Twentieth Century Military Spending Patterns

The causes, impacts, and scope of twentieth-century military spending and conflicts have been debated widely among scholars. ¹ One can distinguish a pessimistic tradition as well as a more optimistic interpretation of the conflicts and legacies pertaining to this century. Scholars like Eric Hobsbawm would view the extreme political and military outcomes of the period of world wars as indicative of the decadence and economic failures of the twentieth century. For Hobsbawm, mankind’s descent into anarchy and degradation began in Sarajevo in 1914 and culminated in the Balkan madness of the 1990s. His twentieth century was an era of total warfare in its perverse perfection, with state-sanctioned genocides, ethnic cleansing, and totalitarianism; a world brought to the brink of extinction during the Cold War arms race. ² Is this an accurate and/or fair depiction of the twentieth century? And what are the implications of these factors for twentieth-century military spending?