A methodological principle on social life and history put forward by Stalin. In Dialectical and Historical Materialism, Stalin said, “If there are no isolated phenomena in the world, if all phenomena are interconnected and interdependent, then it is clear that every social system and every social movement in history must be evaluated not from the standpoint of ‘eternal justice’ or some other preconceived idea…but from the standpoint of the conditions which gave rise to that system or that social movement and with which they are connected.” Therefrom he came to the conclusion, “Everything depends on the conditions, time and place.” He emphasized that without such a historical approach to social phenomena, the existence and development of the science of history is impossible. Stalin once gave an example and said that the question of “is rain good or bad for the harvest” should have different answers at different times: Rain is beneficial during drought, but it is not beneficial or even harmful during rain.
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