@charliebrownau @Codeki Through most of history it's been the Warrior class backed by the Priest class. Or visa versa. Then at some point the Warrior class ditched the priests and got their backing from the merchants instead. Sometime around the East India Company. That eventually flipped to the merchants in charge. Who then ditched the warriors for the plebeians. Which is what we see today.
Side note, I see the military industry complex as merchants, not warriors.