ABSTRACT
This conclusion presents some closing thoughts on the concepts covered in the preceding chapters of this book. The book deals with two meta-themes, as suggested by Patrick K. O'Brien in the Foreword: small neutral states and their economies during great wars. It shows how the financial market of Amsterdam remained the key operator for the neutral countries throughout the tempestuous times from the mid-18th to the mid-19th century. The book also shows that even similar neutral states did have different experiences during wartime and evaluates the role played by neutrality in long-term growth. If a link between growth and neutrality does, indeed, exist – or the idea that war is bad for business – it may motivate countries to avoid conflicts. Small and neutral states may have benefited in wartime, but it is not an entirely easy task for small countries to remain neutral during massive wars, as seen during World War II.
