the world of private banking
the world of private banking
the world of private banking
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JEwISH PRIVAtE BANKS 227<br />
buying an estate was less a source <strong>of</strong> status or revenue than a source <strong>of</strong> leisure<br />
used as an instrument <strong>of</strong> business and social networking. The <strong>banking</strong> community<br />
being heterogeneous in matters <strong>of</strong> religion since <strong>the</strong> eighteenth century, this factor<br />
did not hinder Jewish bankers’ ascension. Even though anti-Semitism was less<br />
virulent than elsewhere and many Jewish financiers were close to King Edward<br />
VII, before World War I only Lord Alfred Rothschild had been admitted to sit on<br />
<strong>the</strong> board <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Bank <strong>of</strong> England.<br />
In France, most <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> members <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> haute banque belonged to <strong>the</strong> Protestant<br />
and Jewish minorities. In <strong>the</strong> second generation, <strong>the</strong> Jewish bankers assimilated<br />
without leaving <strong>the</strong>ir religion, by adopting <strong>the</strong> upper classes’ education and way<br />
<strong>of</strong> life and obtaining French nationality. However, Jewish bankers suffered anti-<br />
Semitic prejudices, which worsened during <strong>the</strong> Dreyfus affair. The birth <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
Banque de l’Union Parisienne, founded in 1904 by six houses <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Protestant<br />
haute banque and <strong>the</strong> Société Générale de Belgique, gives pro<strong>of</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> persistence<br />
<strong>of</strong> religious solidarities and rivalries in <strong>the</strong> <strong>banking</strong> <strong>world</strong>.<br />
Moreover, even in such a liberal country as Belgium, <strong>the</strong> Société Générale<br />
had never had a Jew on its board. While <strong>the</strong> bank had for a long time to share <strong>the</strong><br />
Belgian market with <strong>the</strong> Rothschilds and was in relationship with Mendelssohn<br />
since <strong>the</strong> 1870s for <strong>the</strong> Russian loans issues, it declined <strong>of</strong>fers to do business from<br />
both <strong>the</strong> Warburg and Bleichröder banks. After <strong>the</strong> mid-1850s, when <strong>the</strong> growth <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>the</strong> Rothschilds’ industrial interests in Belgium and <strong>the</strong> project for a Crédit Mobilier<br />
promoted by a group <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> international haute banque brought strong opposition<br />
in Parliament and public opinion, <strong>the</strong> Jewish <strong>private</strong> bankers or at least <strong>the</strong>ir sons<br />
got used to asking for naturalization once <strong>the</strong>y were well established in Belgium.<br />
In this way, <strong>the</strong>y increased <strong>the</strong>ir integration in <strong>the</strong> national capitalism while at <strong>the</strong><br />
same time stimulating <strong>the</strong> internationalization <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Brussels financial market.<br />
Although a few <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>m were able to become members <strong>of</strong> Parliament or were<br />
ennobled, <strong>the</strong> Jewish haute banque did not reach such a high degree <strong>of</strong> integration<br />
as in Britain. As intermarriage inside <strong>the</strong> Jewish international community suffered<br />
few exceptions, as religious practice and philanthropy towards <strong>the</strong> growing waves<br />
<strong>of</strong> poor Jews migrating from Eastern Europe prevailed, assimilation was ra<strong>the</strong>r<br />
difficult in high society before World War I, where Catholicism prevailed.<br />
Jewish Private Bankers and Politics<br />
The rise <strong>of</strong> Jewish bankers gave birth to new stereotypes in anti-Semitic propaganda<br />
after <strong>the</strong> late nineteenth century. One <strong>of</strong> those was <strong>the</strong>ir supposed omnipotence in<br />
<strong>world</strong> affairs. Without going into debate, we may point out some aspects <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir<br />
relationship to politics. In calling Siegmund Warburg ‘un homme d’influence’,<br />
Jacques Attali stresses a significant feature <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> role some prominent Jewish<br />
<strong>private</strong> bankers have played in politics, be it at national or international level. Few<br />
<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>m were directly active in politics in Parliament or government.