Conclusion and Retrospective

This short chapter argues that we now need a different definition of a military-industrial complex, for the evidence in this book shows a different side to the alleged abuses of armament manufacturers and industrial elites. While plenty of illegal dealings occurred, they did not occur in the way some theorists have anticipated, nor by the actors judged most likely to hold influence in such a complex. The actions of ‘outsiders’ and ‘insiders’ during rearmament and WW2 paints a very different picture of industry, and shows why political, business, and military history can never be effectively separated when studying questions like these.