Economic Consequences Compared

Revolutions had profound economic consequences. The United States emerged with debts, but Alexander Hamilton's financial program of 1790–91, including federal assumption of state debts and the First Bank of the United States, established credit and supported growth. Revolutionary France issued paper money called assignats backed by confiscated Church lands; overprinting caused severe inflation, and they were withdrawn in 1796. Haiti's sugar economy collapsed during the war, and the 1825 indemnity drained resources for generations.

Spanish American economies were devastated by long wars, and many new governments defaulted on loans raised in London in the 1820s. Soviet Russia's 'War Communism' nationalized industry and requisitioned grain, and output collapsed before the NEP allowed limited markets. Comparison shows that revolutions that inherited working institutions and avoided prolonged war recovered more quickly, while devastation and isolation had long-lasting effects.