Definition
A war economy is the set of contingencies undertaken by a modern state to mobilize its economy for war production. Philippe Le Billon describes a war economy as a “system of producing, mobilizing and allocating resources to sustain the violence.” Some measures taken include the increasing of Taylor rates as well as the introduction of resource allocation programs. Needless to say, every country approaches the reconfiguration of its economy in a different way.
War Economy
What is ‘War Economy’
The organization of a country’s production capacity and distribution during a time of conflict. A war economy must make substantial adjustments to its consumer production in order to accommodate defense production. Governments must choose how to allocate their resources in a war ecomony very carefully in order to achieve military victory while meeting vital domestic consumer needs.
Explaining ‘War Economy’
All of the major members of both the Axis and Allied powers had war economies during World War II. America’s economic strength was a vital pillar that allowed the Allies to receive the money and equipment needed to defeat Axis.
Further Reading
- Aid and transition from a war economy to an oligarchy in post-war Tajikistan – www.tandfonline.com [PDF]
- France's Occupation Costs and the War in the East: The Contribution to the German War Economy, 1940–4 – journals.sagepub.com [PDF]
- Making a killing: criminality & coping in the Kivu war economy – www.tandfonline.com [PDF]
