Cover Osteuropa 8-10/2008

In Osteuropa 8-10/2008
Teil des Dossiers Menschen

Overcoming War
Jan Bloch: Entrepreneur, Publicist, Pacifist

Manfred Sapper


Deutsche Fassung

Abstract

Jan Bloch is a classic example of an upwardly-mobile, 19th century Jew. Bloch worked his way up from humble East European Jewish origins in central Poland to become one of the Russian Empire’s leading entrepreneurs. He financed railroad lines for the state during Russia’s era of “borrowed imperialism”. However, Bloch’s initiatives to overcome war represent his greatest service. He lent impetus to the Hague Peace Conference. In his standard work “The Future of War”, he predicted total annihilation through industrialisation of war and revolution in Russia. He called for a departure from Clausewitz and advocated arms control as well as an international court of justice. This book deserves its place as a classic work of historical peace research.

(Osteuropa 8-10/2008, pp. 303–312)

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Overcoming War