Land Summary and Analysis

The period Hobsbawm covers sees a dramatic change in the way people are connected to the land, and in the way land is connected to the economy. Hobsbawm calls this change "the most catastrophic phenomenon" of the period (p. 149).

The traditional system of agriculture is a hindrance to economic growth, Hobsbawm claims. To unleash its economic potential, he writes, it must be freed from the ownership of large landlords and the Church and made into a commodity that can be bought and sold. It must be bought by a class of people who will develop it with an eye toward making a profit, and the people formerly tied to the land must be cut loose to provide a labor force that can be controlled.

Peasants and landlords therefore stand in the way of this economic development, and they are dealt with...