Friedrich Engels, historical materialism and the Crimean War

This essay explores Friedrich Engels’ understanding of, and contribution to, historical materialism through the lens of his military writings. After unpacking the tacit theoretical architecture underpinning some of his encyclopaedia articles on the history of warfare, I move to focus on his analysis...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Studies in East European thought Vol. 77; no. 6; pp. 1171 - 1190
Main Author: Blackledge, Paul
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Dordrecht Springer Netherlands 01.12.2025
Springer Nature B.V
Subjects:
Capitalism
Critics
Cultural studies
Culture
Dialectics
Education
Encyclopedias
Engels, Friedrich (1820-1895)
Essays
Historical materialism
History
Leadership
Marxism
Materialism
Modes of production
Organizational culture
Philosophy
Political Philosophy
Political Science
Power
Reductionism
Understanding
War
Engels
Organization
Subjectivity
Immanent critique
Crimean War
Marx
Military
Materialism
ISSN:0925-9392, 1573-0948
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:This essay explores Friedrich Engels’ understanding of, and contribution to, historical materialism through the lens of his military writings. After unpacking the tacit theoretical architecture underpinning some of his encyclopaedia articles on the history of warfare, I move to focus on his analysis of the organization, culture and leadership of the various antagonists involved in the Crimean War (1853-1856). Notwithstanding the fact that Engels often wore his Marxism lightly when writing on military matters, I argue that these essays illuminate a sophisticated understanding of historical materialism that is quite at odds with those all too often repeated criticisms of his thought as a form of mechanical materialism and economic reductionism. Indeed, Engels’ writings on military organization during the Crimean War illuminate his dialectical understanding of the unity of essential and historical aspects of capitalist management; including powerful and nuanced analyses of national, class, ethnic and gendered subjectivities through which organizational cultures were reproduced in an (emerging) capitalist context. I show that while Engels understood that modes of production set parameters within which specific military forms emerged as (historically) necessary structures, he also laid great emphasis on the ways in which these organizations operated according to their own emergent principles and through specific cultures and concrete individuals. I submit that through these writings he made an important contribution to our understanding of military organization, and one that provides valuable historical context through which to understand more recent conflicts over the Crimean peninsula.
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ISSN:0925-9392
1573-0948
DOI:10.1007/s11212-025-09706-0