The Story of the Jews Volume 2: When Words Fail: 1492--Present

by Simon Schama

By 1700 no one imagined a confessional reunification. But intra-Christian war had barely ended before it was replaced by armed mercantilism. Its working premise was zero-sum-game macroeconomics; the last stage of competitive asset-counting before the gods of infinitely elastic growth came to rule the world. In the view that held sway for a century or so between 1650 and 1780, there was a fixed amount of treasure to be had in the world, and woe betide the realm that failed to use pre-emptive force if necessary to maximise or increase its share. Wealth might be aggregated in population, land, slaves, capital, gold, ships, merchandise, mines, manufactures. Predator dynasties – the Swedes, the Prussian Hohenzollerns, the Bourbons – eyed their competitors, ready to pounce on the weak, or the easily surprised. Barren queens heralded a war of dynastic succession, each of the big players putting up proxies. Action was power. To sit still was to die slowly. Thus was the baroque arms race launched and the bills were steep.