and movements, sin&lin& out the class stru&&le as the motive
force of history+ :n the course of his investi&ation and writin&, he established and stated the main
social and economic laws of development, which we will summarise further on+
;n e"cellent statement of the main principles of historical materialism is &iven by %n&els in his
popular e"position of !ar"ism5 <Socialism, Atopian and Scientific+' >ere is a brief e"tract from it5 <The
materialist conception of history starts from the proposition that the production of the means to
support human life and, ne"t to production, the e"chan&e of thin&s produced, is the basis of all social
structure= that in every society that has appeared in history, the manner in which wealth is distributed
and society divided into classes or orders is dependent on what is produced, how it is produced, and
how the products are e"chan&ed+ #rom this point of view the final causes of all social chan&es and
political revolutions are to be sou&ht, not in men's brains, not in man's better insi&ht into eternal truth
and 6ustice, but in chan&es in the mode of production and e"chan&e+ They are to be sou&ht not in
the philosophy, but in the economics of each particular epoch+' 7C8
The &reat revolutions of history have always remained a mystery to bour&eois historians+ Only
historical materialism can e"plain them, and why they bro$e out when they did+ :n one of his letters
!ar" e"plains the economic evolution in ?ritain which pushed forward the new capitalist mode of
production until its further advance was bein& stran&led by the restrictions of feudalism+ >e says5
<>ence burst two thunderclaps 2 the revolutions of 1640 and 16((+ ;ll the old economic forms, the
political system which was the official e"pression of the old civil society, were destroyed in
%n&land+'748
Similarly, only historical materialism can e"plain the &reat #rench revolution which bro$e out in 1-()=
the bour&eois revolutions in most Bontinental countries in 1(4(= the first partially successful wor$ers'
revolution, the Paris Bommune of 1(-1= the Eussian bour&eois3democratic revolutions of 1)0* and
of !arch 1)1-= the world3historic Eussian Socialist Eevolution of /ovember -, 1)1- 2 the first
lastin& socialist revolution in history= and more recently, the &reat Bhinese revolution which came to
fruition after .orld .ar ::+
%ach of these &reat revolutions mar$ed the partial or complete overthrow of an outworn and
decayin& mode of production by a vi&orous new one representin& new social forces which played
the decisive role in chan&in& the social order+
;ccordin& to historical materialism, each main epoch in the development of human society
constitutes a specific mode of production, or socio3economic formation, of which five are now $nown=
they are5 Primitive Bommunism, Slavery, #eudalism, Bapitalism and Socialism 7that is, the lower
sta&e of Bommunism8+
Det us now briefly s$etch the main features of these successive socio3economic formations which
show man's social development from the point of view of historical materialism+
Social Systems Past and Present
(1)Primitive Communism
!an truly sets himself apart from the animals only when he starts producin& 7and reproducin&8 the
necessities of life, commonly called the means of subsistence+ %arly man 3and it must be
remembered that modern man has a very lon& ancestry 2 lived in what are called hunter3&atherer
societies, huntin& wild animals for food and searchin& for &rain and edible plants+ :n order merely to
survive in their stru&&le a&ainst nature usin& 6ust stic$s and stones as tools, men were forced to
wor$ to&ether+ They could e"ist only in siFeable &roups 2 tribes, for sin&le families or individuals had
little chance of survival+
#or many thousands of years e"istin& tribes were based on a primitive communal form of social
or&anisation+ %ven thou&h new implements were &radually developed and invented, usin& stone,
wood, horn and bone to ma$e a"es, $nives, clubs, stone3tipped spears, chisels, fish hoo$s etc+, and
men learned how to ma$e and use fire, the level of the productive forces was still very low+ This
necessitated common labour+ Bommon labour entailed common ownership of the means of
production, with relations of e4uality, co3operation and mutual assistance amon&st members of the
tribe+ Di$ewise, the products of people's labour were shared e4ually+
.hat is decisive here is the common ownership of the means of production+ >ence the description5
<Primitive Bommunism'+ ?ecause there was no surplus product, no individuals could appropriate it
and turn it into private property in the means of production+ Thus there was no e"ploitation of man by
man, and therefore no economic classes of e"ploiters and e"ploited+ :n one of the first wor$s of
mature !ar"ism, the <Bommunist !anifesto' of 1(4(, !ar" and %n&els be&in5 <The history of all
hitherto e"istin& society is the history of class stru&&les'+ ;s the authors later pointed out in a
footnote to this statement5 <That is, all written history'+ ;lmost nothin& was $nown of prehistory in
1(4(+ The publication of the boo$ <;ncient Society', by the &reat ;merican anthropolo&ist and
archaeolo&ist Dewis >enry !or&an in 1(--, chan&ed all that+ !or&an had lived amon& the :ro4uois
:ndians for 2* years, researchin& their way of life+ %n&els comments that !or&an's boo$ <was not the
wor$ of one day+ >e &rappled with his material for nearly 40 years until he mastered it'+ %n&els also
remar$s in a preface to his own masterwor$ <The Ori&in of the #amily, Private Property and the
State', <!or&an's &reat merit lies in havin& discovered and reconstructed this prehistoric foundation
of our written history in its main features G'
This wor$ provided !ar" and %n&els with the scientific basis for establishin& <primitive communism'
as the socio3economic formation which preceded slave society+ %n&els ma$es the point concernin&
tribal life that <:n each such community there were from the be&innin& certain common interests the
safe&uardin& of which had to be handed over to individuals, true, under the control of the community
as a whole5 ad6udication of disputes= repression of abuse of authority by individuals= control of water
supplies, especially in hot countries= and finally, when conditions were still absolutely primitive,
reli&ious functions+'7*8
Primitive Bommunism as a social system lasted far lon&er than any of its successors 2 from early
man almost to the be&innin&s of civilisation+ The principal productive force then, as now, was man
with his production s$ills and techni4ues+ Still, despite its very &ood side in the close3$nit social life of
the tribe and the e4ual social relations between people, primitive communal life was no &olden a&e+
Divin& was 6ust bare e"istence, while mental life was ruled by naive reli&ions, superstition and
customs 2 some of them very bac$ward+
The !aoris and other Pacific peoples, both Polynesian and !elanesian, lived under forms of
primitive communism before the incursions into their lands by %uropean countries, spar$ed off by the
development of capitalism+
Cause of Decline
.hat caused the decline of primitive communismH Altimately, it was the development 2 over a lon&
period 2 of new and more advanced productive forces+ !etal tools and implements replaced those of
stone and wood5 the wooden plou&h with a metal plou&hshare, bronFe and iron a"es, iron spear tips
and arrowheads= these, alon& with pottery, made labour far more productive than formerly+ >erds of
domesticated livestoc$ could be raised, and crops &rown by settled communities+ These two pursuits
2 stoc$ raisin& and a&riculture 2 became separated from each other in the first &reat social division
of labour, some tribes concentratin& on stoc$ raisin&, others on a&riculture+ Dater on, handicrafts
such as metal wor$in&, tool and weapon ma$in&, and the ma$in& of clothes and footwear, also
became separate branches of production+
.ith more advanced productive forces re&ular surpluses were possible in production+ Ee&ular
e"chan&e of products also developed, first between tribes or communities and then within them, a
system of production of thin&s for sale, commodities, leadin& to the brea$3up of tribal society and a
separation into families, each with its own head and each with its own means of production+ !ostly,
clan leaders within tribal society stood at the head of &roups of families, constitutin& themselves a
$ind of tribal nobility+ They appropriated to themselves the main means of production 2 the land=
herds of sheep, &oats and cattle= and tools+ Thus was born private property and with it, the division
of society into classes, one of which owned means of production and used them to e"ploit those who
had none+
:t was on the basis of a hi&her productivity of labour that slavery arose+ Only when it became
possible for a slave to produce more than the cost of his own up$eep could slavery become
economic and be a source of wealth to the slaveowner+ .ith the development of bronFe and iron
weapons, those who possessed them were able to wa&e war on less warli$e peoples, ta$in&
prisoners who were forced to labour for their captors as slaves+ Thus slave society was born out of
the brea$ up of primitive communism+ The new society was based on the first anta&onistic classes of
slaves and slaveowners+
(2) Slavery
1espite the brutalities of the slave system, it &ave rise to new and more advanced productive forces+
The part3wooden plou&h became the iron plou&h+ Banals and irri&ation devices were built+ 9rain
millin&, ore minin& and smeltin& developed, and with them, the new tools they re4uired+ /ew crafts
developed5 weavin&, tannin& and carpentry which also helped on the development of construction
and shipbuildin&+ .ith these, there came a &rowth of commerce and new towns, and at some point,
written lan&ua&es+
The means of production now included slaves, people, who were the actual property of the
slaveowner, as were his tools+ The small populations of the new slaveownin& societies did not allow
for more than a few slaves from within them+ >ence, war became the main source of slaves, to meet
the re4uirements of the slaveowners for &reater supplies of labour+ .hile the level of the productive
forces made e"ploitation possible, it was still relatively low, so the slaveowner left the slave only
enou&h to $eep him from starvation, appropriatin& the main part of the slave's production+
:n time, however the economic basis of slave society, that is, the production relations of the main
opposin& classes of slaveowners and slaves, e"ploiters and e"ploited, which formerly enabled the
&rowth and development of the productive forces, now became a bra$e on them+ The slaves
themselves had no incentive to ma$e full use of new methods of production+ They received nothin&
in return for their labour e"cept hardship+ Slave revolts became more and more fre4uent+ The &reat
slave empires which &rew up in ;sia !inor, on the ban$s of the /ile, and later in 9reece and Eome,
were rent with divisions+ There were sharp divisions between the small peasants and landowners,
between the property owners and the propertyless= but the basic and main contradiction was
between the two main classes of the period, the slaveowners and the slaves+ The latter, alon& with
the land, were the main source of wealth+
.hile <anti4uity did not $now any abolition of slavery by a victorious rebellion',768 the rebellions of
slaves and sub6ect nations seriously wea$ened the slave societies and finally left them 7;ncient
Eome, e&8, unable to resist e"ternal invasions+
Slavery and History
.hy did slavery arise, why did it e"ist, what role did it play in historyH I.hen we e"amine these
4uestions, writes %n&els in <;nti31uhrin&', <we are compelled to say 3however contradictory and
heretical it may sound 2 that the introduction of slavery under the conditions prevailin& at that time
was a &reat step forward+ #or it is a fact that man spran& from the beasts, and had conse4uently to
use barbaric and almost bestial means to e"tricate himself from barbarism+ .here the ancient
communes have continued to e"ist, they have for thousands of years formed the basis of the
cruellest form of state, Oriental despotism, from :ndia to Eussia+ :t was only where these
communities were dissolved that the peoples made pro&ress of themselves, and their ne"t economic
advance consisted in the increase and development of production by means of slave labour+'7-8
.hat is the connection of slavery with today's worldH ;&ain %n&els answers5 <:t was slavery that first
made possible the division of labour between a&riculture and industry on a lar&er scale, and thereby
also >ellenism, the flowerin& of the ancient world+ J>ellas K 9reece+ edL+ .ithout slavery, no 9ree$
art and science= without slavery, no Eoman %mpire+ ?ut without the basis laid by 9recian culture,
and the Eoman %mpire, also no modern %urope+ .e should never for&et that our whole economic,
political and intellectual development presupposes a state of thin&s in which slavery was as
necessary as it was universally reco&nised+ :n this sense, we are entitled to say5 .ithout the slavery
of anti4uity no modern socialism+'7(8
(3) Feudalism
The new productive forces ac4uired under the slaveownin& mode of production demanded for their
further pro&ress a new type of society, a new framewor$ of property relations in which they could
develop unhindered+ Such an or&anisation capable of formin& the basis of a new society, feudalism,
lay ready to hand in the &entile military or&anisation of the barbarian 9ermanic tribes which finally
overthrew and defeated Eome, the hub of the Eoman %mpire which was also the main stron&hold of
slavery throu&hout %urope+
%conomic forces also underlay the decline of Eoman power+ The &reat slaveowners' estates fell into
the hands of a few bi& land and money owners+ Plundered and tribute corn brou&ht about a lac$ of
demand for :talian corn, and much land was converted into &raFin&3land+ Dar&e3scale a&riculture
wor$ed with unproductive slave labour 2 for slaves could not be trusted with brea$able, costly tools
3became no lon&er profitable+ Small3scale farmin& a&ain became the only profitable form+ %n&els
comments that estates were parcelled out amon& tenants and farm mana&ers+ <!ainly, however,' he
notes, <these small plots were distributed to coloni, who paid a fi"ed amount annually, were attached
to the land and could be sold to&ether with the plots+ These were not slaves, but neither were they
freeG They were the forerunners of the medieval serfs+'7)8
Over a period of about four hundred years feudalism &radually became established throu&hout
.estern %urope+ The 9ermanic con4uerors of Eome adapted their &entile constitution to the actual
condition of the productive forces then prevailin&+ in&s and a landownin& nobility arose, seiFin&
land and re3allocatin& part of it to dependent peasants and serfs who, in return, wor$ed their
landlord's land for nothin& e"cept the ri&ht for each to wor$ a small plot for himself and his family,
and for <protection' by his ruler from other predators, includin& &reedy officials and usurers+ These
conditions became &eneral in view of the &reater productivity of serf3peasant labour over that of
slaves, and also throu&h the e"tension of 9ermanic rule over other territories+
1espite the fact that serfs and small peasants were e"ploited by landowners, because they could in
a small way own their own means of production 2 a plot of land and tools to wor$ it 2 and also own
their own product, they had much more incentive to labour than slaves+ They loo$ed after and
improved their tools, and sou&ht to improve their methods of production+ ;&riculture was improved
by wider use of fertiliser, the use of animal power for plou&hin& and transport, and the development
of the three3field system= handmills were supplemented by water and windmills+ /ew crafts
developed5 iron was produced from pi&3iron= paper, &unpowder and printin& were invented 7or re3
invented, havin& first appeared in Bhina8+ The craftsman, often ori&inally a serf, obtained increased
status+
.ith &reater production under the new system, trade increased, leadin& to the &rowth of new towns
as tradin& centres+ ;rtisans could own their own tools and products, and too$ the trouble to improve
techni4ues+ The towns played an ever more important role in feudal society, becomin& havens for
runaway serfs and centres of the new, developin& industries out of which capitalism was born+
Ander feudalism, production was very lar&ely individual, each producer wor$in& for himself where
possible, ownin& his own means of production and as well, the product of his labour which he could
e"chan&e for other products necessary for subsistence+ 7.e must a&ain note that for simplicity the
masculine pronoun, e"cept where specifyin& a particular person, is used throu&hout to include the
feminine+ %d+8+
There was fre4uent conflict between the main classes of feudal society, the landowners, 7usually
nobles8 and the serfs or, if serfdom had died away as in ?ritain by the 14th century, the small
peasants+ The e"ploitation of the serf3peasant masses by the landownin& aristocracy &ave rise to
fre4uent peasant uprisin&s ri&ht across %urope, hi&hli&hted by the &reat rebellion of 1C(1 in
%n&land, led by .at Tyler= the Jac4uerie in #rance in the 14th, and the peasant wars of 9ermany in
the 16th century+ To increase his wealth, the landowner constantly encroached on the peasant's own
time to wor$ on his personal holdin&, demandin&, bac$ed by force, ever &reater labour services and
special ta"es, intensifyin& his e"ploitation, but also at the same time, the class stru&&le of serf3
peasant a&ainst landowner+
;risin& from a lac$ of cohesion because of their individual mode of production, and lac$in& also the
ability to maintain an army in the field all year because of harvestin& and family needs, the peasants
were unable to succeed in their revolts+
;s the centuries passed, however, the &rowin& middle class of the towns 7middle because between
the aristocracy and the peasants8, the bur&hers or bour&eoisie, strove for independence from feudal
rule+ ;s trade and manufacture &rew in importance, so too did the bour&eoisie+ ?ut their economic
&rowth and hence their political stren&th, was constantly bloc$ed by the special privile&es of the
nobles and the church 2 which was also one of the &reatest feudal landowners+
The new productive forces introduced in the towns included the system of manufacture 2 that is,
simple co3operative labour in production instead of each individual wor$in& as an independent
producer+ !ost labourin& people, however, were serfs and peasants who were le&ally and
traditionally tied to the land+ To provide labour for manufacture, this connection had to be bro$en,
and was+
;lso, manufacture needed forei&n trade, overseas mar$ets, but feudal economy was closed, more or
less self3sufficient+ Thus the productive forces more and more came into conflict with feudal
restrictions, throu&h which they had to push their way+
1urin& the 16th century capitalism underwent a rapid e"pansion, stimulated by the &reat
e"plorations which vastly e"panded trade and commerce+ The bour&eoisie, enriched by this and by
the slave trade and the development of manufacture, be&an to challen&e the feudal monopoly of
political power+ :n %n&land they placed themselves at the head of the main force of discontented
peasants and town artisans, pressin& for the ri&hts of parliament to determine ta"ation= and in the
1-th century they challen&ed the absolute monarchy+ They overthrew feudalism in two revolutionary
civil wars5 the first, the revolution of 1640 2 164), when they e"ecuted Bharles :, the second in 16((
when a constitutional monarchy was put in place, under control of parliament+
Thus %n&land was the first country to establish capitalism on a national scale+ Dater they were
followed by #rance and all %urope+
Review questions for self-study
1+ .hy are chan&es in the mode of production and e"chan&e decisive for society and for social
chan&es+ 7See %n&els' summary of the principles of historical materialism on pa&es 4 and *8
2+ .hat social relations e"isted between people durin& the epoch of primitive communist societyH
C+ .hat brou&ht about the brea$up of primitive communismH
4+ .hy was slavery a step forward from primitive communismH
*+ .hy was feudalism an advance on slave societyH
6+ >ow did the needs of manufacture lead to the overthrow of feudalism in 164) and 16((H
(4) Capitalism
The &rowth of the bour&eoisie and its power durin& feudal times were accompanied by a forcible
seiFure of peasant lands carried out under a series of %nclosure ;cts datin& from >enry M::, which
enabled bi& landowners to seiFe not only the common land used for pasture, firewood etc+ by small
peasants, but also small3peasant landholdin&s as well+ The dispossessed peasants and their
families were forced either into va&abonda&e, where their lives were forfeit 7>enry M::: had -2,000
hun& for bein& va&abonds8, or into the towns and cities where they became the necessary labour
force re4uired by the urban bour&eoisie for the e"pansion of production in their factories+ Thus, tens
of thousands were turned into urban wa&e3labourers, without whom capitalism could not have &rown
and become the dominant system+
This new class of propertyless urban wor$ers had nothin& to sell but their ability to wor$ and,
deprived of their own means of production, were forced to wor$ for the new capitalist class, the
owners of the means of production+
Mastly increased output and tremendous technolo&ical developments too$ place as a result of the
social production of capitalism replacin& the individual production of feudalism+ :n particular, the
industrial revolution put beyond 4uestion the supremacy of capitalism over all former socio3economic
formations+
The freein& up of the productive forces immediately be&an to have its effect+ #actory production
under one roof developed in ?ritain, then machine industry a&ain e"panded production+ ; $ey role
was played by the te"tile industry, where numerous inventions speeded production, such as the
spinnin& 6enny, Brompton's mule, and the power loom+ .ater power was in due course replaced by
steam power, which ushered in lar&e3scale capitalist machine industry, includin& a heavy industry of
iron, steel and en&ineerin&, boosted by the development of rail transport+ !ar" and %n&els put it thus
in the <Bommunist !anifesto'5 <The bour&eoisie, durin& its rule of scarce one hundred years, has
created more massive and more colossal productive forces than have all preceedin& &enerations
to&ether+ Sub6ection of /ature's forces to man, machinery, application of chemistry to industry and
a&riculture, steam navi&ation, railways, electric tele&raphs, clearin& of whole continents for
cultivation, canalisation of rivers, whole populations con6ured out of the &round 2 what earlier century
had even a presentiment that such productive forces slumbered in the lap of social labourH'7108
The main classes of capitalism are, of course, the capitalists and the wa&e3wor$ers, the proletariat+
The wa&e3wor$er is no lon&er direct property as a slave, nor partial property as a serf+ ?ut still, he is
a wa&e3slave, forced by the economic whip to sell his labour power, uncertain of his future,
producin& immense wealth for capital while bein& confined to wa&es which represent only the cost of
his and his family's up$eep+ ;t any time, as we have seen in /ew 0ealand in the '-0s and '(0s, he
can be sac$ed or, in the bour&eoisie's tender3hearted phrase <made redundant', and forced on to the
dole+ ;t the time of writin& the unemployment rate is about (N of the labour force+ :n ?ritain and
%urope the rate is about 11N+ Ander such conditions &rowin& class stru&&le is inevitable+
Ander capitalism many people do not fall into the cate&ory of employers or wor$ers5 architects,
doctors, small businessmen, wor$in& farmers, small contractors etc+ Those on bi& incomes identify
with the capitalists, but mostly such people form a petty bour&eoisie 2 not wor$ers, but not
e"ploiters+ They do not and cannot play a decisive economic role+ :n industrial capitalism, that is
played by the industrial wor$in& class+
.ith an e"ploitin& and an e"ploited class in /ew 0ealand why has there been no socialist revolution
as in some other countriesH This 4uestion is considered in a later pamphlet on <:mperialism'+
/evertheless, the sharpenin& of the class stru&&le is on the a&enda in all capitalist countries+ Just as
slavery had to &ive way to feudalism and feudalism to capitalism, so does capitalism have to &ive
way to socialism, a system in which the private ownership of the means of production is replaced by
social ownership+ #or the fundamental contradiction of capitalism is that between the social
character of production and the private character of appropriation+
There is a fundamental contradictionO underlyin& the social production relations which form the basis
of the capitalist system+ On the one hand, in modern industry, production is social+ :t is carried on
socially, with thousands and sometimes tens of thousands of wa&e wor$ers whose labour is
interdependent 7in multinationals fre4uently involvin& a number of different countries8 and whose
productive activities are meshed to produce a sin&le mar$etable product such as an automobile+
On the other hand, the producers do not own the product+ This is appropriated by the owners of the
means of production, whose wealth increases even while their numbers decrease+ Thus, there is an
insoluble economic contradiction between social production and private appropriation+ :t is not
difficult for the producers 2 the wa&e3wor$ers 2 to see how to solve this contradiction, that is, how to
turn private appropriation into the social appropriation which social production demands+ :t is done
by placin& the means of production under social ownership by nationalisin& them under a system of
wor$in&3class rule+ :n a word, by transformin& capitalism into socialism+
This is not to say that it is 6ust a matter of passin& a few laws+ !odern history shows that the bi&
capitalists will fi&ht with all the means in their power 2 ideolo&ical as well as material 2 a&ainst even
the possibility of socialist transformation, for the victory of socialism means an end to their e"istence
as a rulin& and e"ploitin& class, alon& with all their power and privile&es+
The socialist transformation is therefore a matter of lon&3term class stru&&le, of carryin& the socialist
revolution ri&ht to the end, which is the content of !ao Tse3tun&'s <theory of continued revolution
under the dictatorship of the proletariat, an important modern development of !ar"ist theory+'
The basic stimulus to the development of production under capitalism is the hunt for profit+ This is
the motive that drives the capitalists to improve machinery and methods of production in both
industry and a&riculture+ ?ut the <free competition' between capitalists that prevailed in the 1)th
century inevitably turned into monopoly capitalism from the turn of the century as the successful
capitalists defeated their rivals or mer&ed with them+
!onopoly capitalism is the main essential feature of present3day imperialism, the hi&hest sta&e of
capitalism+ !onopoly itself holds bac$ and hinders the development of the productive forces+ %ven
under imperialism, however, competition is not wholly abolished, and in certain non3cartelised
spheres, international monopolistic competition is very sharp+
Mast and increasin& numbers of wor$ers wor$ to&ether in a continually decreasin& number of
enterprises= the wealth created by the wor$ers is appropriated by fewer and fewer people+ Denin
points out5 <The socialisation of labour by capitalist production does not at all consist in people
wor$in& under one roof 7that is only a small part of the process8, but in the concentration of capital
bein& accompanied by the specialisation of social labour, by a decrease of the number of capitalists
in each &iven branch of industry and an increase in the number of separate branches of industry 2 in
many separate production processes bein& mer&ed into one social production process+'7118
1o we not see throu&hout the capitalist world 2 and we do not even need to &o past little /ew
0ealand 2 hu&e con&lomerates consistin& of pyramids of enterprises daily ta$in& over new ones, so
that to trace the real master of some insi&nificant company is li$e tracin& one's &enealo&y bac$ to a
distant ancestorH ;nd every hu&e monopoly concern has doFens, if not hundreds 79eneral !otors
and Toyota have hundreds8 of sub3contractors dependent upon them, specialisin& in particular
products that &o to ma$e up the final product, which belon&s to the small class of monopoly owners
of the means of production+
>ence the ever sharpenin& contradiction between social production and private appropriation, which
inevitably leads to recessions and to ma6or economic crises+ #or in the hunt for the hi&hest possible
profits the capitalists $eep the masses of wa&e3earners to the lowest wa&es possible+ ?ut it is the
purchasin& power of the masses that forms the main mar$et for capitalist production+ Thus, crises of
overproduction become inevitable+ Suddenly, it turns out that far more &oods have been produced
than can be sold+ !illions of wor$ers are forced into unemployment, factories shut up shop and
productive forces are destroyed+ Such crises form the economic basis of social revolution+
Bapitalist relations of production no lon&er correspond to the advanced productive forces+ Socialised
production and labour are in ever3&reater conflict with private appropriation of what is produced+
Only the most advanced class of society, the wor$in& class, can further the development of the
productive forces by carryin& out a revolution and a transition to socialist society+
:t may be said5 Eussia and Bhina achieved socialism, but today they have restored capitalism+ 1oes
this not show that capitalism is a superior systemH !ore is said on this sub6ect in another section,
but we must here answer5 no= capitalism is outmoded, and there is nothin& whatever wron& with
socialism+ :t had immense achievements to its credit in both countries, and those in the face of
unbelievable difficulties+ ?ut e"perience has shown that capitalism is a subtle, cunnin& and
inveterate enemy of socialism and the wor$in& class+ The capitalists were able to ma$e a comebac$
in both countries throu&h the emer&ence 3stran&e as it seems 2 of a new bour&eoisie consistin& of
privile&ed, more hi&hly paid bureaucrats, corrupted Party cadres, administrators, mana&ers and
professional people, separated from physical labour and standin& above the mass of the wor$ers+
?our&eois ideolo&y too, made a comebac$, not openly, but deceptively, still callin& itself !ar"ism3
Deninism+ The Bommunist Parties in those countries came under the control of the new bour&eoisie
and too$ the road of restorin& capitalism+ :s this course inevitable in future revolutionsH /ot at all+ :t
is possible, once one is aware of the dan&ers, to avoid them+ The wor$in& class is undoubtedly
capable of learnin& to do this, and should on no account allow itself to fall prey to pessimism as to
the future+
;n understandin& of historical materialism is of &reat importance to a !ar"ist3Deninist, wor$in&3class
party+ :f a party's pro&ramme and policy are to be correct, they must be based on an understandin&
of the laws of the development of society+ .ithout a $nowled&e of these and ability to apply them, it
will be &ropin& in the dar$, unable to answer the problems arisin& in the class stru&&le, the problems
of socialist revolution and those of socialist construction+
(5) Socialism
!ar" in his political and economic writin&s 7which battalions of bour&eois scholars are annually paid
millions to try to refute8, &ave a brilliant e"ample of the application of historical materialism to the
socio3economic formation of capitalism, particularly in his &reat C3volume wor$, <Bapital'+ 9ivin& a
short but profound summary of !ar"'s teachin&s in an essay entitled <arl !ar"', the &reat
revolutionary leader M+:+Denin wrote in the section headed <Socialism'5
<:t is evident that !ar" deduces the inevitability of the transformation of capitalist society wholly and
e"clusively from the economic law of motion of contemporary society+ The socialisation of labour,
which is advancin& ever more rapidly in thousands of forms, and which has manifested itself very
stri$in&ly durin& the half3century that has elapsed since the death of !ar" in the &rowth of lar&e3
scale production, capitalist cartels, syndicates and trusts, as well as in the &i&antic increase in the
dimensions and power of finance capital, forms the chief material foundation for the inevitable
comin& of socialism+ The intellectual and moral drivin& force and the physical e"ecutant of this
transformation is the proletariat, which is trained by capitalism itself+ The stru&&le of the proletariat
a&ainst the bour&eoisie, which manifests itself in various and, as to its content, increasin&ly
multifarious forms, inevitably becomes a political stru&&le aimin& at the con4uest of political power
by the proletariat 7<the dictatorship of the proletariat'8+ The socialisation of production is bound to lead
to the conversion of the means of production into the property of society, to the <e"propriation of the
e"propriators'+ This conversion will directly result in an immense increase in productivity of labour, a
reduction of wor$in& hours, and the replacement of the remnants, the ruins of small3scale, primitive,
disunited production by collective and improved labour+'7128
The 1)1- socialist revolution too$ place only 4 years after Denin had written these words+ !ore or
less e"actly what Denin had indicated too$ place+ #irst, revolutionary overthrow of capitalism by the
proletariat+ Then despite the immense destruction of productive forces by C years of .orld .ar : and
another C years of civil war, followed by a capitalist embar&o and encirclement, Eussia reduced her
wor$in& hours, enormously e"panded production and abolished capitalist e"ploitation+ ;ll this was
done under the protective win& of <the dictatorship of the proletariat'+ 7See the pamphlet in this series
entitled <The State and the Stru&&le for Socialism'8+ .hile capitalism lan&uished in depression from
1)2)31)C*, with mass unemployment and actual starvation in the richest countries, the Soviet Anion
for&ed ahead with -3lea&ue strides+ !illions of toilers throu&hout the world found hope and
inspiration for the first time in their lives in the victories of socialist construction in Eussia, showin&
them concretely that wor$ers everywhere could put an end to capitalist e"ploitation and oppression+
!ar"ism was no lon&er a theory+ :t was a proven fact+ Socialism not only wor$ed+ :t was a social
system which for the first time wor$ed for the benefit of the mass of the people, not 6ust for a small
minority class of e"ploiters+
1isre&ardin& for the present the precise means by which capitalism re&ained power in Eussia from
the time of hrushchev on, and in Bhina li$ewise from the time of the coup d'etat followin& !ao's
death in 1)-6, we can say that the socialist mode of production proved itself immensely superior to
all previous modes+
The &reatest test of a social order, of all its human and material resources, is war+ The fact is that
from a state of terrible bac$wardness before 1)1-, Eussia under socialism advanced so effectively
in all spheres that it was able to defeat the most powerful war machine $nown to history, that of /aFi
9ermany+
The monstrous suppression and distortion of the history and achievements of socialism by the
political, academic, 6ournalistic and other ideolo&ical servants of imperialism is typified in many
countries 2 includin& /ew 0ealand 2 by the fact that the vast ma6ority of today's youn& people are
not even aware that the A+S+S+E+ participated in .orld .ar ::, while the names of !ar" and Denin
are scarcely $nown, let alone their wor$s read+ :t is one of the ma6or tas$s of any party claimin& to be
!ar"ist3Deninist to combat this falsification of history and to ac4uaint people with the basic ideas of
!ar"ism3Deninism, proletarian ideolo&y+
:n this epoch, the class stru&&le of wor$ers a&ainst capitalists is closely, in fact indissolubly, lin$ed
with the national liberation stru&&le of the oppressed peoples to free themselves from imperialist
domination+ .e saw this in action in the stru&&le a&ainst the imperialist invaders and oppressors of
Miet /am 2 which included capitalist /ew 0ealand+
/ew 0ealand may be a small country, but it has a capitalist mode of production, with developed
capitalist production relations+ >ence it is economically ripe for socialism+ Blass stru&&le and the
be&innin&s of revolutionary stru&&le are therefore on the a&enda for the /ew 0ealand wor$in&
people+ They are inseparable from the international movement of the wor$in& class towards
socialism+ The study of historical materialism shows that capitalism has lon& outlived its usefulness
to man as a socio3economic formation+ :ts continued e"istence represents an immense threat to a
human future for man$ind+
Eeview 4uestions for self3study
1+ .hat is the fundamental contradiction of capitalism, and what connection has this contradiction
with economic crisesH
2+ :n what way does this contradiction undermine the stability of capitalism and the capitalist classH
C+ .hy is an understandin& of historical materialism vital to a !ar"ist3Deninist wor$in&3class partyH
4+ .hy did !ar" and Denin re&ard socialism as inevitableH
*+ >ow was it that the Soviet armed forces were able to hurl bac$ and defeat the /aFi 9erman
invaders in .orld .ar 2H
People and Objective Laws
Societies, of course, are composed of people and have to be chan&ed by the actions of people+ ?ut
people are by no means free a&ents in determinin& what sort of society they are born into+ !ar" was
the first to draw attention to the decisive role played by the material basis on which societies &row
up+ :n his previously34uoted <Detter to ;nnen$ov,' he writes5
<!en are not free arbiters of their productive forces 2 which are the basis of all their history 2 for
every productive force is an ac4uired force, the product of former activityG ?ecause of the simple
fact that every succeedin& &eneration finds itself in possession of the productive forces ac4uired by
the precedin& &eneration, which serve it as the raw material for new production, a coherence arises
in human history, there is formed a history of humanity which is all the more a history of humanity
since the productive forces of man, and therefore his social relations have become more
developedG Their Jmen'sL material relations form the basis of all their relations+'
!ar" e"pounded aspects of historical materialism in nearly all his boo$s and many of his letters+ :n
his <Preface to the Briti4ue of Political %conomy' he &ives the essence of historical materialism its
classical, scientific formulation+ 1espite its len&th, because of its importance it is necessary to 4uote
it here5
<:n the social production of their life, men enter into definite relations that are indispensable and
independent of their will, relations of production which correspond to a definite sta&e of development
of their material productive forces+ The sum total of these relations of production constitutes the
economic structure of society, the real foundation, on which rises a le&al and political superstructure
and to which correspond definite forms of social consciousness+ The mode of production of material
life conditions the social, political and intellectual life process in &eneral+ :t is not the consciousness
of men that determines their bein&, but, on the contrary, their social bein& that determines their
consciousness+ ;t a certain sta&e of their development, the material productive forces of society
come in conflict with the e"istin& relations of production, or 2 what is but a le&al e"pression for the
same thin& 2 with the property relations within which they have been at wor$ hitherto+ #rom forms of
development of the productive forces these relations turn into their fetters+ Then be&ins an epoch of
social revolution+ .ith the chan&e of the economic foundation the entire immense superstructure is
more or less rapidly transformed+ :n considerin& such transformations a distinction should always be
made between the material transformation of the economic conditions of production, which can be
determined with the precision of natural science, and the le&al, political, reli&ious, aesthetic or
philosophic 2 in short, ideolo&ical forms in which men become conscious of this conflict and fi&ht it
out+ Just as our opinion of an individual is not based on what he thin$s of himself, so can we not
6ud&e of such a period of transformation by its own consciousness= on the contrary, this
consciousness must be e"plained rather from the contradictions of material life, from the e"istin&
conflict between the social productive forces and the relations of production+ /o social order ever
perishes before all the productive forces for which there is room in it have developed= and new,
hi&her relations of production never appear before the material conditions of their e"istence have
matured in the womb of the old society itself+ Therefore man$ind always sets itself only such tas$s
as it can solve= since, loo$in& at the matter more closely, it will always be found that the tas$ itself
arises only when the material conditions for its solution already e"ist or are at least in the process of
formation+' 71C8
This is &iven some further e"planation in the ne"t two to three pa&es+ One thin& only we should note
here, that when the <economic basis' of society is spo$en of, it does not include the productive
forces, only the production relations+ The productive forces are part of the mode of production, alon&
with the production relations+
.e must touch briefly here on the role of ideas+ !ind, consciousness, has a very important part to
play in the transformation of society+ Pro&ressive ideas for basic social chan&e reflect the fact that
the relations of production are already holdin& bac$ the further development of the productive forces+
.hile the laws of development of society are independent of man's will, and social transformations
are inevitable, it by no means follows that man only has to sit on his hands and await the inevitable+
The difference between laws of nature and social laws of development is that the latter operate not
throu&h inanimate matter but throu&h the actions of people in and on society+ Socialism is inevitable+
?ut whether it comes in our lifetimes or *00 years hence is a matter of how much people desire it
and are willin& to stru&&le for it+ The 4uestion of active wor$ to brin& socialist consciousness to the
wor$in& class and the masses is decisive in this+ >ence the need for a &enuinely !ar"ist3Deninist
party+
Common Features of Diferent Social
Systems
:n the fore&oin& s$etch of development we have spo$en of Primitive Bommunism, Slavery,
#eudalism, Bapitalism and Socialism+ %ach of these social systems consists, li$e a buildin&, of two
closely connected parts, a <basis' and a <superstructure'+ Det us e"plain these parts further+
:t is a common feature of human society in all periods of history that it can only e"ist by producin&
the necessities of life, such as food, clothin& and shelter+ :n this very process of producin&, people
willy3nilly form definite relationships+ These are called <relations of production' or, more briefly,
<production relations,' and they concern how people stand towards the means of production= whether
they own them in common, as under Bommunism, or whether one class owns them and can thus
e"ploit another class as under slavery, feudalism and capitalism+
.hatever the epoch, these production relations form the foundation, the basis or economic structure
of society+ Ander communism, primitive or advanced, the basis is classless, because the means of
production are socially owned+ Ander slavery, the basis is the dominant production relations of
slaveowners to slaves= under feudalism, it is those of feudal lords to serfs, and under capitalism,
those of capitalists to wor$ers+
/o country has reached the sta&e of advanced communism, which is based on infinitely more
advanced productive forces than those of primitive communism+ ;ll that has e"isted so far until the
comebac$ of capitalism under hrushchev in Eussia and 1en& Piaopin& in Bhina, has been the
lower sta&e of socialism+ 1urin& this period 2 a len&thy one, the tas$ is to create an economy of
abundance and people capable of overcomin& the me3first ideolo&y of capitalism+ ;ccordin&ly, the
principles enunciated by arl !ar" distin&uishin& the lower from the hi&her sta&e of communism are5
under socialism, from each accordin& to his ability, to each accordin& to his wor$= under the
advanced sta&e of communism5 from each accordin& to his ability, to each accordin& to his needs+
The production relations of each epoch necessarily correspond to a certain level of the productive
forces at society's disposal which, as we have already seen, consists of people with their production
s$ills plus the tools or instruments of production+ ;s !ar" succinctly puts it5 <The hand3mill &ives you
society with the feudal lord= the steam3mill society with the industrial capitalist+'7148
On the economic basis 7the relations of production8 a set of political and le&al institutions &rows up
called the superstructure+ :t includes different $inds of &overnin& bodies 2 democratic assemblies or
monarch's courts, for instance= the state with its armed forces, police and law courts= churches,
academies and so on+ ; set of ideas in re&ard to politics, reli&ion, law, art and culture, etc+ also
&rows up which forms an ideolo&ical superstructure as part of the whole+ The purpose of the
superstructure is to reinforce the basis+ #or instance, the monarchy was an institution of feudalism
which protected and reinforced the landownin& ri&hts of the nobility a&ainst the peasants, while the
idea of the 1ivine Ei&ht of in&s &ave further 7ideolo&ical8 reinforcement+ Similarly, under capitalism
the courts protect private property+ This is because capitalism is based on private property+ The idea
of the Eule of Daw 7which happens to be bour&eois law, of course8 &ives ideolo&ical reinforcement+
The most decisive institution of the superstructure and the principal one on which the political power
of a rulin& class rests, is the state+ :n the imperialist sta&e of capitalism the monopoly capitalists
have created a hu&e military3bureaucratic state machine as an instrument of suppression+ :n
classless society there will be no state, for there will be no classes to suppress+
Ander capitalism different political parties may be elected to office in <democracies'+ They may ma$e
some reforms, but they cannot and do not ma$e any fundamental chan&e to the basis+ #or that,
somethin& very different is needed 2 a revolution+ <Dabour 9overnments' come and &o+ ?ut the
capitalist basis remains+
:n the physical world surroundin& us or, as it is called, /ature, and in human society and human
thou&ht as well, chan&e and development ta$e place as a result of constant stru&&les between
opposin& tendencies or forces, i+e+, opposites+ Such opposites are called <contradictions'+ ;nd in
human society the basic contradiction is that between the productive forces and the production
relations+ :t is this contradiction that is the motive force which pushes forward the development of
society+ :n a class3divided society such as capitalism the basic contradiction manifests itself as a
stru&&le between classes+
/ew relations of production when they are established assist the productive forces to develop, but in
time they become a barrier to the further &rowth of the latter+ ; conflict between the two develops
and &rows sharper until a point is reached where it culminates in a social revolution, when the old
production relations are overthrown and replaced by new ones and society is reconstituted on a new
basis+ The old superstructure then under&oes bi& chan&es to brin& it into line with the new basis+

Laws of Historical Materialism
.e can now sum up by outlinin& the followin& laws5
1+ The law of contradiction between the productive forces and the relations of production+
The operation of this law brin&s about the transformation of one socio3economic formation into
another throu&h the sharpenin& of this contradiction+ :t is the basic law of social development+ :n
class3divided society it is e"pressed by the stru&&le between opposed classes+
2+ The law of basis and superstructure+
%very social system consists of an economic basis and a superstructure which is erected upon it+ ;
fundamental chan&e in a social system ta$es place when a social revolution chan&es the basis and
then proceeds to chan&e the superstructure+
C+ The law of class stru&&le+
:n a class3divided society the underlyin& economic contradictions are e"pressed in society as a class
stru&&le, which is the motive force of social development+ The sharpenin& of this stru&&le brin&s
about a social revolution+
;s can be seen, these are &eneral laws, not laws solely applicable to capitalist society+
The materialist conception of history is a scientific viewpoint which shows history as a law3&overned
process of development+ :t is the only scientific view of history+ :t demonstrates that the main ideas in
society, whether in politics, culture or social life, are determined by the mode of production prevailin&
in it, and not vice3versa+
This conception for the first time places history on a proper foundation, showin& the mass of the
people as the real ma$ers of history+ :t is they throu&hout history who have maintained society by
their productive wor$= it is they who in earlier &enerations have been the principal a&ent, alon& with
scientific e"periment, in improvin& the instruments of production= and it is they who advance society
throu&h their actions in class stru&&le+ :t is beyond doubt that that stru&&le will lead, here and
elsewhere, to a new, socialist society+
Eeview 4uestions for self3study
1+ .hat is the role of ideas in societyH
2+ .hat is the connection between the level of the productive forces of society and the prevailin&
relations between people in societyH
/OT%S
718 !ar"3%n&els <Theses on #euerbach' /o+P:+ Selected .or$s Mol ::+ #orei&n Dan&ua&es Publishin&
>ouse, !oscow, 1)*1, p C6-+
728 :bid+ <Speech at the 9raveside of arl !ar"' p1*C+
7C8 :bid+ %n&els+ <Socialism, Atopian and Scientific'Section :::, p12*+
748 :bid+ <!ar" to P+M+ ;nne$ov, 1ecember 2(, 1(46' p402+
7*8 %n&els+ <;nti31uhrin&' 7Part ::, :M= The #orce Theory5 Bonclusion8 +p21)+ 1)-- Printin&, Pro&ress
Publishers, !oscow+
768 %n&els+ <Ori&in of the #amily, Private Property and the State' !ar"3%n&els Sel+ .$s+ Mol :: p2-(+
7-8 %n&els+ <;nti31uhrin&' pp 22132+
7(8 :bid+ p221+
7)8 %n&els+ <Ori&in of the #amily' etc+ p2-C
7108 !ar"3%n&els+ <!anifesto of the Bommunist Party' Sel+ .or$s Mol+: pC-+
7118 Denin+ <.hat the #riends of the People ;re' Bollected .or$s, Mol+ :, pp1-*36+
7128 Denin+ <arl !ar"', Pamphlet= #orei&n Dan&ua&es Press, Pe$in&, 1)-0,ppC*36+
71C8 !ar"+ <Preface to ; Bontribution to the Briti4ue of Political %conomy+' !ar"3%n&els Sel+ .$s+,
Mol+1 ppC2(3C2)+
7148 !ar"+ <The Poverty of Philosophy' Bhapter ::+ <The !etaphysics of Political %conomy 5 Second
Observation+' #orei&n Dan&ua&es Publishin& >ouse !oscow+ p122+
O ?y contradiction we mean a <unity of opposites', i+e+, a unity of opposed tendencies or forces within
thin&s and processes, the stru&&le between which leads to their motion and development+ 7!uch
more is said on this basic idea in philosophy in a later pamphlet in this series, entitled <1ialectical
!aterialism'+
;dditional readin& for further self3study
1+ #rederic$ %n&els5 <Socialism, Atopian and Scientific'+ The best short e"position+
2+ arl !ar" 7with %n&els85 <The Bommunist !anifesto'+
C+ Denin5 <The State'+ ; lecture delivered at the Sverdlov Aniversity in 1)1)+
4+ Denin5 <arl !ar"'+ ; brief but profound bio&raphical s$etch+