ABSTRACT
Historically speaking, war and preparations for war – as we know from several of the preceding chapters – have had an impact both on the character of the state and on the political regime. In Part IV of this book, we shall see how military competition – at least in Europe – has also had important economic consequences. In gist, geopolitical pressure is a premise in most comparative historical analysis. Nevertheless, it is hardly wrong to say that it was partially forgotten as the classic literature ended after World War II. At the same time, it is striking that Barrington Moore, when he resurrected the field, failed to include military competition in his analysis of the paths to democracy and dictatorship (see Chapter 6).
