The Rise and Decline of the State

448 Pages·1999·1.803 MB·English

by  Martin van Creveld

The Rise and Decline of the State
Thestate,whichsincethemiddleoftheseventeenthcenturyhasbeen
themostimportantandmostcharacteristicofallmoderninstitutions,is
in decline. From Western Europe to Africa, many existing states are
eithercombiningintolargercommunitiesorfallingapart.Manyoftheir
functions are being taken over by a variety of organizations which,
whatever their precise nature, are not states. In this unique volume
MartinvanCreveldtracesthestoryofthestatefromitsbeginningstothe
present. Starting with the simplest political organizations that ever
existed, he guides the reader through the origins of the state, its
development,itsapotheosisduringthetwoworldwars,anditsspread
fromitsoriginalhomeinWesternEuropetocovertheglobe.Indoingso,
heprovidesafascinatinghistoryofgovernmentfromitsoriginstothe
presentday.
MartinvanCreveldisaProfessorintheDepartmentofHistoryatthe
HebrewUniversity,Jerusalem.HisbooksincludeSupplyingWar(1978),
Fighting Power (1982), Command in War (1985), Technology and War
(1988),andTheTransformationof War(1991).
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The Rise and Decline of the
State
Martin van Creveld
published by the press syndicate of the university of cambridge
ThePittBuilding,TrumpingtonStreet,CambridgeCB21RP,UnitedKingdom
cambridgeuniversitypress
TheEdinburghBuilding,CambridgeCB22RU,UnitedKingdom
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©MartinvanCreveld1999
Thisbookisincopyright.Subjecttostatutoryexception
andtotheprovisionsofrelevantcollectivelicensingagreements,
noreproductionofanypartmaytakeplacewithout
thewrittenpermissionofCambridgeUniversityPress.
Firstpublished1999
PrintedintheUnitedKingdomattheUniversityPress,Cambridge
TypesetinPlantin10/12pt[vn]
AcataloguerecordforthisbookisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary
LibraryofCongresscataloguinginpublicationdata
VanCreveld,Martin.
Theriseanddeclineofthestate/byMartinvanCreveld.
p. cm.
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN0521651905–ISBN052165629X(pbk.)
1.State,the.2.Worldpolitics. I.Title.
JC11.V35 1999
320.1'90–dc21 98–30993 CIP
ISBN0521651905hardback
ISBN052165629Xpaperback
Contents
Preface pagevii
1 Beforethestate:prehistorytoAD1300 1
Tribeswithoutrulers 2
Tribeswithrulers(chiefdoms) 10
City-states 20
Empires,strongandweak 35
Limitsofstatelesssocieties 52
2 Theriseofthestate:1300to1648 59
Thestruggleagainstthechurch 62
ThestruggleagainsttheEmpire 75
Thestruggleagainstthenobility 87
Thestruggleagainstthetowns 104
Themonarchs’triumph 118
3 Thestateasaninstrument:1648to1789 126
Buildingthebureaucracy 128
Creatingtheinfrastructure 143
Monopolizingviolence 155
Thegrowthofpoliticaltheory 170
InsidetheLeviathan 184
4 Thestateasanideal:1789to1945 189
TheGreatTransformation 191
Discipliningthepeople 205
Conqueringmoney 224
Theroadtototalwar 242
Theapotheosisofthestate 258
5 Thespreadofthestate:1696to1975 263
TowardEasternEurope 264
TheAnglo-Saxonexperience 281
TheLatinAmericanexperiment 298
FrustrationinAsiaandAfrica 315
Whateverybodyhas... 332
v
vi Contents
6 Thedeclineofthestate:1975– 336
Thewaningofmajorwar 337
Theretreatofwelfare 354
Technologygoesinternational 377
Thethreattointernalorder 394
Thewithdrawaloffaith 408
Conclusions:beyondthestate 415
Index 422
Preface
Thestate,whichsincethemiddleoftheseventeenthcenturyhasbeenthe
most important and most characteristicof all modern institutions, is in
decline. From Western Europe to Africa, either voluntarily or involun-
tarily,manyexistingstatesareeithercombiningintolargercommunities
orfallingapart.Regardlessofwhethertheyfallapartorcombine,already
now many of their functions are being taken over by a variety of or-
ganizationswhich,whatevertheirprecisenature,arenotstates.
Globally speaking, the international system is moving away from an
assembly of distinct, territorial, sovereign, legally equal states toward
different,morehierarchical,andinmanywaysmorecomplicatedstruc-
tures.Asfarasindividualstatesareconcerned,therearegoodreasonsto
thinkthat many ofthemwill soon no longer be either willing orable to
controlandprotectthepolitical,military,economic,social,andcultural
livesoftheircitizenstotheextentthattheyusedto.Needlesstosay,these
developmentsaffecteachandeveryindividualnowlivingonthisplanet.
Insomeplacestheywillproceedpeacefully,butinotherstheyarelikelyto
result in – indeed are already leading to – upheavals as profound, and
possibly as bloody, as those that propelled humanity out of the Middle
Ages and into the modern world. Whether the direction of change is
desirable, as some hope, or undesirable, as others fear, remains to be
seen.
In this volume I shall make an attempt to look into the future of the
statebyexaminingitspast:thatis,itsprehistory,growth,maturation,and
apotheosis,andthewayinwhichitspreadallovertheworld.Chapter1
dealswiththeperiod–infact,mostofrecordedandespeciallyunrecor-
ded history – when there were no states and, originally at any rate, not
even government in the sense of the organized power that some men
exercise over others. Chapter 2 covers the period from approximately
1300 (the Res Publica Christiana at its zenith) to 1648 (the Treaty of
Westphalia);it showshowthestateemergedoutoftheMiddleAgesby
fighting,andovercoming,ecclesiasticalandimperialuniversalismonthe
one hand and feudal and urban particularism on the other. Chapter 3
vii
viii Preface
continuesthestoryfrom1648totheFrenchRevolution.Thisperiodled
totheseparationofthestatefrom‘‘civilsociety’’andthecreationofmany
ofitsmostcharacteristicinstitutions;includingitsbureaucracy,itsstatis-
ticalinfrastructure,itsarmedforces,itspoliceapparatus,anditsprisons.
Thefourth chapter explains how states, havingdiscovered the forces of
nationalismasfirstproclaimedbythelikesofMo¨serandHerder,trans−
formed themselves from instruments for imposing law and order into
seculargods;andhow,havingincreasedtheirstrengthoutofallpropor-
tion by invading their citizens’ minds and systematically picking their
pockets,theyusedthatstrengthtofighteachother(1914–45)onsucha
scale, and with such murderous intensity, as almost to put an end to
themselves.Chapter5describesthespreadofthestatefromitsoriginal
home in Western Europe to other parts of the globe, includingEastern
Europe,theBritishcoloniesinNorthAmericaandAustralasia,theSpan-
ish and Portuguese ones in Latin America, and finally the countries of
AsiaandAfrica.Lastbutnotleast,chapter6dealswiththeforceswhich,
even now, are undermining states all over the world, and which, in all
probability,willcausemanyofthemtocollapse(asin Yugoslavia),give
uppartof theirsovereigntyandintegratewithothers(asin Europe),or
decentralize and relax their hold over their citizens’ lives (should the
Republicans keep their 1994 ‘‘Contract with the American People’’)
withinthelifetimeofthepresentgeneration.
As will readily be appreciated, compressing a subject such as the
presentoneintoasinglevolumerepresentsaverylargetask.Thatitcould
be accomplished at all is due first of all to my comrade in life, Dvora
Lewy. As usual, she has suffered from my repeated periods of blackest
despair; had it not been for her constant encouragement and untiring
devotiontheworkwouldneverhavebeencompleted.Ialsowishtothank
ProfessorGabrielHermanandProfessorBenjaminKedaroftheHebrew
University, Jerusalem, for reading part or all of my work, discussing it
with me, making suggestions, and pointing out errors which otherwise
mighthaveescapedme.Aboveall,Iwanttoexpressmygratitudetomy
stepchildren,AdiandJonathanLewy,forbeingwithmethroughallthese
years.Itistothem,withallmylove,thatthisbookisdedicated.
1 Before the state: prehistory to AD 1300
Definitionsofthestatehavevariedwidely.Theoneadoptedheremakes
no claim to being exclusive; it is merely the most convenient for our
purpose.Thestate,then,isanabstractentitywhichcanbeneitherseen,
norheard,nortouched.Thisentityisnotidenticalwitheithertherulers
or the ruled; neither President Clinton, nor citizen Smith, nor even an
assemblyofallthecitizensactingincommoncanclaimthattheyarethe
state.Ontheotherhand,itincludesthembothandclaimstostandover
them both.
This is as much to say that the state, being separate from both its
membersanditsrulers,isacorporation,justasuniversities,tradeunions,
andchurchesinter aliaare. Much like anycorporation,it toohas direc-
tors, employees, and shareholders. Above all, it is a corporation in the
sensethatitpossessesalegalpersonaofitsown,whichmeansthatithas
rightsanddutiesandmayengageinvariousactivitiesasifitwereareal,
flesh-and-blood,livingindividual.Thepointswherethestatediffersfrom
othercorporationsare,first,thefactthatitauthorizesthemallbutisitself
authorized(recognized)solelybyothersofitskind;secondly,thatcertain
functions(known collectivelyas the attributesof sovereignty)are reser-
ved for it alone; and, thirdly, that it exercises those functions over a
certain territory inside which its jurisdiction is both exclusive and all-
embracing.
Understoodinthisway,thestate–likethecorporationofwhichitisa
subspecies–isacomparativelyrecentinvention.Duringmostofhistory,
andespeciallyprehistory,thereexistedgovernmentbutnotstates;indeed
the idea of the state as a corporation (as opposed to a mere group,
assembly,orcommunityofpeoplecomingtogetherandlivingunderaset
ofcommonlaws)wasitselfunknown.Arisingindifferentcivilizationsas
far apart as Europe and the Middle East, Meso- and South America,
Africa,andEastAsia,thesepre-statepoliticalcommunitieswereimmen-
selyvaried–allthemoresosincetheyoftendevelopedoutofeachother,
interactedwitheachother,conqueredeachother,andmergedwitheach
other to produce an endless variety of forms, most of them hybrid.
1