Marx’s Manifesto, published in 1847, reflects the state…
““Marx’s Manifesto, published in 1847, reflects the state of historical science of the period. It fixes the thirteenth century as the beginning of the “battle against feudal absolutism” and attributes to the bourgeoisie “an essentially revolutionary role” in history. Did the bourgeoisie not uproot the countryside from a “state of torpor and latent barbarism”? These are all propositions that are today [1977] unacceptable for the historian; those who continue to perpetuate such errors of vocabulary, which are intellectually necessary if one wants to maintain at any price the feudalism-bourgeoisie-proletariat, prolong an ambiguity just as erroneous as the continued use of the term "Gothic ” during the era of Marx. In other words, the Marxist historians, who speak of feudalism destroyed by the French revolution, make one think of those ecclesiastics who see in the Second Vatican Council the "end of the Constantinian period” — as if nothing had happened, in more than sixteen hundred years, between Constantine and Vatican II.””
About This Quote
This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.
Marxist historiography mislabels feudalism, creating misleading narratives.
In simple terms: Historical terms can be misused to fit ideologies.
Key Takeaway
Critically assess historical terminology.
Themes
history
marxism
feudalism
interpretation
bias
Mood
critical
analytical
skeptical
Type
Feudalism:1
French revolution:0
History:1
Marx:1
Marxism:1
Marxist:1
Marxists:0
Science:0
Vatican ii:0
War:0
Marx Manifesto:1
Marxist Historians:1
Feudalism Bourgeoisie:0
Marx Words:0
When to use this quote
- teaching university history
- writing scholarly articles
- public lectures
- debating historiography
Key Concepts
historical methodology
ideological influence
conceptual clarity
academic debate
revisionism
Questions to Reflect On
- Which terms distort historical understanding?
- How to differentiate ideological bias from evidence?
A Different Perspective
Complexity of past societies resists simple categorization.