9 Wars That Were Really About Commodities

The recent rise in tensions over the disputed South China Sea has drawn attention to the possibility that the conflict is really about natural resources located in the islands of the South China Sea.

With the help of Waverly Advisors we point out that wars over commodities go back centuries.

We re-examine the real motivations behind the Pearl Harbor attack and  the German invasion of Russia. We also consider more current geo-political tensions that are being driven by commodities.

The American Revolution in Europe is seen as a battle between the British and the French for commodities and trade routes

The French participated in the American Revolution when they offered the United Stated naval support in 1778. While the revolution is seen as a patriotic battle in the U.S. to Europeans it was a battle over commodities and trade routes.

From Waverly: "From a European perspective the U.S. revolt was a sideshow to a larger British/French conflict fought mainly over the agriculturally rich East and West indies trade routes. While the British lost to the colonists at Yorktown, the Royal Navy's victory over a French & Spanish fleet at the Battle of the Saintes was bigger news at home as it secured Sugar rich Jamaica as a British possession."

Source: Waverly Advisors

The Battle of Plassey helped establish British control over India and bring it access to the country's commodities and control trading routes

Though the British Raj or the British empire in India only began in 1858, the British had made their presence felt through the East India Company as early as the 1600s with the Mughal's granting them trading rights in the early 1600s.

But as the Mughal Empire weakened and after the British won the Battle of Plassey they wound down the East India Company and took over the nation. Britain's interest in India was driven by the empire's interest in Indian spices, textiles, precious stones, opium, other commodities and control over trade.

Source: The Corporation That Changed The World

The American Civil War centered around slavery but slavery itself was driven by demand for cotton and other agricultural commodities

"While slavery or states' rights are the primary reasons for the conflict according to most scholars, it's important to remember that the southern economies extreme dependence on Cotton and other agricultural commodities was a critical underlying cause of Slavery itself.

During the war, European demand for cotton greatly outstripped supply due to the Union blockade, and the confederacy was able to issue bonds bought by European institutions that had a convertible feature allowing them to be redeemed for gold or a fixed volume of Cotton, making them a favorite of speculative traders. After the war the U.S. refused to honor any Confederate debt, even that issued by individual states."

Source: Waverly Advisors

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