the world of private banking
the world of private banking
the world of private banking
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JEwISH PRIVAtE BANKS 229<br />
monarchies in continental Europe, <strong>the</strong> Rothschilds appear to have adapted<br />
<strong>the</strong>mselves to <strong>the</strong> successive regimes in France after <strong>the</strong> fall <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> monarchy.<br />
Similarly, through its broad international interests <strong>the</strong> family might be involved<br />
with both sides in conflicts between a conservative regime and its opponents. Thus,<br />
during <strong>the</strong> wars for Italian unification, <strong>the</strong> London house underwrote an Austrian<br />
loan while at <strong>the</strong> same time <strong>the</strong> Rothschilds <strong>of</strong> Paris were negotiating with <strong>the</strong><br />
Piedmontese government.<br />
As information obtained through personal contacts with business, political<br />
and diplomatic circles lay at <strong>the</strong> core <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>private</strong> bankers’ business, it is not<br />
surprising that government tried to use <strong>the</strong>m as intermediaries and entrusted <strong>the</strong>m<br />
with discreet missions. Thus, on several occasions Bleichröder was an intermediary<br />
between Bismarck and <strong>the</strong> liberal opposition in Prussia. We cannot tell his numerous<br />
diplomatic missions, but it is worth stressing that after <strong>the</strong> 1870s his position in<br />
Berlin so impressed <strong>the</strong> Russian Ministers <strong>of</strong> Finance that <strong>the</strong>y corresponded<br />
secretly with him about not only financial but also political matters.<br />
Despite appearances, <strong>the</strong> political influence <strong>of</strong> Jewish <strong>private</strong> bankers should<br />
not be overestimated. Its efficiency was correlative with <strong>the</strong> convergence <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir<br />
interests and <strong>the</strong> aims <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> government <strong>the</strong>y served. Bleichröder’s decline after<br />
<strong>the</strong> fall <strong>of</strong> Bismarck is a revealing case. The Romanian question is a yet more<br />
revealing one. During <strong>the</strong> 1870s Western Jews decided to use <strong>the</strong>ir power and<br />
influence in order to organize collective European pressure on East European<br />
governments to improve <strong>the</strong> lot <strong>of</strong> Jewish minorities. Bleichröder devoted himself<br />
to <strong>the</strong> case <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Romanian Jews. So long as German railway interests in Romania<br />
were threatened, Bismarck supported <strong>the</strong> campaign for emancipating <strong>the</strong> Romanian<br />
Jews. When in 1878 <strong>the</strong> Powers imposed <strong>the</strong>ir liberal principles on Romania at <strong>the</strong><br />
Berlin Congress, Bleichröder celebrated his triumph sumptuously. It did not last<br />
very long. Once <strong>the</strong> railway question was solved with <strong>the</strong> Romanian government<br />
two years later, Bismarck cynically gave up his support to <strong>the</strong> Romanian Jews and<br />
<strong>the</strong>ir emancipation was forgotten.<br />
Without debating <strong>the</strong> financing <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Zionist movement by certain prominent<br />
Jewish financiers, let us recall that <strong>the</strong> deteriorating situation <strong>of</strong> Russian Jewry also<br />
influenced <strong>the</strong>ir international business. Indeed, outraged by <strong>the</strong> pogroms against<br />
Russian Jews, Jacob Schiff decided to finance and support Japan during <strong>the</strong> war<br />
<strong>of</strong> 1904–5, and Japanese bonds were sold on <strong>the</strong> German market by <strong>the</strong> Warburg<br />
bank with <strong>the</strong> agreement <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Wilhelmstrasse.<br />
On <strong>the</strong> whole, peace seems to have been <strong>the</strong> main concern <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> international<br />
Jewish haute banque. The dread <strong>of</strong> war inspired Sir Ernest Cassel’s and Max<br />
Warburg’s efforts to unite Britain and Germany on <strong>the</strong> eve <strong>of</strong> World War I.<br />
Siegmund Warburg’s action in favour <strong>of</strong> European Union after World War II was<br />
also motivated by his conviction that prosperity and close Western ties were <strong>the</strong><br />
best way to prevent Nazi revival. Anyhow, <strong>the</strong> <strong>private</strong> bankers’ political influence<br />
remains largely an unknown. By <strong>the</strong> end <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> twentieth century, <strong>the</strong> <strong>private</strong><br />
Jewish bank had lost its specific place in <strong>the</strong> <strong>banking</strong> system. A few houses have<br />
survived thanks to <strong>the</strong>ir strength and <strong>the</strong>ir ability to keep family control and adapt