Final answer:
Karl Marx's concept of 'historical materialism' was heavily influenced by the dialectic method of German philosopher Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, although Marx adapted it into dialectical materialism, a theory rooted in economic class struggles and material conditions.
Step-by-step explanation:
Influence on Marx's Historical Materialism, Karl Marx was heavily influenced by German philosopher Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel when it came to 'historical materialism.' Unlike Hegel's idealistic dialectic, Marx embraced and altered the dialectic into a materialistic interpretation known as dialectical materialism.
This framework posits that societal change is driven by material conditions and class struggles. Hegel's dialectic method proposed that the world progresses through conflicts towards greater freedom, an idea that Marx adapted to his own view that history is shaped by the economic relationships and struggles between different classes.
Marx and his collaborator Friedrich Engels further developed these ideas in the Communist Manifesto, predicting that the working class would rise against the bourgeoisie (capitalist class), ultimately dismantling capitalism and paving the way for a socialist state.
Marx's historical materialism emphasizes that the economic base of society heavily influences its social and political superstructures.
Significant historical shifts, such as the transition from feudalism to capitalism, and ultimately to socialism, are seen as the result of class conflicts, where the ruling class designs systems to uphold their interests until they are overthrown by a disenfranchised class.
This revolutionary view contrasted sharply with the existing ideologies at the time and has since profoundly impacted political thought.