ltethe t1_j2dlced wrote on December 31, 2022 at 1:47 PM

What’s nuts is that in the 18th century, military spending was around 30% of GDP for many countries.

poktanju t1_j2dnghx wrote on December 31, 2022 at 2:06 PM

Some reports say this is still the case for North Korea.

edit: source for the doubters:

>That accounts for 13.4 to 23.3 percent of the country's average GDP of $17 billion during the period.

Just_a_Guy_In_a_Tank t1_j2e5ix3 wrote on December 31, 2022 at 4:24 PM

Well that’s fitting since North Korea is in many ways still living in the 18th century.

Pabrinex t1_j2doizj wrote on December 31, 2022 at 2:15 PM

Really? Which ones?

Most countries would have had tax bases of only 10-20% of GDP back then so even if say, 70% of the national budget went on defence that'd be implausible.

Archmagnance1 t1_j2dt126 wrote on December 31, 2022 at 2:52 PM

I assume they mean during the big conflicts because armies would be levied and trained specifically for conflicts instead of having standing armies. It's not absurd to think that during the napoleanic wars, the prussian expansion wars, and german unification wars that countries would be spending that much of their GDP. In peacetime though, i highly doubt it. Even during the naval revolution from 1860(ish) on through WW1 i doubt it reached 30% GDP, even the Royal Navy.

Rhydsdh t1_j2fqfir wrote on December 31, 2022 at 11:05 PM

It's because back then defence was the primary function of the state. The welfare state had not been invented yet, and governments had far fewer responsibilities than they do today.