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PART 1
The Conditions in Which Liberalism and Capitalism Appeared

Introduction to Part 1

Capitalism is not a natural economic state and therefore had no reason to appear at the same time as humans. It is therefore not surprising that the pre-capitalist period was much longer than the capitalist period. Capitalism is the product of a long process of individual behavioral transformation in all areas of human existence, with consequences for economic life. Indeed, one can certainly discover, at all times and in all countries, scattered capitalist operations, but never as a complete economic system, because in any case, for Max Weber (2010a, author’s translation), “one can only really speak of capitalism where there is a true economic spirit”.

Thus, a certain form of capitalism has always existed, almost everywhere, in the form of the capitalism of mercantile exchange, served by a small number of people who have grown rich in particular activities (financiers, arms dealers, etc.). These wealthy citizens subsequently invested their wealth in owning land and acquiring ships, which allowed the countries that hosted them, such as Greece, to achieve dominance in the maritime world and in commercial enterprises.

Moreover, capitalism did not appear everywhere at the same time, since human evolution did not manifest itself in the same way on all continents: for reasons that will be developed in more detail later, capitalism only really appeared for most historians in the 16th century, and solely in the West, even though Weber believes that it was born at the end of Antiquity, from the 5th century onwards. Indeed, it is from this date that both the political and legal conditions and the economic and sociological conditions necessary for its existence were met.