Section I: The Materialistic Conception of History as a General Theory

By their materialistic conception Marx and Engels intended to establish an entirely new method of historical research and interpretation. Their whole theory may be reduced to the following four simple statements:

1. There is no dualism of spirit and matter.

2. In the social relations and institutions of man there is nothing immutable; everything is subject to a constant process of change.

3. In this constant change production and the exchange of products are the determining and decisive factors.

4. Social development is effected by the formation of economic contrasts and class struggles.

These statements will be examined in turn.¹

¹ Cf. Masaryk, Die Grundlagen des Marxismus (Vienna, 1899); Stammler, Wirtschaft und Recht (Leipzig, 1896); Woltmann, Der historische Materialismus (Düsseldorf, 1900); Friedländer, Die vier Hauptrichtungen der modernen sozialen Bewegung, P. I. Marxismus und Anarchismus (Berlin, 1901), etc.