随着近代资本主义社会的诞生、发展，历史开始向世界历史转变，一个新的时代诞生了。在这样的一个时代里，各民族、国家之间的交往、影响再已不是有限的、间断的、局部的、从属的，而成为广泛的、连续的、全球的、显著的，并且是必然的了。每个国家都互相影响、互相制约、互相学习，一种单一的生产方式逐渐在世界范围内占据统治地位。历史上，马克思、恩格斯第一次科学地揭示了这个时代的本质与发展趋势，他们这方面的思想被称为世界历史理论。马恩世界历史理论具有十分重要的意义，但长期以来并未受到足够的重视，面对今天的全球化以及资本主义的新变化和社会主义的发展前景等重大问题，迫切需要加强对世界历史理论的研究。本文全面论述了马恩世界历史理论的主要思想与意义，并论述了邓小平对这一理论的发展。 中国自十一届三中全会以来，逐步踏上建设有自身特色的社会主义之路。毫无疑问，对中国特色社会主义进行科学的历史定位是一个十分重大的问题，而长期以来未得到人们足够重视的马恩世界历史理论对这一问题的解答具有重要的指导意义。本文即在世界历史理论的视角下对中国特色社会主义的历史定位进行研究，并给出结论。 在马恩世界历史理论的视角下，中国特色社会主义处于并且还将长期处于世界历史的第一阶段——资本主义世界历史时代之中。在世界历史中，中国特色社会主义不同于马恩原先设想的社会主义，但它的基本特征将趋向于马恩原先设想的社会主义。中国特色社会主义虽然与当代资本主义出现了一些共同点，但它与资本主义也存在本质的区别，并且在资本主义世界历史时代中不能“资本主义化”。中国特色社会主义是一条非资本主义的发展道路，是科学社会主义理论同中国实际相结合的产物，是一种特殊形态的社会主义。这种社会主义与后发展国家紧密相连，可以视为“后发展国家社会主义”，中国只是这种特殊形态社会主义的典型代表，而这种特殊形态的社会主义还只是中国所要走的整个社会主义道路的初级阶段。世界历史的形成和发展为中国走特色社会主义道路提供了必要的条件。在世界历史的广阔画卷中，中国特色社会主义将是一个长期的艰巨的过程，而中国目前还只是处在这一过程的初级阶段，中国特色社会主义任重而道远。

In the wake of the birth and development of capitalist society in the modern times, the history began the transition to the world history, a new age formed. In this age, the contact and influence between different nations and countries haven’t been finite, intermittent, partial and subordinate, but extensive, successive, global, remarkable and sure. Every country began to affect, restrict and study mutually, a kind of unitary productive manner had occupied the dominatary status gradually in the world. In the history, Marx and Engels revealed the essence and development tendency of the age for the first time, the thoughts in this respect of theirs is called world history theory. World history theory has very important significance, but it hasn’t gotten enough attention for quite some time, it is urgent to strengthen the research to world history theory when we face the great problems of globalization, new changes of capitalism and the development foreground of socialism and so on. This article expounds the main ideas of significance of world history theory and the development to the theory by Deng Xiaoping completely. China has set foot on the route of building socialism with Chinese characteristics gradually since the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee. With no doubt, it is a important question to give a history location to socialism with Chinese characteristics, and world history theory that hasn’t been paid enough attention for quite some time has important instructive significance for the answer to the question. This article researches the history location of socialism with Chinese characteristics in the view of world history theory and gives conclusion. In the view of world history theory, socialism with Chinese characteristics is in and will be in the first phase of world history----the age of capitalist world history in a long time. In the world history, socialism with Chinese characteristics is different to the socialism that conceived by Marx and Engels originally, but it’s basic feature will incline to the latter’s. Though there have been some common grounds between socialism with Chinese characteristics and contemporary capitalism, there still be essential difference between them, and socialism with Chinese characteristics can’t become capitalism in the age of capitalist world history. Socialism with Chinese characteristics is a route different to capitalism, is result of the combination of scientific socialism theory and Chinese practice, and is a kind of special socialism. This kind of socialism relates closely to the countries that develop late, and can be regarded as socialism of the country’s whose development is late, China is only a typical representative of this kind of special socialism, and this kind of special socialism is only the primary stage of the entire socialist way that china will go. The formation and development of world history provided necessary conditions for china to go this special way. In the broad picture scroll of world history, socialism with Chinese characteristics will be a long and hard process, and china is still in the primary stage of the process at the moment, socialism with Chinese characteristics shoulders a heavy responsibility through thick and thin.