Militarization of the economy: a concept, examples

Protection from external enemies is one of the main functions of the modern state. For these purposes, a military budget is being created that allows the army to be maintained, modernized, and military exercises carried out . But the threat to peaceful existence comes when the militarization of the economy begins. The consequence is an increase in the strength of the army and military equipment. The threat is that any provocation - and the state can apply its military potential. What is militarization? This will be discussed in this article.

What is militarization of the economy?

Militarization is the process of increasing the military sector in the country's total output. As a rule, this happens at the expense of other spheres. This is a kind of "militarization" of the economy. Let us give an example from history.

Militarization of Europe at the turn of the century

In the late XIX - early XX centuries, militarization of the German economy was observed . Of course, the German Kaiser was not the only one who armed his country, almost all countries Europe, including Russia, were engaged in this.

The unification of Germany, the Franco-Prussian War and, as a result, the huge indemnities and the annexation of two industrial regions (Alsace and Lorraine) to Germany made it possible to concentrate huge fortunes in the hands of German bankers. Industrial tycoons faced two problems:

1. The lack of markets for their products, since Germany later joined the colonial section later than others.
2. Lack of agricultural sector due to lack of agricultural land.

These reasons influenced the mood of the German financial tycoons. They wanted:

1. Sell their products.
2. Have agricultural land.
3. Strengthen its position within the state.

The only way out is the militarization of the economy. This solved all the problems at once:

1. The state purchases industrial products, which consist mainly of ammunition, weapons, guns, ships.
2. A battle-worthy army is created that can change the colonial division of the world, seize markets, agricultural land in the east.

All this ended with the First World War. The second attempt to militarize the German economy when Hitler came to power led to World War II. The third attempt to build up the armaments of the USSR and the United States almost led to a nuclear war that would destroy our planet.

Threats of modernity

Militarization of the economy is not a thing of the past. Today we observe that many countries are actively arming themselves. This is mainly the US, China, India, Pakistan, Russia, the Arab countries of the East, Southeast Asia. A huge army of one million people has DPRK.

Russia is a threat to peace?

Regrettably, this sounds, but it is our country that overtakes all the major countries of the world in the militarization of the economy. The share of the military budget is 5.4% of the GDP of our country. For example, China spends about 2%, the US - just over 3%, India - just over 2%. Huge amounts of money go to Saudi Arabia - 13.7% of GDP. The leader is North Korea - more than 15%.

Despite the fact that Russia has such a seemingly huge percentage of the share of the military budget from GDP, falling into hysteria and screaming that our country poses a threat to peace, it is not worth it. It is necessary to carefully analyze everything.

The fact is that in monetary terms the military budget of our country is not that great. It is about 66 billion dollars. For example, the US military budget is almost 10 times larger - about $ 600 billion. China - more than 200 billion. Thus, in terms of money we are not leaders. The reasons for the high share of the military budget are several:

1. Weak economy.
2. Huge territory.
3. The absence of a ten-year development of the army.

The last point, according to President Vladimir Putin, is key. Our country after the collapse of the Soviet Union and before the early 2000's. Years. Almost lost the army. The military campaign in Chechnya is indicative in this regard. The lack of modern weapons, professional military, the newest aircraft and helicopters, we add here the generals' lack of professionalism, the lack of military exercises - all led to huge losses in the Chechen Republic.

That is why Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that today's militarization of the economy is catching up the missed deadlines for modernization.

conclusions

So, let's sum up. Militarization of the economy is a significant increase in the share of the military budget as a percentage of GDP. This is important to understand. The increase in the military budget, provided that the economy as a whole is growing, does not yet speak of militarization. Conversely, if the military budget decreases in real terms, but its percentage of GDP increases, then such an economy can be called militarized.

It is a mistake to believe that militarization is synonymous with aggressiveness. On the contrary, the build-up of military potential can be the result of hostility from other states. For example, the growth of the army in South Korea is associated with aggressive threats emanating from the DPRK. Militarization in Russia is not at all connected with a desire to unleash a war in the future, but with a ten-year absence of modernization of our army.