Everyone living in society participates in the formation of history, but outstanding figures representing the advanced class (including politicians, thinkers, writers and artists) or reactionary figures representing the decadent class have a greater influence on the development of history.
Thinkers before Marxism could not correctly explain the role of individuals in history.
Volunteerists believe that history is created by emperors, generals and heroes at will; Fatalism holds that the development of history is doomed by unknown fate, and any individual's efforts to change reality are futile.
The former unconditionally exaggerates the role of individuals in history, while the latter completely denies the role of individuals in history.
Marxism holds that people create their own history.
Because the will of each individual is determined by their own special living conditions, the will and intention of these individuals are often intertwined and even conflicting.
People who are in the same position in the system of production relations and thus have basically the same interests generally have the same will and intention.
They either reflect the requirements of advanced productive forces and production relations, or reflect the requirements of decadent production relations that hinder the development of productive forces.
The role of countless individuals in history is integrated into a total resultant force, forming a total result, that is, historical events.
Personal will and purpose in line with the historical development direction play a driving role in the resultant force; Personal will and purpose, which are opposite to the historical development direction, play an obstacle role in the resultant force.
The historical role of outstanding figures depends on their understanding and realization of historical tasks, and on the breadth and depth of their reflection of people's wishes and demands.
The emergence of outstanding figures and their role in history embodies the unity of inevitability and contingency.
Every era needs and creates its own great men.
In the sense of "making heroes with the times", outstanding figures are the inevitable product of historical development.
However, the inevitability of historical development is always realized through a series of contingency.
It is accidental who becomes the embodiment of historical inevitability.
It happened that a great man appeared in a certain country at a certain time, which was an accidental phenomenon.
However, if this person does not appear, there will be another person to replace him, and this substitute will always appear, whether good or bad, sooner or later.
The role of outstanding figures in history is restricted by social and historical conditions.
Generally speaking, their appearance is determined by their class, and their great influence on history cannot be separated from the support of the masses and their activities of creating history.
No outstanding person can change the basic trend of historical development, and it is impossible to surpass the role of the people in creating history.
However, they can have a great influence on the development of history by virtue of certain social conditions. With their talents, experience, will, personality, quality and physical fitness, they have made a deep personal imprint on historical events and even decided the outcome of individual historical events.
Proletarian leaders play a very important role in the communist movement.
The leader of the proletariat is not just a person, but a relatively stable group composed of some of the most prestigious and experienced people, who have been elected to the most important position.
The class status and historical mission of the proletariat make proletarian leaders have great functions and excellent qualities that no outstanding figures in the past can match.
Proletarian leaders have both theoretical literacy and practical experience, and insist on the unity of theory and practice; They have a scientific world outlook and can understand and master the laws of social development and the conditions for proletarian liberation; They serve the people wholeheartedly and keep close contact with the broad masses of the people; They adhere to the principles of collective leadership, democratic centralism and the style of seeking truth from facts.
Proletarian leaders are not saints and perfect people. Like many great men who stood in front of the historical trend, they also had shortcomings and mistakes.
The difference between them and other class leaders is that when they make mistakes, they can seriously criticize and self-criticize, and overcome them through the strength of the proletarian party itself.
Historical materialism affirms that people are the creators of history, but it does not deny the role of individuals in historical development.
Because while affirming the role of the masses, it inherently contains the affirmation of the role of individuals.
If individuals among the masses have no role in creating history, the decisive role of the masses in historical development is empty talk.
Historical activities are composed of various personal activities, and everyone plays a certain role in social history, but the role is big and small.
All people who participate in historical activities can be divided into ordinary individuals and historical figures according to their influence on history.
Among historical figures, they are divided into outstanding figures and reactionary figures according to the nature of their influence on history (promoting or hindering).
Historical materialism mainly discusses the role of those politically outstanding historical figures.
Outstanding figures promote the development of history in two aspects: on the one hand, historical figures are the initiators of some historical tasks.
On the other hand, outstanding figures are organizers and leaders who have completed certain historical tasks.
The role of individuals in history is an important issue of historical materialism.
It involves a series of fundamental problems of historical materialism, such as whether there are laws to follow in social history, whether historical laws are objective laws, the relationship between man and historical laws, man's freedom and its relationship with historical inevitability, inevitability and contingency.