ABSTRACT
This chapter poses the question why Western Europe but not Asia was able to harness the chain reaction resulting from the use of gunpowder. Hoffman claims that Western Europe, especially Britain, had an edge as regards the economy of production. He makes a controversial claim that endogenous developments (gunpowder war) within Europe and not exogenous factors (acquisition of overseas colonies) sparked the Industrial Revolution in Western Europe. Continuous innovation and mass production of gunpowder weapons were possible in Western Europe due to industrialisation, and the latter occurred due to the emergence of strong states and high taxation. The last two characteristics emerged due to the rising cost of gunpowder warfare and this in turn accelerated financial innovations, which in turn sustained industrialisation. Thus, a military-industrial complex emerged in Western Europe during the early modern period.
