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The Last Million: How War Pays for Democracy
The Last Million How War Pays for Democracy Author:James Macdonald For the greater part of recorded history, the most successful and powerful states were autocracies; yet today, the world is increasingly dominated by democracies. How and why this political transformation occurred is the subject of "The Last Million". Its answer is a novel one. By looking at the way war was financed, James Macdonald retraces the... more » steps of early democracy till the present day. Ancient states stored up treasure; and treasure accumulation invariably favoured autocratic states. But when city-states of medieval Italy discovered borrowing as an alternative to the treasure chest, the balance of power tipped. The pressures of war favoured states with the greatest public creditworthiness; and the most creditworthy states were invariably those where the people who provided the money also controlled the government. Democracy had found a secret weapon, the "citizen creditor", a hitherto unsung hero of world history. Lloyd George was acutely aware of this connection when he said World War I would be won by the side that could "raise the last million".« less