What is the communist definition of history?

Answer 1

Marx's approach to history is just that--an approach. History is still history, but his perspective is in some ways similar to that of religious groups, in that they all view history as a progress toward some better future state. For the religious people, it is the Second Coming. For Marx, it is the future communist state in which everyone would give according to their abilities and receive according to their needs. The second defining characteristic of Marx's views on history is that he defined the processes of history as dialectic: that one state of things gives rise to an antithesis, and the result of their conflict creates a new state of things. The third and final defining characteristic of Marx's historical views is that he analyzed history primarily (if not exclusively) on the basis of economics. He turned away from the notion of history as the acts of great men and looked instead at who controlled the wealth and means of production, and the classes of society which resulted from economic changes in society. In this respect, Marx's analysis continues to be extremely useful and helpful in our understanding of how things happen in the world.