An interesting footnote from Hoppe's 'The Theory of Socialism and Capitalism':

It is worth stressing that contrary to what various nationalist historians have taught, the revival of trade and industry was caused by the weakness of central states, by the essentially anarchistic character of the feudal system. This insight has been emphasized by J. Baechler in The Origins of Capitalism, New York, 1976, esp. Chapter 7. He writes: “The constant expansion of the market, both in extensiveness and in intensity, was the result of an absence of a political order extending over the whole of Western Europe.” (p.73) “The expansion of capitalism owes its origin and raison d’eetre to political anarchy ... . Collectivism and State management have only succeeded in school text-books (look, for example, at the constantly favourable judgement they give to Colbertism).” (p.77) “All power tends toward the absolute. If it is not absolute, this is because some kind of limitations have come into play ... those in positions of power at the centre ceaselessly tried to erode these limitations. They never succeeded, and for a reason that also seems to me to be tied to the international system: a limitation of power to act externally and the constant threat of foreign assault (the two characteristics of a multi-polar system) imply that power is also limited internally and must rely on autonomous centres of decision making and so may use them only sparingly.” (p.78)