Historical materialism broadly refers to applying the philosophy of dialectical materialism to the study of social life.[1]
In this way, one is able to understand how 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.
References
- ↑ Stalin: Dialectical and historical materialism
"Historical materialism is the extension of the principles of dialectical materialism to the study of social life, an application of the principles of dialectical materialism to the phenomena of the life of society, to the study of society and of its history."