the world of private banking

THE RISE OF tHE ROtHScHILDS
the Rothschilds from a government), the commission charged was significantly
higher, or the gap between the price paid and the price at which they were sold to
brokers was larger. If they were merely sold on commission for a government, with
the option to return any which could not be placed, less could be expected. There
were also a host of smaller short-term advances to governments which were often
very lucrative but do not appear in the figures cited above. Nor do the numerous
inter-state transfer payments which the Rothschilds arranged, for example the
subsidies paid by Britain to her allies in the final phase of the Napoleonic wars and
the ‘contributions’ from France to the members of the coalition which defeated
Napoleon in 1814–15. Few European wars were fought in the nineteenth century
without business of this sort being generated for the Rothschilds in their aftermath,
though the most celebrated example (the French indemnity to Germany of 1871–3)
lies outside the scope of this paper.
Table 1.5
Loans issued by the London house, 1818–1846 (by recipient)
Borrower Total (£) % of total
Britain 44,938,547 29.2
France 27,700,000 18.0
Prussia 12,300,400 8.0
Russia 6,629,166 4.3
Austria 3,100,000 2.0
Naples 7,000,000 4.5
‘Holy Alliance’* 29,029,566 18.8)
Portugal 5,500,000 3.6
Brazil 4,486,200 2.9
Belgium 11,681,064 7.6
Other States** 5,843,750 3.8
Private sector 24,900,000 16.2
Total 154,079,127 100.0
* Including Naples.
** Holland, Greece and Denmark.
Source: Ayer, Century, pp. 14–42.
The development of the international bond market was the Rothschilds’
principal contribution to nineteenth century capitalism. Of course, there had been
large-scale international lending before: Neal’s work has shown the importance
of Dutch investment in the British national debt in the eighteenth century, for