Central European Papers 2014, 2(2):79-94 | DOI: 10.25142/cep.2014.029

The Economic Causes of War and Changes in Post-War Economic Thought: From Keynes to Beneš

Tomáš NIKODYM
Katedra hospodářských dějin, Národohospodářská fakulta, Vysoká škola ekonomická v Praze, Department of Economic History, Faculty of Economics, University of Economics in Prague, nám. Winstona Churchilla 4, 130 67 Praha, Czech Republic, nikodym.tomas@gmail.com

The paper deals with various economic interpretations of World War I which are often followed by changes in economic theory. It is shown, that most prevailing interpretations are still influenced by Karl Marx and his theories. Then, the sequential shift in economic or social policy and thinking is inevitably influenced by Marxism too. Authors writing in this tradition summarized that the capitalism leads to the monopolist structure of the economy and to the imperialism in economic policy. The war is then result of the struggle for foreign markets and resources. Using the economic theory and clarifying basic definition (for example competition, capitalism, socialism) the paper shows that it is not the "invisible hand" of capitalism what is a cause of war, but the "visible hand" of the state.

Keywords: World War One, capitalism, imperialism, socialism

Published: September 1, 2014  Show citation

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NIKODYM T. The Economic Causes of War and Changes in Post-War Economic Thought: From Keynes to Beneš. Central European Papers. 2014;2(2):79-94. doi: 10.25142/cep.2014.029.
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