“The long fight of the bourgeoisie against feudalism culminated in three great, decisive battles. The first was what is called the Protestant Reformation…”
– Engels
In this talk from Revolution Festival 2025, Joe Russell, RCP Executive Committee member will use this period of revolution as an important case study for historical materialism.
How do changes in the economic base of society affect the realm of ideas, including religion? And how in turn, do such ideas become the most powerful weapon in the struggle to change the world?
When Martin Luther pinned his ninety-five theses to the door of a church he set in motion a struggle on a scale that he did not foresee nor desire. Starting as a theological debate on doctrine, it became an ideological struggle against the Roman Catholic Church, and from there a series of revolutions, wars and civil wars.
This explosive chapter of events shook Europe to the core, and changed history forever. It was a necessary first step in the struggle of the masses against feudalism by breaking the ideological dictatorship of the Catholic Church. This struggle opened the floodgates for new radical thought, such as the enlightenment, the development of science, and further revolutions.
