Page - 96 - in Otto Bauer (1881–1938) - Thinker and Politician

96 chapter 3 spheresof influence: thesubordinationof lesseconomicallydevelopedcoun- tries to economically stronger national units. Expansionism is therefore an inherent characteristic of imperialism; its frameworkonlymapsout the lim- itsofcapitalaccumulation. Inspecialcases, theterritoryforcapitalexpansion might be domestic insofar as a country contains regionswhere the capital- ist economy is not yet fully developed. In other cases, economies of neigh- bouring countries that are characterised by a low concentration of capital and low levels of technology are subjected to expansion.Aboveall, however, non-capitalistterritoriesaretargeted.Bauerexposedthepower-hungryfaceof imperialism, yet he also argued that imperialist stateswould conquer colon- iespeacefullyby introducingtradeandreplacingbarterwithcommoditypro- duction, which would happen with the consent of native populations. He realised that the influx of capital and cheap industrialmaterials into colon- ies revolutionises existingproduction relations,which, in turn, changes their social and political structures. Bauer clearly held a negative view of these processes, and his attitude to colonialismwas unequivocally hostile. In his speeches against colonial policy, he considered two viewpoints: that of the population of the conquered country, and that of the working class of the aggressorcountries.29Theconsequencesforthecoloniesareeconomicexploit- ation, economic imbalance, the ruinofpeasantsandsmall artisanswhothen fill theranksoftheunemployed,andthedeteriorationofthelivingconditions of society’spoorer layers. Politically, colonialismmeans thatexistingpolitical structures are subordinated to theaggressors for the solepurposeofprotect- ing the capitalist economy. For all social classes (with the exception of the ascendantnationalbourgeoisie), thismeansincreasingpoliticaloppression.It is a natural tendency of subjugated countries to strive for political and eco- nomic independence.Hence, national liberation struggles under the leader- shipofthelocalbourgeoisiecommence.Thenationalbourgeoisieisinterested not only in shaking off the yoke, but also in creating its own capitalist eco- nomy.30 LikemanyGermanSocialDemocrats–e.g.Kautsky,Bernstein,Luxemburg andSchippel–Bauerregardedmilitarismasanintegralcomponentofexpan- sionism. Incontrast to theGerman theorists, however, hebarely investigated the militarisation of the economy. It was not so much the economic con- sequencesofmilitarismandexpansionismthatinterestedhim,buttheirsocial implications.Twoofhiscommentsontheroleofmilitarisationintheeconomic 29 SeeBauer1979d,pp.828–43. 30 SeeBauer1976q,pp.837–40.