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f'.r,
World History:
Studies by Soviet Scholars (1)
I.Zhukov
I
J
Methodology
of History
\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
PIOTROVSKY B . B. ,
Academ ic ian
PRilfA.KOV E.M. ,
Acad emic ian
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 . )
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 . )
121002, USSR
INTRODUCTION
CONTENTS
z. Udaltsova
Section I.
Introduction
fic Discipline
HistorY as a Scienti
cal Science
The Subject of Histori
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
12
lif'e. He was awarded the Karl Marx Gold Medal of the USSR
1??.
Conclusion.
on
191
ratory
The Researcher's Labo
The Historical Source
Soci al Revolutions
Periodisation
tory-into Periods (the
The Di.vision of His
of History)
cal Process
e of the World Histori
Section II. The Law
torical Laws
sociological and liis
173
1E!
1 95;
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
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
-. 6 -
consequently,
- 7 -
it is a
doctrinae
do
.not coincide,
are diverse
struc
tory.
to explain it.
lower to the
r
- 9 -
Section I.
oc::r:zlaa
of history,
phenomena.
a kno wl edge
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
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
- 11 -
"
Marx wrote:
individuals produce,
which he exists.
process.
returned to
perfection.
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
consciousness.
social
or
Lenin
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
- 12 -
- 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 -
sideraion of
tent.
The united
march
Marxist his
Receiving its
It
laws.
- 15 -
It is impossible
i.
goal.
The scholars ad
Solidarity with
man
activity of social
of economic determinism of
An individual
Their aspirations
clash, and for that very reason all such societies are go
verned by necessity, the complement and form of appearance
f\lrther advance.
of which is accident.
cessity...
to.
- 16 -
I,
r
I
of the curve, you will find that this axis runs more and
taining them.
lities.
- 17 -
If the choice
Jl.arx wrote:
"World
These accidents
But acceleration
.;. 18 -
- 19 -
Being
nomena.
..
The ob
changed.
Stones
- 20 -
of society
In the later historical per iods any object which the scho
lar happens to deal with is in no lesser degree subject to
- 21 -
And this
stage of organisation.
The exceptional
1969, P
Vol. 1, Moscow,
503.
487
7 K.
Marx and F. Engels, The German Ideology, Moscow, 1968,
8
9
28.
10
11
23
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
- 24 -
'
he
ness"
in
that is,
which should in no
The
above all,
the first
its objective se
que" situations,
at first
unknown sources.
of course,
factor.
It should be.
- 26 -
- 27 -
research.
1Q!:
the historical method which helps find the stable and reli
able "starting point s " and a correct path in the labyrinth
- 28 -
come s acro s s .
Neverthe le s s ,
irre spective of . he
speak about " systems analysi s " whi ch i s int erpre t e d , how
eve r ,
in their
unity.
- 30 -
sys
s chemat i c approach t o
Com
histori c al proce s s ,
In
- 31 -
machine language .
The
and
prices ,
etc .
just like
notably texts,
- 32 -
in this case ) ,
n 16
integral cha
racter and have a common trend. In all cases their main task
- 33 -
rians being unable for quite a long time to prove the vali
aa
archae
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 .
.
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
Lenin trenchant
- 38 -
- 39 -
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 ,
to another
Iri
- 40 -
- 41 -
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 -
Some
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 ,
and
O:t
"Unddubtedly ,
in thi s part i cu
value s . No t a t all . A s a
man
- 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
ry as such.
gical c onclusions .
hi s t o ry and the " so cial scienc e s " was that both c ould b e
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
class problems in hi s t o ri
aspe c t .
German hi storian The odor Schi e d e r . He c ont ends that only the
Papand opoulo s .
" T he r e
inf o rma t i on ,
c omput e r s ,
- 46 -
- 47 -
the non-hi stori cal notion about the exi stence of " e ternal
ing the e conomi st s : The very word ' mode l ' has become vogu
ral phenomena , the worl d of man was for the first t ime s tu
For the hu
nalism in int erpret ing and asse s sing social pro c e s s e s , sig
- 48 -
- 49 -
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
enc e of hist ory examine s factual dat a , above all , from the
ans that the his tori cal pro c e ss was not only unknowable ,
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
way challenging the exi s t ence of the whole . And though every
words : "The human past wil l not be taken t o have been a sing
different standpoint s .
- 50 -
ft
PM*'
- 51 -
stat e . J . Topolski rightly remarks that "to this day Lenin ' s
structures are but element s . That method does not allow for
man
- 52 -
cept e c onomic s only as "one of the - fac t o rs " that shape the
positivi st charact er .
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
'---
- 55 -
!!2.m
1
should not be difficult to see .that Jaspers ' "axial time s " ,
the existence of which he substantiat e s from. purely idea
( in Russian ) .
p . 420 .
8
10
- '5 6 -
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 -
Section II.
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 .
In Thucydides and
'
Montes
". 1
However,
limited.
Historical
quantities
of
- 59 -
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
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
" 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
- 60 -
d eve lopment .
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
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 -
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
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.
- 62 -
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 -
At
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
i sm.
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.
w ithin comparat ively short per iods of time, and are formed
laws ( both the more .general and the more specific) mey be
relat ions between the general, the particular, and the ind i
vidual.
at ion.
cal laws.
cess.
Their "na
nomic organisation.
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".
- 65 -
ment.
, 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
the other.
The view
is , in
as a whole
historical in nature
The dis
aws,
of smaller
- 66 -
, 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.
for
the perspect ives
and general isations.
and te law-governed are the cr iter ion for sele c t ing the
fac t s in a histor ical study .
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.
also be comple tely versed in the his tor iographic her i tage o f
h i s area of :re search.
As
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
a permanent law.
Any
historical development.
dictory.
is;
It follows
ventional.
-development .
be understood simplistically.
relations.
laws.
14arxist historiography.
They distort
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 .
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 .
al interconnec t ion between the o Dj ect ive and the subj e c t ive
But s o c i e ty d oe s
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
for c e s .
In
d i fferen t h i s torical
content .
- 7 -;, -
lj
- 7 2
be ing
T he d ivers i ty
the subj e c t ive fac tor , and act ivise and strengthen it .
ie i a c t ivi ty helps e s
all.
tor i cal cond i t ions may e i t her s low down or ac c e le rate the
therefore ,
r.
t
aims 0 1 6
pursuing his
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
It
Polybio .
s ire for co gn i s ing t he laws o f human soc ial con duc t pr imar i
transforming forc e .
I t i s also no t ewor thy that many Wes tern histor ians , who
re alise at the same t ime that any seri ous s c ient ific analys
had observe d ,
pretat ion and tto general isat ion of concrete his tor ical ma
in hi st ory .
European
as
fully in a s i tuat ion where the role of the subj ect ive fac t
ter ials .
or is constantly growing ,
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
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
At
t he same t ime And erle no tes that the " theore t ical hi s to ry"
Out
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 -
- 74 .-
20
in
'f
- 75 -
But he was .
compelle d to re cognise ,
that are be ing re legated to his t ory t o the progre s s ive and
o f all expres s e d i n the ac t ivity o f pro gress ive soc ial for
ces .
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
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 .
pas t and t he pre s en t , re gard ing t o day as the con t inuat ion
of yest erday .
the law o f
P 7 .
- 76 -
C lass s trug-
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.
21 Ib i d . , p .
659.
22 I
b id . ' P
666 .
K.
p.
R.
2 3 P.
365-366 .
I b i d . , pp .
Mousn ier ,
48 , No .
4 , pp .
17 , p.
Fran t s e v ,
11
p.
1 6 ( in Rus s i an ) .
1 , p.
1 40 .
G.
Zur Fraga d er
1 97 2 p .
15
16
17
19
1"969 , p .
ihre Fe in d e ,
1 1 4.
38 , p . 1 51 .
18
1 5.
I b i d . , P
1 9.64 , Vo l .
4 , No .
1 , p.
55.
44.
Vo l . XI , P
67 3 .
- 78 -
1 96 6 ,
1 95 5 .
M. Wh i t e ,
1 9 63.
3,
485- 48 6 .
P . N. Fe d o s eyev , Yu. P.
1 964 ,
24
25
21 5.
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.
London ,
p.
1 32 .
superstructure .
and of the p eople generally. From thi s follows the inevit able
- 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
of the
instance , this passage in Capital : "What ever the soc ial form.
rence ..
it is highly dynamic .
increasingly unequal , the gap between the rich and the poor
- 82 1:
g::
" own"
In
victorious invador
to man as if his ends are taken from out side the world, and
11
hi story is tantamount
Once a
- 85 -
struc ture .
Differences within one and the same ant agoni stic for-
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 .
illogical
- 86 -
- 87 -
"new era " , that i s , aft er the 1 6th century, in India and
Chixia
Kost of the
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
,_,,!_
"''''-'''-'m'il''2'\l7XZ:4Gh
...
dology can only pose this question: is the concept ' forma
researcher have a s et of
five-rung formula .
Bor can we put up with att empts to regard slave-owning
ductioJl.
traoe the development of format ions and help solve the basic
social relations .
Opponents of the five-rung formula usually argue that
.!!!
the attribut es
Bllt hi st ory
should dif
- 91 -
- 90 - .
f'
,
'.
\
..
\""
"
FCT
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
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
ideological
ceses . OD.e need onl7 aent ion the influence of world reli
Chr:l.tiani t7, Ialaa, Buddhiam...
gions i
prim:Uv
of b. ma tura
grea ter i
th
iJl:tluace
. - 9 2 -.;.: :
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
- 93 -
econoaic . conditi
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
wi 1;hout wars of conquest ' att ended by cruel "hunt for :people".
with the ext ernal enviroment . !his can lead to the emer
formation result ing from. the clash of the given soci ety
eudal int erneDine strife was the "norm" of politi cal rela
tic stat es , their rivalry was resolved in long bloody cam
social ,
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
especially,
ress ive ,
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
: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 ,
warl! ,
- 94 -
in :f'u.ll conformi ty w i th
- 95 -
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
direct bear
degree of org&Di
In
aid.ti es .
il!!llll. Where the world. class and its party, the revolution
ary vanguard , 1- guided by llarx:Lst-Leninist theory .and makes
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.
3 Ibid . ,
volutionary process.
4 x.
PP .1 37-138.
Kar.z: ,
- 98 -
- 99 -
""'"'
H,, ,
..
,_,, ,,,,,., ,.
..
.., --- --
,.,,,,,,....
,......
,,,.,,,., .,
.,, ., ,,,, ,.
., ,.,.,._,,,,,., ,.,,,.,,,,,
,
,,.,,
.,.,,.,.,.,,,_,,
5
6
7 K. 11arx and F.
Enge ls , '
Vol. 1 9 , p . 476 ..
Ellg e la ,
( 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 .
1 910 , p . 497 .
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,
1'
pd the Specifi c
elltal O!Ui!t r:le s .
Toke i ,
-, .
1 977 .
17
Hbt ory,
r:l.e
Zur !l'heo
of Ori
Issue 225 , lhiloaoppi,cal Btudie Vol. XII , 1 969 , PP 1 471 48 (in Russian) .
1 8 w ..
CfH9hahaftatomtionen,
19
20
V.I
..
act ions not involving the broad mass of the population can
al revoluti ons ;
An4
c onst i
- 1 02 -
p ro c e s s of
c)
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 ,
the analysi s o f the obj e c t ive state of affairs and the ob-
- 1 03 -
the . concepts "obj ective conditions" and " subj ective factor" .
- 1 04 -
- 105 -
..
emergent
however.
of
the art ific ial imp ediment of the growth of the product ive
frces manife st e d i t self ;
i.e. ,
ed ,
the
indisputab
ly ,
not
exploit er
of course \
t ime .
mitive society.
produc ti on .
It i s abolished ,
negat e d ,
- 1 06
feudal f o rmation on
ge l s point ed out
there
The a t t empt s t o
I
f
l
j
!
the
.
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 .
- 1 01 -
ly . There is the saying that with the end of the slave -own
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
- 1 08 -
- 1 09 -
""
Of course ,
ertain
part
peasant s appears ,
format ion .
The slave
The feudal
socio-economic format i on ,
./
of
Capi
ari se before
not , however ,
Thi s was
proved
able to pass direct ly to fedali sm. only and pre c i sely becau
se
scal e .
- 1 10 -
sand. years .
than a thou
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
Taken in
' c onsum
mati on ' ,
i.e. ,
for example ,
doe s not
In thi s sense ,
the
its
capable of en
if you like ,
But
it means a p art i
one o f
us say ,
in 1 794 , without ,
however ,
let
to ci t a Lenin .
They differ
when all
The cycle
as we see from Le
capit ali st
- 111 -
de
socio-ec onomic
i.e. ,
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
it . Politi cal power pas s e s int o the hands o1' new social for
- 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
of exp
it must be admit
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
t y come s t o
capitali sm to sociali sm ,
is
so
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
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
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
hisory confirming ,
newly ari sen bourgeoi s relations with feudal- serf and even
slave-owning relations .
- 1 14 -
_...___________
- 115 -
'
A feature of the initial phase of any social revolut i on ,
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
sort e d to arms .
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
- 1 16 ti
...._
an
from their basic poli cy , have the right to render assi stan
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
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 -
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 .
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 .
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 .
fI
complexe s ,
It i s
va s t ma s se s o f pe o p le
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
known
linke d
to us
is
the ir
life .
to
e s tabl i sh ,
ce s s ,
In such a formulation,
of c ourse ,
be l imite d to
- 122 -
the
e thnic or
the subj e c t
of the
s tage s in the
Worl d history
the his to ri
S ov ie t hi st ori
who le .
Howe ver ,
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 .
tha t ,
aware
country ,
region,
or llll!l nkind a s a
i.e . ,
1 23 -
wi th
invo lving
the first progre ssive e poch ' in world hi story , who se eme rgence
slow rat e in the
though in vari
our plane t went through thi s initial stage in . the deve lop
of slavery.
ment of society.
Howe ve r,
uniform in type ,
tha t system wa s
simultaneou s .
Wherever the
in a number of regions ,
we alth,
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
which wa s
- 1 2.4 -
encroachme nts
the se were
landho lde rs ,
slave-own
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
c ontrolle d ,
tic so cie ty ,
and
re -
the slave
just
- 125 -
Inde e d ,
temporarily
coexis te d ,
on b ig te rritorie s ,
cal programme s ,
various eo ci o
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,
mise
The ac t ive
o f the ma s se s ,
of
ha d a lmos t dis
e s peci a l ly
in various countrie s ,
the e l imina
i.e. ,
could no t as a rule
It s tands to
prove d to b e strippe d o f a l l
could not come abou t at one and the same time . The ini t ia 1
forms of capita list re la t ions came to the fore iD. the t owns
first ,
i.e. ,
showe d ,
they were the maiD. re vo lutionary f orce that ensure d the a c com
a divergence ,
sed on compromi se ,
and ,
fourth ,
- 1 26 -
ii>
"Gloriou s Revolu
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
since bourge
i s t pha se . In 1 905 ,
p le ' s revolution,
a s sum
in the f ir st pla ce ,
How
a world-wide histori c
s lave-owni.Dg ,
feuda l ,
cap ita l
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
the triba l ,
a 1 production .
the anti qu e ,
sue-
tha t
In 1 859 ,
"My
standpoint ,
a le t te r t o Vera Za su li ch ( 1 88 1 ) ;
o r primary
va
in the third
p le s o:f Europe and Asia , for it was the thre shold to the
- 1 28 -
i.h
October 1 9 1 7 .
the feu
Marx
- 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
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 ,
maturity , deve lopment and dec line , this c anno t but exert
ta ins
and a
concre te phe
nomena .
Highly important in principle are Lenin ' s words
tha t ,
rical proce sse s and phe nomena . This is e spe cia l ly true of
An
or le s s sta ble inte rre lat ions be twe en two or more coexi stent
on a global scale . Howeve r , what is ne c e san overa l l periodisa tion of the world-his-
- 1 3 2 -.
- 1 33 -
e stabl ish ,
s o c ie ty ,
i . e. ,
In a number of c a se s ,
h i s t or i c a l e p o chs ,
the ir turn ,
in the
while the
la tter ,
it
in
In a work
is p o s
the
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
s e en in the e s ta bl ishment
can s peak o f
one
t ion of the
starting point
be twe en these pro ce s se s and permi t s mapping out an. out line
of a single
a s it were ,
Conse quently ,
w e see
here
by. s
the
- 134 -
whi ch pre
of
.g.anno t b e
century.
tury
the
1 7 th p en
- 1 35 -
tiona rine s s .
t ime ,
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
where they occur in the ir mos t typica l form and mos t free
ment .
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
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
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 ,
- 1 36 -
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
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
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 .
''unadult e ra te d "
primarily calls
in tha t .
should
t o ry. Tha t make s it pos sible to bring out the le a ding and
19 d.
e'conomi c ,
we
1 1 . The
is worthwhile
due a ccount should be t aken of
type ,
are
a longside
the
as it were ,
a long vari
- 13 8 -
it
but
pro c e s s .
Conse quently ;
re
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
the
p lex tha t embo die s the typic a l fe a ture s o f that social for
ma t ion ,
as
c an b e c on
- 1 39 -
Culture s
Complexes of artic le s
to be seen at a consi
In la t er per i o ds ,
too ,
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 .
amaze d a t the
mon,
i.e. ,
is
qui t e obvious :
of France ,
tha t
spe e de d
the c ollapse
which wa s initia t e d
In this re spect ,
t ime ,
fo r examp le ,
- 1 40
- 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
As follows
towards a conse cutive succe s sion of !!!.! soc io-e conomic forma
overa ll a d
tribe s
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
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
- 1 42 -
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
d'f em
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
n\e
p
- 1 43 -
of course ,
promote d
In ge ne ra l ,
a lway s be en common,
and the
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 ,
Cultura l proc e s se s ,
on the
plane o f
c a n undoub te dly
it c an
i t is import
one c anno t
but ,
in de termining
- 1 44 -
by
irre s
Example s of such a t t ra ct iv e ly
1 6 th century" ,
"The hi sto-
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
When
In o ther
hi st o ry ,
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 ,
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 ,
cl
sca le .
plante rs of
tha t
t i cula r ,
an
t o ry . As an examp le ,
..
ance
of the conc e pt of
is de termine d . not
from F.
..
..
14
Such
15
- 1 46 -
We
Ro s t ow ' s
and trie s to
in
As a ru le ,
in par
'Wh i ch ,
ce ' s negat ive a t t i tude towards the . Marxis t the ory of the re
Of la te years ,
! a spe c t ,
te chnica l
!hi s torica l
By
'
- 1 47 -
two
conse quent ly ,
in
is re s t ricte d at f irst ,
new s tructure
i ndica tors ,
It i s impossible t o re place
be ginning t o de termine
s tructure of so cie ty ,
Bourgeo i s ,
ind ' s
in m
the a ccusat io n
de ve lopment which is
its a dvanc e .
is ult ima t e ly c al le d up
divide which
fa c t or s . For-instance ,
tori ca l scienc e .
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
17
wi th the
no t in
is the de
Hence
that
is more progre s
the ne e d to
nitude .
t ory ,
with t he
o disat ions .
by
Thus ,
ward movement .
or ari thme t ic
The d e t e rmina t i on
pearance or
and to e s t a b li sh the
length ,
ra te ,
- 1 49 -
an important pa r t i s playe d by th e
ce s s e s or e ve nt s to be ta ken in is re duc e d ,
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
"his
rhythm
( pe riodic i ty )
wise ,
the i r place
his t or i c a l time ,
spa-
There
is no
Any
The a c ce lerat io n
tha t involving
Thu ,
in parti cu la r ,
the
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
so cial re l a ti ons ,
Of course ,
re
Thus ,
la t io.ns ( " de e p
- 150 -
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 .
in the. ma in ,
umph
En.ge l s ,
F.
'
..
23 , p . 80 .
B Ibi d . ,
Vo l .
2 1 , p. 1 46 .
Fo r de t a i l s ,
1111
we en the
rn
l! !
The se
but i t wi l l
since
10
11
12
Karl Ma rx ,
Capita l ,
Karl Ma rx ,
Vo l .
1 , p. 1 9
13
v. Ha j iniko lov ,
14
(V.
Ha j iniko lov,
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 ,
1 5 A.
T oynbee ,
Wie sbaden,
1 97 2 , No . 4 , pp . 1 57 - 1 6 0.
Sofia ,
2 1 , p . 1 45 .
Vo l .
1 978 ( in Russian ) .
1 9 68 , p. 237 .
Mo s cow,
i s t So c ie t ie s , Mo s cow ,
19 , pp . 398 , 404 .
2 29 .
Vo l .
Vo l .
C o l le c te d Works ,
V. I . Lenin,
Ibi d . ,
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
16
1 , Mos c ow,,
.
Th.
Sch i e d e r ,
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
- 1 55 -
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 "
law of the antagonism betwe en, and the struggle of, cla s
- 156 -
:Ei
- 1 57 -
,;," 1t
Marxism, which regards progre s s a s an ob j e c t ive pa t-
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,
but repe a t s
them in.
the re
stages that
a diffe :re nt
- 1 58 -
straight line . n
under capitalism,
primarily because o f i t s ob j e c
of the
or reduce historical
straight line , and painle ssly. The entire his tory of man
ldlld
mark
.of
Cain:
- 1 59 -
were a to rment
profoundly un:fre e ,
or tribe . In
progre s s ,
Today ,
man Empire ,
capital-
by
the
manY'
- 1 60 -
of hi storians ,
the
ide a
in th e specif ic sense
a dhe re d
hist or;r. 1
- 161 -
ly
At th e
in the.
belief
i s noteworthy ,
tion for seve ral re cent generat ion s . !rhey can hardly find
turning,
with
of hi..
E. Carr see s
a:>re precis e ly ,
the " social t a sk" of "proving" the the s is tha t capi tal
tion of hist o ey . The same rea sons have :underlain the cri-
- 1 62 -
- 1 63 -
by
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
then to dec adence , are thus mere projec tions of th:! his
15
torian ' s ignorance upon the screen of the pa s t. "
" 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
- 1 64 -
of e s
hist o r,y .
idea of'
of the
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
- 1 65 -
We st German and
Marxi s t s ,
US
hi storians ,
kind,
lopment ,
deve
for example ,
the
end of the
1 8th centuJ."Y ,
and
1 91 7
in Russia .
magn.ilo
are at one
thi s by
vironment .
t o ry of technology.
by
towards
The
"calme r" a re a of
1 the his-
ri ch in
so
re plac e d
who speak
an Austrian So cia l
- 1 66 -
That is how th ings stand with the " fa shionable " theo
of the nega tion of soc ia l pro
raphy a s :
thi s be
- 1 67 -
community'
the " superiority of the American way of life " and anti
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
1:Y
it
givn s o c ie ty ,
dire c
t o di scover i t s initiator s ,
s o a s t o b e able t o determine
- 1 68 -
In i t s se cond mean:t.ng ,
such an a ll-embra.oing
- 1 69 -
4
5
6
7
10
i t s pul se ,. c ompa ring the two oppo site worlds , two c ivi
- 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.
.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
12
14
15
p. .
37.
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 .
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 ma in f'eatlire of
is that it is
The material i s t
conne c t e d fac t s ,
fac t .
are
There
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.
it was assumed
Qe i
- 1 73 -
the
cons idered at al l.
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 .
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
W. Windelband , H. Rickert ,
left o f t he actual
the lat ter of o bj e c t ivity._ The "histori cal fac t " concept
thus turns out to be largely illusory. 3
They need
- 17 4 -
'' 1
:: :
f1
11 1
1: 1
1!
' 1
I
11'!
U' i
i:1
ii
t o confuse
It
is no t advisable ,
for
I f this assump t i on i s re j e c te d ,
the
example ,
.
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
interpretat ion
t he ir comprehens ion.
In t he
of research ,
fac t , t here
it
s earcher. 7
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.
drawn be tween " the his t or i cal fac t n. and " the concep t " , with
- 176 -
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
I f we accep t e d this v i ew ,
only.
into account ,
it appears to be suffi
is re c o gn i s e d ,
cannot
It follows
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
under d i ffer
I
I
pre l iminary i d eas about what he can exp e c t from t his ma terial
selec t ing factual data i s fully de termined by the h i s tor ian ' s
general wo rld-view .
A s i t uat ion
t ent , non-historical.
be non-exis
ing for knowled ge , and he bas pract i cally unl imi t e d poss i
It would
que s t ion o f
Ye t the dependence
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 -
.and
It
is pos s i ble to
Only the
to be
in
suffic ient for draw ing convincing conc lus ions or for subs tan
t iat ing
I t s exi's t
1 i
Ii
These
I i
o bj e c t ive real i ty ,
-.&11.4.
materials o r ,
- 179 -
to introduce
K. Pokrovsky
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 ,
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 .
an
appraisal of fac t ?
But
ral11 1 3
Sc ienc e , I ssue 3 , 1 9 65 , p .
Mo s cow , 1 97 4 , p .
1 09 ( bo t h in Rus s ian ) .
9
10
A.A.
Rus s ian ) .
He ,
any
any
and
h i s to rical s tudy .
C . L . Becker ,
3 , pp . 330 - 3 3 1 .
5 6 , 2 5 9 , 27 1 -281 , 305 .
A . I . Uvarov ,
- 1 82 -
1 , PP 1 66 - 1 67 .
I b i d . , Vo l . 2 3 , pp . 27 2 -27 3 .
1 96 4 ,
49- 50 ; J . Topolsk i , o p . c i t . , p . 1 50 .
pp .
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.
1 96 4 , p. 3 3 4 ( in Rus s ian).
and es a natural re
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
hist ori c a l source . Hist ori cal sources being het erogene
et c . ) .
of
diplomati c s ,
epigraphies ,
palaeography,
et c . ) .
exclude d ) ;
numismati c s , studying coins and medals ;
chronology and metr ology,
studying systems
- 1 84 -
of time
- 1 85 -
..
study of the problem. ( 4) Int erpreting th e information obtained from the s ources . ( 5 ) The . st udy of authent icit y ( ex
..
( along with verifi cat ion) .. ( 1 1 ) Synthet ic int erpretat ion (.the
ultimat ely det ermine the final out come leave es a rule only
( 1 0) The
ti on of hi st orical fa ct s ..
a very
..
Ill
a lways
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
to
( 1 ) ob j e ctive ,
when the relat ions are revers ed by the course of the proces s
and
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 ,
Scept ic!! insist tha t even aft er the pre liminary very pains
t i cular, he mentions Thor Heyerdahl ' s "Kon-Tiki " end "Ra "
1 939-1 9 40 , followed the route of Columbus . Using
Columbus '
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
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. -
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.
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 . "
of res earchers .
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
p.
78 ( in Russi an) .
ed in them.
In hi s critique of the view that the cont ent of bylines
No . 5 , 1 97 3 , PP 80-8 2 .
- 1 93 -
:9
. Jl .A. Barg ,
1 977 ,
p. 3 1 5 ( in Russi an)
10 H
. Jlarrou, De la conna is sanoe hist origu
e , Paris ,
pp . 1 07- 1 08.
'11
1 95 9 ,
1 2 E.
Tapp ,
13
HIORY
AID
OUR !IDS
14
CONCLUSION
P 2 .
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
have
become
- 1 95 -
cor
far
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 -
ment of
dictatorship ,
the
Cif
proletarian
que stion.
he usually re
an
Lenin,
understanding of his
wn.
in particular,
is integral in Jlarxisn
Leninism.
Lenin vo iced
ught
. - 1 98 -
'
like
for example ,
!O'!
a:r
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
there was no . more re so lute enemy of' all and every d oubtful
nomena , which they examine d out side the framework of' time
and space . To him, a s a genuine schola r, the main thing
. ta
nt
vance .
dogmatism di ctated
by
to rum in bourg ois ideology by the back door. The pre sent
genuine ,
i.e . ,
the dicta
socia li st ,
de
sha rp
time , Lenin ' s manyfa ceted work i s exe rting a dire ct and ,
against the
the Bundi s t s
que stions of the theo ry and pra ctic e of' the revolutionary
Thus ,
" Gene
day movement .
- 200 -
- 201 -
Leninist doctrine .
logi s t s .
eantry
by
by
al l
specia l
. the ultra-left
- 202 -
is ultimate ly di re cted
"One
I!nin have shown that the enemie s of. Jlar.xi Sll-Leninism are
gical revolutaon,
se'clusion and
nomena in socia l . li fe ,
of fa cts , acions ,
programme s and
by
the
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,
o f anti quity ,
It is undeniable , however ,
j e c tive interlinks ,
the like .
to e s tabli sh their ob
.
Of considerable importance is the que stion of the to
p icality of hi storica l re search. "The problem of topica
t ra dition ,
Conference of Historians in 1 9 6 2 ,
al na ture of .' the unity Of histo:ey. and the pre sent dgy . n
- 204 -
"Wha t is c al le d hi s torica l
i t se lf . "
- 205 -
po
since
tion
to a
s tud.J'
at que stio
of
topical,
of
l r of African
a nllllbe
ture
by
the
revolutionary t ra nsi
cance . As a re sult of
me thodological signifi
of the c olonial
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
of
the
ot
" In e s sence ,
i t wi ll be no mis
siderably on
wri tea B.
ly els.borate d , "
has long been known that one can write in modern te rms
countrie s ,
the
about
to the
i .e . ,
- 206 -
It
be sides
be ing
- 2 07 -
'
of Marxist theo ry ,
an(! .
advanced world-view
regional
aey ,
an
the t a sk of having ,
in a nationalistic spirit ,
science ,
*
Thu s ,
of a conc re te in
ina smuch a s
cular ,
We ste rn scholars to " split up " histo rical science not only
- 208 -
- 209 -
on
f'r01i.
economic formations
gon i sms ,
by
othe rs ,
should give it s
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 .
-7
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
1 1 B . N. Ponomaryov , o p . c i t . , p. 1 8 :
5
Suell
- 210 -
1 970 , p . 1 5 ( in
.......,.-::.._
SCIENTIFIC
THEMATIC
o:f Sc ienc e s
COLLECTIONS
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Soc ial i s t Uzbekistan : A Fath Equalling Cent ur i es--Eng.
Publi she d by the " Soc ial S c i ences Today" Ed i t or ial Board
of the USSR Acad emy o f S c i enc e s are
t he following ser i e s of s q ien t if i c themat ic colle c t ions :
" PROBLEMS OF THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD"-- in Engl i sh , Arab i c ,
Arab.,
Span.
Port . , Span.
if ordered
r, ,
- 213 -
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