A New Historical Materialist Interpretation of the Role of Historical Figures: On the Concept of “Makers of History in a Broad Sense”

ABSTRACT

This paper explores the issue of historical figures (influential people, mainly leaders who stand out in history) “making history.” Accordingly, it proposes and demonstrates a new interpretation of the role of historical figures as “makers of history in a broad sense.” To dialectically accommodate the relationship between “times” and “heroes,” historical figures’ coming to prominence and their activities are thought of as the combined effects of historical necessity and contingency. The roles of historical figures are analyzed specifically according to different circumstances in line with the objective laws of history. The interpretation uses historical examples to illustrate the idea that the decisions of historical figures have the power to decisively influence a country’s history in certain periods, and even dominate the nature of a certain social stage through their actions; at the same time, the most effective actions of historical figures somehow essentially reflect the masses’ needs. In this sense, this paper argues that the principles of historicity, objectivity and value should be employed comprehensively to make critical judgments on historical figures.

KEYWORDS:

• Historical materialism
• historical figures
• makers of history
• historical necessity and contingency

Acknowledgements

This article was translated by Chan Zhai from the Graduate School, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on Contributors

Enfu Cheng is Distinguished Professor at the University of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, member of the Academic Division of Marxist Studies of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, co-Editor-in-Chief of International Critical Thought and World Review of Political Economy.

Zhihua Zhan is Professor and Associate Dean at the School of Marxism, Fuzhou University.

Notes

1 As Mao Zedong said in August 11, 1965, to the Politburo’s Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China, “leaders and leading groups are of great importance … In many cases, things change when leaders change” (see Party Literature Research Office of the CPC Central Committee 2013, 521; translated from Chinese).