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Towards the end of his very long life, the French economist Gustave de Molinari (1819-1912) said that he had spent his entire life fighting in one form or another, protectionism, socialism, slavery, statism, and militarism.<\/p>\n
He went to Paris as a young man and would-be journalist in 1841 from his native Belgium and began writing on current issues such as free trade and protection and the right of workers to form voluntary associations like trade unions; before gradually moving on to other topics such as slavery and other forms of coerced labour and the rise of socialism; and then Malthusian population theory, the role of war in the evolution of the state, the emergence of a ruling class and favoured interest groups who came to dominate the state, and the application of economic ideas to understand “everything” (including public goods, the family, the church, etc). Most famously among modern libertarians was his pioneering work on the private provision of public goods such as police and national defense, making the \u201cfirst anarcho-capitalist\u201d.<\/p>\n
The Coppet Institute is publishing the Oeuvres compl\u00e8tes<\/i> (Complete Works) of Molinari in a very ambitious undertaking. They have completed 9 volumes which only cover the first 10 years of Molinari\u2019s long and productive life from 1842-1852. Since their site is poorly laid out and hard to navigate I have listed the volumes, a brief description of their contents, a more detailed version of their tables of contents, and links to download the PDFs here. In the meantime, go here \u00c0 propos des \u0152uvres compl\u00e8tes de Gustave de Molinari – Institut Coppet<\/a>.<\/p>\n My own bibliography of the works of Molinari<\/a> with 73 Books, Printed Pamphlets, and Intros to books and 240 articles.<\/p>\n A paper I gave: \u201cWas Molinari a True Anarcho-Capitalist?: An Intellectual History of the Private and Competitive Production of Security.\u201d A paper given at the Libertarian Scholars Conference, New York City (28 Sept. 2019). Online<\/a>.<\/p>\n And other material on the French political economists<\/a>.<\/p>\n To take just the war and peace thread of his thought one can track his interest through the following stages:<\/p>\n A large international Peace Conference was held in Paris in August 1849, which was presided over by Victor Hugo and at which Bastiat gave an important speech (as did Richard Cobden). Molinari wrote on this for the Journal des \u00c9conomistes<\/i> (the main journal of the Paris economists). I included Bastiat’s speech in one of the volumes of his works I edited for Liberty Fund.<\/p>\n Bastiat\u2019s Speech to the Peace Congress on \u201cDisarmament and Taxes\u201d (August 1849), in Addendum, CW3<\/i>, pp. 526-32. Speech<\/a><\/p>\n The \u201c30 something\u201d Molinari was already an acknowledged expert on war and peace matters (as he was on the the history of tariffs) and he made important contributions on these topics (as well as many others) for the monumental DEP. He wrote the articles on \u201cGuerre” (War), “Nations”, and “Paix” (Peace) . which he wrote for the Dictionnaire de l\u2019\u00e9conomie politique<\/i> (1852-1853).<\/p>\n See all of his articles here en fran\u00e7ais<\/a> and a selection in English here<\/a>.<\/p>\n After he left Paris in 1852 to avoid the tyranny of Napoleon III he wrote a book (1857) on the 18th century peace advocate, the Abbey Saint-Pierre (1658-1743), who introduced him to ideas about the ideal of \u201cperpetual peace\u201d and a \u201cleague for peace\u201d which he thought would make this ideal achievable. Part of his lengthy introduction to the book was published as an article in the JDE (Oct. 1856). Molinari continued to write on this throughout the 1860s in articles which appeared hi his own journal l\u2019\u00c9conomiste belge<\/i> (The Belgian Economist) and in pamphlets like Le Congr\u00e8s europ\u00e9en<\/i> (The European Congress) (1864). Many of these shorter pieces can be found in the Appendix of of his book Grandeur et d\u00e9cadence de la guerre<\/i> (1898). He would take these ideas up again in the late 1880s with his Projet d\u2019Association pour l\u2019\u00e9tablissement d\u2019une Ligue des neutres<\/i> (1887) (Plan for an Association to establish a League of Neutral Countries), and in an article in English which appeared in the London Times<\/i>.<\/p>\n The extract from his book on the Abb\u00e9 de Saint-Pierre is published by the Institut Coppet: “La Paix perp\u00e9tuelle est-elle une utopie ?” (Is Perpetual Peace a Utopia?) here<\/a>.<\/p>\n I have the entire book online in facs. PDF<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Appendix<\/a> of his book Grandeur et d\u00e9cadence de la guerre<\/i> (1898). The full book is here<\/a><\/p>\n The role of war in the evolution of markets and organised states is a central part of his series of works on historical sociology which appeared in the 1880s, beginning with L\u2019\u00e9volution \u00e9conomique du XIXe si\u00e8cle: th\u00e9orie du progr\u00e8s<\/i> (Economic Evolution in the 19th Century: A Theory of Progress) (1880) and then its sequel L\u2019\u00e9volution politique et la r\u00e9volution<\/i> (Political Evolution and the Revolution) (1884). In these works he argued that war had once served a useful purpose by protecting productive groups from barbarian invasions and the plunder and taxation which this entailed, but had outlived this function as a permanent warrior class emerged which institutionalized plunder in the form of the early state. In the modern era in which advanced markets and an articulate class of producers had appeared, war and militarism had now become the greatest threat to the evolution of societies.<\/p>\n Over a period of about 20 years Molinari wrote a series of 4 books on political and economic sociology, in war played a major part in his theory:<\/p>\n These 4 volumes are also part of my eBook Collection of the Great Works of Liberty<\/a>.<\/p>\n I have written previously on the neglect of classical liberal sociology and class analysis. See my blog post on \u201cThe Scandalous Neglect of Classical Liberal Sociology\u201d (30 May 2021) here<\/a>.<\/p>\n As the combination of a new tariff war, the rise of organised socialist parties, and another arms race threatened the peace and prosperity of the major European powers at the end of the 19th century, Molinari returned to the problem of war and peace in another book on historical sociology (the third in his series) where he treats war in considerable detail, Grandeur et d\u00e9cadence de la guerre<\/i> (The Rise and Fall of War) (1898); and then again in a pair of articles in which he sums up the achievements and failures of the liberal movement throughout the 19th century, and the prospects for liberty (and war and peace) in the coming 20th century: \u201cLe XIXe si\u00e8cle\u201d, JDE<\/i> (Jan. 1901) and \u201cLe XXe si\u00e8cle\u201d, JDE<\/i> (Jan. 1902). I discuss his pessimistic and quite accurate prognosis for the coming century in my article subtitled “The End of the Century, the End of Liberty?”: \u201dGustave de Molinari and the Future Of Liberty: \u2018Fin De Si\u00e8cle, Fin De La Libert\u00e9\u2019?\u201d (2021).<\/p>\n Gustave de Molinari, Grandeur et d\u00e9cadence de la guerre<\/i> (The Rise and Fall of War) (Paris: Guillaumin, 1898) in HTML<\/a>.<\/p>\n A recent new edition of this work: Gustave de Molinari, Grandeur et D\u00e9cadence de la Guerre<\/i> (Paris: Institut Coppet, 2015). Introduction par Beno\u00eet Malbranque. Available to download in PDF<\/a>.<\/p>\n My version is a reproduction of the first edition, with original page numbers for citation purposes is here<\/a>. It is also part of my eBook collection of “Great Books about Liberty” which are available in various eBook formats such as HTML, PDF, and ePub, from here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Gustave de Molinari, \u201cLe XIXe si\u00e8cle\u201d, Journal des \u00c9conomistes<\/i>, Janvier 1901, 5e s\u00e9rie, T. XLV, pp. 5-19; and \u201cLe XXe si\u00e8cle\u201d, Journal des \u00c9conomistes, Janvier 1902, 5e s\u00e9rie, T. XLIX, pp. 5-14. These articles are included in an Appendix<\/a> to my article below.<\/p>\n David M. Hart, \u201dGustave de Molinari and the Future Of Liberty: \u2018Fin De Si\u00e8cle, Fin De La Libert\u00e9\u2019?\u201d (2001, 2021). Here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Literally his “last words” on the subject of war appeared in the last chapter of the last book he published in 1911 the year before he died: Ultima Verba: Mon dernier ouvrage<\/i> (Last Words: My Final Work). This was his 73rd and would indeed be his last book. In an uncharacteristically optimistic conclusion, he believed that \u201cune r\u00e9volution silencieuse\u201d (a silent revolution) had been at work during the 19th century which had made the \u201cbusiness\u201d of war less and less profitable even for those who started the wars (the professional diplomats and politicians), ran the wars (the officer class), supplied states with the weapons to fight the wars (the munitions manufacturers), and those who loaned money to fund the wars (the bankers). What had once been a profitable business for the ruling class was no longer the case – even for the victors. Given the added costs of weaponry, the greater destruction caused by the new weapons, and the willingness of states to go further and further into debt to fund wars, the ordinary taxpayers would, he thought, have to rise up in rebellion after the next European war to finally bring war to an end.<\/p>\n On doit craindre qu\u2019\u00e0 la suite d\u2019une guerre europ\u00e9enne l\u2019ensemble des dettes des Etats soit presque doubl\u00e9. Les populations ne pourront soutenir des guerres devenues trop on\u00e9reuses \u2014 ou subvenir aux frais des pr\u00e9paratifs de guerre \u2014 et, malgr\u00e9 ceux qui [333] en profitent et qui opposeront, sans nul doute, aux efforts pacifiques, une r\u00e9sistance acharn\u00e9e, elles rejetteront ce lourd fardeau. Et ce sera la fin de la guerre. Elle co\u00fbtera trop cher aux bellig\u00e9rants et elle causera aux neutres un dommage croissant.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n One would be right to fear that at the end of a (future) European war that total State debt would have almost doubled. Populations will not be able to support wars which have become too onerous, or to be able to pay the costs of the build up to (future) wars. In spite of (the fact that) those who profit from them (wars) will no doubt put up a bloody resistance to any anti-war (pacifist) efforts, they (the population) will throw off this heavy burden. And this will be the end of war. It will cost too much for the belligerents and cause increasing damage to neutral countries.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n He didn\u2019t mention in this final passage the more realistic fears he had expressed in his 1902 article about the coming 20th century, that it might take a couple of generations of war, economic depression, and brutal political oppression before the people would come to this awful realisation. But he was convinced that ultimately they would.<\/p>\n Gustave de Molinari, Ultima Verba: Mon dernier ouvrage<\/i> (Last Words: My Final Work) (1911), Chap. XVIII. \u201cLa r\u00e9volution silencieuse. La guerre\u201d (War: The Silent Revolution), pp. 327-333. [facs. PDF[(http:\/\/davidmhart.com\/liberty\/FrenchClassicalLiberals\/Molinari\/Books\/Molinari_1911UltimaVerba.pdf<\/a>).<\/p>\n The standard older works on the attitude of the political economists to war were by Edmund Silberner, only one of which has been translated into English:<\/p>\n Edmund Silberner , La Guerre dans la pens\u00e9e \u00e9conomique du XVIe et XVIIIe si\u00e8cle<\/i> (Paris: Sirey, 1939).<\/p>\n Edmund Silberner, The Problem of War in Nineteenth Century Economic Thought, trans. Alexander H. Krappe<\/i> (Princeton University Press, 1946). On James Mill, John Stuart Mill, Jean-Babtiste Say, Fr\u00e9d\u00e9ric Bastiat and Gustave de Molinari.<\/p>\n Edmund Silberner, La Guerre et la paix dans l’histoire des doctrines \u00e9conomiques<\/i> (Paris: Sirey, 1957).<\/p>\n Beno\u00eet Malbranque\u2019s Introduction to the Institut Coppet edition of Molinari\u2019s Grandeur et d\u00e9cadence de la guerre<\/i> is online:<\/p>\n Beno\u00eet Malbranque, \u201cUn ami de la paix : Gustave de Molinari\u201d (Molinari: A Friend of Peace) Institut Coppet (d\u00e9cembre 12, 2015)<\/p>\n here<\/a>.<\/p>\n To coincide with the 2015 publication of Molinari’s book Beno\u00eet also wrote a series of articles for the Institut Coppet’s magazine Laissons Faire<\/i> on the importance of peace and liberty to the French political economists, which is a very good survey of the field: \u201c\u00ab Paix et libert\u00e9 \u00bb. La question de la paix chez les \u00e9conomistes fran\u00e7ais\u201d (Peace and Liberty: The Question of Peace (in the thought of) the French Economists) (January and March, 2015). The article was written in 4 parts, consisting of<\/p>\n These have been published as a booklet: Beno\u00eet Malbranque, La question de la paix dans l\u2019\u00e9conomie politique fran\u00e7aise<\/i> (Paris: Institut Coppet, 2015) which is available in PDF<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Introduction Towards the end of his very long life, the French economist Gustave de Molinari (1819-1912) said that he had spent his entire life fighting in one form or another, protectionism, socialism, slavery, statism, and militarism. He went to Paris as a young man and would-be journalist in 1841 from his native Belgium and began … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_import_markdown_pro_load_document_selector":0,"_import_markdown_pro_submit_text_textarea":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[85,92],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1596","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-molinari","category-war-and-peace"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/davidmhart.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1596","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/davidmhart.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/davidmhart.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/davidmhart.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/davidmhart.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1596"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/davidmhart.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1596\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":204775,"href":"http:\/\/davidmhart.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1596\/revisions\/204775"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/davidmhart.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1596"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/davidmhart.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1596"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/davidmhart.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1596"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Molinari\u2019s Evolving Interest in War and Peace<\/h2>\n
1.) The Paris Peace Conference of 1849<\/h2>\n
References<\/h3>\n
2.) Articles for the *Dictionnaire de l\u2019\u00e9conomie politique* (1852-1853).<\/h2>\n
References<\/h3>\n
3.) The Ideal of \u201cPerpetual Peace\u201d and a League of Neutral States<\/h2>\n
References<\/h3>\n
4.) The Role of War in the Evolution of Markets and States<\/h2>\n
References<\/h3>\n
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5.) War and Peace at the End of the 19th Century<\/h2>\n
References<\/h3>\n
6.) His \u201cFinal Words\u201d on the Matter<\/h2>\n
References<\/h3>\n
Additional Reading<\/h2>\n
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