Dialectical and Historical Materialism

The second section of the fourth chapter of the History of the C.P.S.U. (B): Short Course written by Stalin himself between 1937-38, and the Chinese translation is included in Vol. II of Selected Works of Stalin.

This work generalizes the main contents of Marxist philosophy in a popular and concise narration, and applies the principles of Marxist philosophy to the socialist revolution and construction of the Soviet Union, providing philosophical support for the socialist cause of the Soviet Union.

This work consists of four parts: General Theory, Marxist Dialectical Method, Marxist Philosophical Materialism, and Historical Materialism.

This article was once regarded as the pinnacle of the development of Soviet Marxist Philosophy, which had a very far-reaching impact on the later course of the C.P.S.U. and the whole international communist movement. As the core content of the History of the C.P.S.U. (B): Short Course, it has deeply influenced the philosophical thinking patterns of generations of communists because of the widespread reading of this famous work. From the perspective of the history of Marxist development, this work completed the task of systematizing, simplifying and popularizing the theoretical form of Marxist philosophy for the first time, which was conducive to the spread and study of Marxist philosophy.

Looking from the perspective of the complete comprehensive theoretical system of Marxism, there are some problems in the theoretical expressions within this work, such as the narrow understanding of dialectics, the insufficient discussion on the internal relationship between materialism and dialectics, and the too general discussion on the essentials of historical materialism. These have made certain negative impact on the theoretical research of Marxist Philosophy in the academic circles of the Soviet Union.