What does "Material forces drive history" mean?

Question

What does  "Material forces drive history" mean?

e.mccormick · Answer

Break it up.  You have three things: material forces, drive, and history.  

I'll give you a clue though: material forces is from Karl Marx.

e.mccormick · Answer

You can see the term applied a number of ways here: http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1843/critique-hpr/intro.htm http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1845/german-ideology/ch01b.htm

anonymous · Answer

In Marxist theory, it means that history is created by man's need for material goods or satisfaction, rather than stemming from any sort of non-material or spiritualistic source. Hope that helps!