The Role of the Individual in History

This 1898 book by Russian populist and Marxist George Valentinovich Plekhanov is one of the more fascinating analyses on the “great man” theory of history. Beyond the value of just reading a book from this age and from an author like Plekhanov’s, I thought there was a lot of value to glean from his line of argumentation itself.

The author takes a measured middle-road opinion that is often forgotten from contemporary debate on this issue: that the social conditions of a given time in history imbue certain individuals with institutional power that then allows them to make decisions which change history. “Hence, it is the relation of social forces which, in the last analysis explains the fact that Louis XV’s character, and the caprices of his favorite, could have such a deplorable influence on the fate of France. Had it not been the King SHO had had a weakness for the fair sex, but the King cook or groom, it would not have had any historical significance.” This doesn’t necessarily prove finally one way or another the role of the individual as the essential catalyst of historical events, but it rather adds a needed nuance to show the inseparable relationship between social structure and the individual who sits atop it.