When nations collapse: a note on Jacob Bielfelds On the Decline of States (1760)

In his economic bestseller Institutions Politiques Jacob Bielfeld (1717-1770) - a personal friend and advisor to Frederick the Great of Prussia – offers a very concrete and detailed taxonomy of the many reasons that cause nation-states to decline and collapse. The many different states in Europe at the time – at the end of the war in 1648 in Germany alone the number had been close to 400 - had produced a huge sample to analyze. As was typical in Europe at the time, the emphasis on avoiding inequity is noteworthy. Bielfeld distinguishes between 8 external (alien) and 17 internal (intrinsic) causes of decline. A modern reader will - probably to his or her surprise - find that a large number of these causes are still relevant today. The contrast with English economics is clear: while the traditional English view - that of David Ricardo (1817) - sees Portugal blessed with the benefits of free trade, Bielfeld sees Portugal as a weak country having neglected its manufacturing sector and in an unfortunate dependency vis-a-vis Britain. Bielfeld's work, originally written in French, was translated into German, Italian, Russian, and Spanish.