Historical Materialism and the Misjudgment of Capitalism in the 19th Century

The 19th Century: A Time of Big Changes and Big Problems

The world was changing drastically at the end of the 19th century due to the looming Industrial Revolution. Large factories began to replace small workshop, cities were expanding as people from the countryside flowed in to find work and businesses began to globalise. This surge in output and irreversible social change was accompanied by serious problems: long hours, unhealthy circumstances, and very low pay. New methods of agriculture and machinery started breaking up rural communities and ended up creating crowded and unhealthy cities within which to reside.

Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, two thinkers of the time, believed these problems were not random but were caused by capitalism itself. They thought capitalism, a system based on making profits, would keep creating inequality and suffering until it eventually collapsed. Their famous works, like The Communist Manifesto and Das Kapital, explained these ideas, which gained attention because they matched the harsh realities of the time.

Why Marx and Engels Thought Capitalism Would Fail

Marx and Engels believed that the way societies develop is shaped by material conditions—things like wealth, resources, and labor. This idea is called historical materialism. To them, the main problem in capitalism was the clash between the wealthy business owners (the bourgeoisie) and the working class (the proletariat). They thought the system was unsustainable because the rich, focused only on profits, would make the poor suffer more and more until the system fell apart.

What They Didn’t See Coming

While Marx and Engels’ criticisms of capitalism were based on real issues, they didn’t predict how much the system could change to fix its problems. They thought history followed strict patterns, but capitalism turned out to be more flexible than they imagined.

At the end of the 19th Century and the beginning of the 20th Century, changes began. Labor groups rose against long hours, low and unfair pay to press for their rights to get shorter hours and more pay. Governments set up social systems, such as public education and health, to smoothen out inequalities. Technology changed fast, making everyday life nicer and generating new possibilities. They stipulated not only that technology improves life but also that capitalism can reform and develop.

How Capitalism’s Benefits Grew Over Time

Marx and Engels’ ideas were partly popular because industrialization’s problems were obvious in their time, while its benefits hadn’t fully appeared yet. But as time passed, capitalism showed its strengths. New inventions changed daily life—things like better transportation, communication, and medicine. More people joined the middle class, and economies became less about just surviving and more about creating and enjoying new things.

Without a doubt, the upside of capitalism is that it propels progress through constant competition and focus on innovation. One doesn't have to look further than antibiotics and the internet. Both have drastically improved the lives of people worldwide by helping us fight infections and connecting the globe, respectively. Marx and Engels could never have envisioned these changes since they were looking at an earlier version of capitalism.

What We Can Learn from Historical Materialism

Although Marx and Engels turned out to be wrong in various ways, yet, their idea of historical materialism is still useful. It allows us the opportunity to see how society is related to the economy. When we look at how capitalism faced its early problems, it becomes clear that society can change and adjust, especially when there are agitators for reform.

In the end, Marx and Engels’ critique of capitalism made sense in their time, but it missed the system’s ability to evolve and fix itself. Capitalism has proven to be dynamic and resilient, reshaping society again and again. By studying their ideas and the changes that followed, we see both the challenges and the possibilities that come with economic growth.