Which one among the following sums up Marx’s view about history ?

Karl Marx’s view of history is fundamentally rooted in the concept of historical materialism, which posits that the history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles [t1][t9]. According to Marx, history is not a mere record of wars or a faithful chronicle of past events, but a succession of struggles between the oppressor and the oppressed classes [t2][t5]. In the capitalist stage, this manifests as the antagonism between the bourgeoisie (the ruling capitalist class) and the proletariat (the exploited working class) [c2][c3]. Marx argued that these two classes have fundamentally opposite interests, where the bourgeoisie seeks to maximize profit through exploitation, while the proletariat seeks to improve conditions and eventually overthrow the system [t5][t9]. This class conflict serves as the primary engine of social transformation and historical development, leading toward a classless communist society [t2][t9].

Sources

1. [1] History , class XII (Tamilnadu state board 2024 ed.) > Chapter 12: Europe in Turmoil > Karl Marx and Scientific Socialism > p. 180
2. [2] India and the Contemporary World - I. History-Class IX . NCERT(Revised ed 2025) > Chapter 2: Socialism in Europe and the Russian Revolution > 1.3 The Coming of Socialism to Europe > p. 28