Skip to content
quotesby

Going back to the most ancient times, national well-being, the national prestige depended on territory. The more territory a country had, the more income revenue there was, the more people there were to be mobilized for arms strength. So we had an enormous sense of territorial conflict and territorial integrity, and that was unquestionably a part of the cause of war, coupled with the fact that there was a disposition in that direction by the landed class, a disposition to think of territorial acquisition and territorial defense and to think of the peasantry as a superior form of livestock which could be used for arms purposes.

John Kenneth Galbraith#59

EconomicsPowerHistoryWarTerritory

About this quote

What does it mean?
Historically, nations equated territory with wealth and power, leading to conflicts driven by land acquisition and the use of peasants as military resources.
In plain terms
Countries fought over land because it meant money and soldiers, and rulers treated people like tools for war.
What can you take from it?
Territorial expansion was a primary driver of historical warfare and economic strength.

Where it applies

  • historical analysis
  • warfare studies
  • economic history

Putting it to work

  • study historical causes of war
  • analyze class interests in policy

Questions to consider

  • How does territory still influence national power today?
  • In what ways are people still treated as resources?

Another view

The quote generalizes across all ancient times without specific regional nuance.

More from John Kenneth Galbraith

  1. Broadly speaking, [Keynesianism means] that the government has a specific responsibility for the behavior of the economy, that it doesn't work on its own auton…

    Permalink to quote #58
  2. I react to what is necessary. I would like to eschew any formula. There are some things where the government is absolutely inevitable, which we cannot get alon…

    Permalink to quote #60
  3. Almost 60-odd years ago in Canada. I was studying agriculture, how to produce better chickens, better cattle, better horses - horses in those days - better fru…

    Permalink to quote #57

Related quotes

  1. I am thankful for the kind treatment during my captivity and I ask God to accept me with mercy.

    Hans FrankHans Frank quote #1
  2. This war would be only a partial success if the whole lot of Jewry survived it, while we shed our best blood to save Europe. My attitude toward the Jews will t…

    Hans FrankHans Frank quote #3
  3. He was not only the most brilliant strategist of all our generals, but he had a good political sense. A man of that quality was too difficult for Hitler to swa…

    Erich von MansteinErich von Manstein quote #4