Editing Historical materialism

'''Historical materialism''' broadly refers to applying the [[philosophy]] of [[materialism]] to the field of History.

In this way, one is able to understand how which material conditions affected societies of the past, how they reacted to them and thus how these societies came to be or ceased to exist; ultimately explaining why the world is how it is today.

It is often used alongside [[dialectical materialism]] as dialectics are also an inextricable part of historical development.