Download History Paper V Episode 28 5.2.28 Transition Debate II OBJECTIVE

History Paper V
Episode 28
5.2.28
Transition Debate II
OBJECTIVE
The students will
 Learn about Paul Sweezy’s commercialization theory
on transition from feudalism to capitalism
 Know the urbanization of Europe due to
commercialization
 Understand the causes behind population swings in
Europe and their effects
SUMMARY
The rise of capitalism, one of the formative influences on
modern Europe, is the subject of an enormous and
contentious scholarship. Maurice Dobb, the Marxist
historian had argued that ‘internal contradictions’ in the
land based feudal economy, had led to the rise of
Capitalism. This argument was refuted by Paul Sweezy in
his “Commercialization Model”. The essence of Paul
Sweezy’s Commercialization Model in explaining the rise
of capitalism is the push-pull theory. While the burden of
increasing taxes pushed the serfs out of the manors, the
cities lured them into their fold and provided various
alternative livelihoods. This explained the growth of
capitalism in Western Europe and continuation of
feudalism in eastern Europe.
Historian M.M. Foster countered Sweezy with his
demographic growth model that could explain why
feudalism broke down in the 13th and 14th centuries,
followed by the rise of capitalism in the 16th and 17th
centuries.
Demographic growth was a prime motor for agrarian
progress.
Agrarian progress, in its turn, was an essential pre
requisite for commercial revolution. So long as the
peasants were barely able to insure their own subsistence
and that of their lords, all other activities had to be
minimal.
When the food surplus increased, it became possible to
release more people for Government, religious and
cultural pursuits. It takes more than food surplus,
however, to reorient a society from agrarian balance to
commercial restlessness.
Towns re emerged from their protracted depression.
GLOSSARY
Black death – An outbreak of bubonic plague in
Europe between 1348 and 1350; one of the most
devastating pandemics in human history that resulted
in a massive loss of human lives; estimated to be a
third of European population.
Commercial Revolution – The great increase in
commercial activities in Europe in the late medieval ages
following voyages of exploration to Africa, Asia and the
New World; characterized by a surge of overseas trade,
the appearance of the chartered company, acceptance of
the principles of mercantilism, the creation of money
economy and increased economic specialization.
Maurice Herbert Dobb (1900 -1976) - A
British Marxist economist; primarily involved in the
interpretation of neo-classical economic theory from
a Marxist point of view.
Flanders – The political community of the Flemings; a
geographical region located in parts of presentday Belgium, France, and the Netherlands. Over the
course of history, the geographical territory that was
called "Flanders" has varied.
Karl Heinrich Marx (1818-1883) – A German
philosopher, political economist, sociologist and
revolutionary socialist; most notable of his works
were The Communist Manifesto (1848)
and Capital (1867–1894). Many of his books were cowritten with his friend, the fellow German revolutionary
socialist Friedrich Engels.
Mercantilism – An economic theory that advocates the
increase of a nation’s wealth by government regulation of
all the nation’s commercial interests; based on national
policies of accumulating bullion, establishing colonies and
developing industries for national interests.
Sir Michael Moissey Postan (1898-1981)- A British
economic historian of medieval Europe; held positions at
the London School of Economics and the University of
Cambridge.
Paul Marlor Sweezy (1910 – 2004) – A
Marxist economist, political activist, publisher, and
founding editor of the Monthly Review; best remembered
for his contributions to economic theory as one of the
leading Marxist economists of the second half of the 20th
Century.
Serfs – Hereditary labourers, who did not have the right
to leave the land of the feudal lord they worked on.
Charters of freedom – Permission from a king or
bishop that authorized the towns to form their own city
councils and to regulate city life, levy their own taxes
administer justice and even issuing their own coins;
imparted a legal status to the cities.
FAQ
1. Why do you think the kings were willing to grant
charters to the cities?
Most of the kings realized the economic value of
having towns in their territories. Founding new towns
was also a means to weaken the power of the feudal
nobles and to win over the support of the
townspeople.
2. What was the role of the guilds in the economic
life of the towns?
In each town the merchants and artisans organized
themselves into guilds which were useful for
business as well as political purposes. The merchant
guilds ensured a monopoly of trade within a given
locality, checked weights and measures, fixed prices
and made sure that customers were not cheated.
Guilds of artisans regulated the quantity and quality
of goods to be produced, set prices and ensured that
their products did not suffer from bad workmanship
and inferior materials.
3. How did the crusades give a further fillip to the
commerce between Western Europe and the
Mediterranean states?
On the one hand the establishment of Crusader
states
contributed
to
the
growing
presence
of
Western Europeans in the Levant which in turn
fuelled greater commercial activity; on the other
hand the Crusades contributed to the growth of
Christian
consciousness,
communication
in
promoting
internal
Such
growing
Europe.
connectivity was inevitably accompanied by a surge
in commercial activities.
4. How did the Italian merchants play a key role in
the commercialization of Europe in the 12th
Century?
The Italian merchants who had dominated the
Mediterranean commerce from the 11th century
began to penetrate Western and Eastern Europe with
merchandise from Africa and Asia.
They met the
merchants from France, Flanders and the Rhineland
in the annual fairs. By the end of the 12th century,
there developed both high-value and low-value-buthigh-volume trade connecting the commercial worlds
of the Mediterranean with that of the North Sea.
5. What were the main items of trade/
Spices, fine textiles and other luxuries from Asia
began to be made available by Italian merchants to
merchants from other parts of Europe, in exchange
for commodities like grain from Eastern Europe,
dairy and meat products from the German lands,
fish, hemp and timber from the north, wine from
France, etc.
6.
How
did
commercialization
lead
to
urbanization?
By the middle of the 12th century inter-European
trade
unleashed
a
wave
of
urbanisation.
As
merchants moved from one place to another, they
generally pitched defensible camps near settlements,
requiring supply of food, fodder and water from the
nearby settlements against a payment. As individual
merchants began to be replaced by regular caravans,
inhabitants of villages often began to provide such
services on a more frequent basis. Over decades
such settlements tended to develop a more durable
character, and began to form the kernel of small
towns, providing services to travelling merchants.
Inhabitants of such incipient towns and merchants
would often seek protection from the king of the
land, who would then give the towns charters of
freedom against a pledge of allegiance and a promise
of an annual tribute.
In this manner, 12th century
European commercial expansion was accompanied
by the revival of many old towns and the rise of
many new ones.
7.How did the urban settlements provide a pull
factor for the serfs to escape the manorial
domains?
Given the temptation of an alternative life in the
confines of the towns which enjoyed royal charters
of freedom, the serfs found the opportunity to
escape from feudal oppression. The retainers of
feudal seigneurs were not allowed to venture into the
towns to hunt down fugitive serfs.
Once the serfs
made it into the towns, it was possible for them to
pick up a trade and earn a livelihood; it was also
possible to join a caravan and leave the area
altogether, thereby eluding capture for a year more
definitely.
8. What was M.M. Postan’s explanation of the
transition from feudalism to capitalism?
Postan believed that the principal explanation for
most long-term historical changes can be found in
long-term demographic variations. Postan deployed
his demographic thesis to show that the principal
problem of feudalism did not lie embedded in its
structure, but in the structure and size of the feudal
society which was determined by the demographic
situation in Europe. Accordingly, the dismantling of
the structure took place only when the demographic
balance changed.
9. What happened when population increased in
the 12th and 13th Centuries?
Postan
argued
changed
in
that
the
demographic
12-13th
the
centuries,
situation
when
the
population of Europe grew at a remarkable rate. The
growing
population
resulted
in
a
corresponding
increase in the demand for food, even though
agricultural
unchanged.
productivity
remained
virtually
As the pressure on cultivable lands
grew, productivity of the lands began to diminish,
which in turn pushed food prices upwards.
In this
situation the feudal lords also began to increase the
extraction of the social surplus. By the imposition of
duties and imposts such as fines, taillage, additional
unpaid labour services on the demesne lands of the
seigneur.
Thus,
with
the
growth
in
population
and
the
consequent rise in food prices during that period, the
serfs became more dependent upon the seigneur.
10. What was the major drawback of Postan’s
theory?
Postan did not try to address the major problem
regarding the reason why
similar demographic
changes in Western and Eastern Europe resulted in
different outcomes in the 15th-16th centuries. It was
left to Robert Brenner to address the issue from a
Marxist perspective.
QUIZ-Complete
1. The historian who first contradicted Maurice Dobb
was
a)
M.M.Postan
b)
Paul Sweezy
c)
Robert Brenner
2. According to Paul Sweezy, the major factor that led
to transition from feudalism to capitalism was:
a) Commercialization
b) Urbanization
c) Both the above
3. Serfs fled to the nearby towns to escape from
a) Religious persecution
b) Oppression of seigneurs
c) Money lenders
4. The Crusades helped in the
a) Commercialisation of Europe
b) Plundering of Europe
c) Escape of serfs
5. Proliferation of urban settlements in Western Europe
was triggered by
a)
Caravans of merchants
b) Charters of freedom
c) Monarchs regaining power
6. Commercialization transformed the feudal economy
to one of
a) Production of artisanal products
b)
Production for the market
c) Barter system
7. M.M. Postan’s theory of transition from feudalism to
capitalism was based on
a) Class struggle
b) Burgeoning commerce
c) Demographic swings
8. Mediterranean commerce was dominated by
a) Arab merchants
b) Italian merchants
c) Asian merchants
9. According to Sweezy the principal factor in the
decline of feudalism was
a) Demographic growth
b) The plague
c) Urbanisation
10.
Apart from the Black Death another factor that
caused population to plummet was
a) Malnutrition
b) The Crusades
c) Seigneural power
ASSIGNMENT
1. Discuss in details the “Commercialization thesis” of
Paul Sweezy to explain the transition from feudalism
to capitalism.
2. What objections did Sweezy raise to Maurice Dobb’s
theory of internal contradictions?
3. Give an assessment of demographic changes in
Europe and discuss Postan’s Demographic Revolution
Model.
4. What were the factors that facilitated the decline of
feudal economy?
5. Trace the background of the rise of new towns and
cities in western Europe. Why did the same factors
fail to do the same in the case of eastern Europe?