Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online

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Capitalism
(2,846 words)

1. History of the term

The term capitalism is comparatively recent [6]; [11]. Unlike capital and capitalist, which are found in the language of commerce and business as early as the late Middle Ages, capitalism first appeared in French in the mid-19th century – already with critical overtones. From the 1870s on, it became popular in Germany as a negative characterization of the social situation brought on by…

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Plumpe, Werner, “Capitalism”, in: Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online, Editors of the English edition: Graeme Dunphy, Andrew Gow. Original German Edition: Enzyklopädie der Neuzeit. Im Auftrag des Kulturwissenschaftlichen Instituts (Essen) und in Verbindung mit den Fachherausgebern herausgegeben von Friedrich Jaeger. Copyright © J.B. Metzlersche Verlagsbuchhandlung und Carl Ernst Poeschel Verlag GmbH 2005–2012. Consulted online on 19 March 2024 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/2352-0272_emho_COM_021934>
First published online: 2015
First print edition: 20160907



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