Merchants of death

For other uses, see Merchant of Death (disambiguation).

Merchants of death is a pejorative directed at the arms industry and also often at international bankers. It originated in the Great Depression. This theory claimed that an international munitions industry conspired to control the fate of nations via improper influence over government officials. The purpose of this supposed conspiracy was to extract profits from human death. During peacetime, the conspirators would stir up antagonism and war between nations so that they could then arm the combatants and line their pockets with the proceeds. The phrase is a forerunner of the military-industrial complex concept that became popular during the Vietnam War.

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