REIGN OF ROTHSCHILDS - 7. Fighting for Position with Louis Napoleon, Cavour and Bismarck - SECRETS OF POWER: Masters of Politics, Strategy & War

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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Chapter seven, fighting for position with Leuis Napoleon, Cavour, and Bismarck.
The February Revolution in France, which started a general revolutionary
movement throughout Europe, was to terminate in a surprising manner.
After the fall of the First Napoleon, France had first
tried the elder and then the younger line of the Bourbons.

(00:20):
The majority of the people, however, felt uneasy under the
form of government introduced in eighteen forty eight. For Memories
of the terror and excesses of the First Republic that
followed the Great Revolution had not entirely died out, and
they were revived by the June Rising of eighteen forty eight,
which was suppressed after sanguinary conflicts by Eugene Cavagnac, war

(00:41):
Minister of the Republic. It was only natural in these
circumstances that the French people should respond to the magic
name of Napoleon, which, in spite of the tragic end
of the man who had made it famous, had remained
a symbol of genius and glory. On the outbreak of
the Revolution, Louis Napoleon had hastened to Paris to spy
out his chances. At first he remained in the background,

(01:03):
but when in June he was elected to represent Paris
and three departments, he felt that his moment was at hand.
The ora surrounding the name of Napoleon, with its peculiar
psychological appeal, was successfully exploited by a powerful agitation, so
that at the presidential elections of the December tenth, eighteen
forty eight, no less than five and a half million

(01:23):
out of seven and a quarter million votes were cast
in favor of the prince. The Rothchild family watched these
developments with no little dismay. They had not, as in
the case of Louis the eighteenth cased with their gold
the progress of the regent from Loudon to his throne
in Paris. The reaction had occurred far too suddenly, and
they were too intimately associated with the dynasty that had

(01:46):
given them such an extraordinary position in Paris to be
able to effect so abrupt a readjustment of their whole position,
the expediency of which at first, at any rate was
far from certain. Moreover, there were historical reasons why they
should feel embarrassed in tendering their support to a Napoleon,
since they were bound to reflect that their attitude after
the fall of the First Napoleon had made it obvious

(02:08):
to everyone that they had always been secretly in opposition.
If a successor of that great man were actually to
attain to power, the members of the Rothschild family could
hardly expect him to look upon them with favor and confidence.
In the absence of any possibility of Lewis Philippe coming back,
the House of Rothschild was inclined to favor a republic.

(02:29):
The men at the Helm seemed to provide a sufficient
guarantee against such a republic being too extreme, and the
Rothschilds had succeeded, through their earlier connections, in establishing good
and in some cases even intimate relations with these men.
They were exceedingly friendly with Cavnannak and on the best
possible terms with General Nicholas Changarnier, who had been recalled

(02:50):
from Algiers to the National Assembly and had been appointed
to the command of the National Guard. Chane Garnier paid
gallant attentions to James Rothschild's wife, the beautiful and intelligent
Baroness Betty. Politically, the general was also in sympathy with
the House of Rothschild, since if he could not achieve
the presidency himself, he was inclined to support the Bourbons,

(03:11):
his only difficulty being to decide as between the older
and the younger line. Chane Garnier and the Rothschilds were
therefore alike dismayed at the defeat of Kavagnac and led
to Roland in the presidential elections. The general, however, retained
his high military office, since for the moment he was
indispensable to the new president, Lewis Napoleon, the problem in

(03:33):
eighteen forty nine being to repel further attacks by the radicals.
In this matter, although otherwise opposed, their interests were identical.
Chane Garnier, who secretly still cherished a hope of attaining
to the presidency himself, noted with displeasure, as also did James,
that the entourage of the Prince President, consisting, as many
of their friends stated, of greedy adventures, although it certainly

(03:57):
included Persigne, a man of blameless character, was blindly devoted
to the Napoleonic cause, were constantly urging Lewis Napoleon to
make himself absolute master of the state. They were also
displeased to observe that Lewis Napoleon showed no small skill
in enlisting the support of philanthropic and socialistic movements. The

(04:17):
result was that, while on the surface Lewis Napoleon's attitude
to the House of Rothschild was polite, the opposition between
them increased. The President felt that the bank was an
international power, and that his own position was not so
secure that he could afford to make enemies unnecessarily. Financially, however,
he had little need of the Rothschilds. The rich Jewish

(04:39):
banker Akil Food, a member of the Paris Bank of
Food and Oppenheim, had attached himself to him some time ago,
and he not only lent the Prince the money he
so sorely needed to consolidate his position, but also, as
a financial expert, became his confidential adviser in all money matters.
In order to cut the ground from under the feet
of his great rival. Akil Food had been particularly active

(05:02):
in confirming Lewis Napoleon in the belief that no help
could be expected of a house which had been so
intimately associated with the fate of the Bourbons and had
been so definitely hostile to the first Napoleon in this way,
Food hoped to secure the position with the powers in
the state that the Rothchilds had enjoyed. Food backed Lewis Napoleon,
who was leading in the race for the throne of France.

(05:22):
If he were to come in first, there was no
saying how much the perspicacious banker might not win. On
the October thirty first, eighteen forty nine, Akil Food was
actually appointed Finance Minister to the Republic. Such being the
state of affairs, it must have been with mixed feeling
that Louis Napoleon, President of the Republic, and James Rothschild

(05:43):
sat next to one another in the coach of honor
at the opening of the Northern Railway of France line
to Saint Quentin. The shouts of vaval Emperor, with which
the President was acclaimed by the crowds, were music to
his cars, but they roused bitter feelings in the breast
of James. He was a third in this company. Jacques
Emille Perreier, the Portuguese jew who had attracted James's attention

(06:05):
in connection with the foundation of the railway companies, and
who had achieved riches and honor in his service. He
had for some time been in touch with food, and
when he saw the new star rising in the French firmament,
he decided that the time had come to sever his
connection with his old chief and to make an independent
bid for wealth and power by placing himself at the
service of the new lord of the land. He too,

(06:28):
heard with satisfaction the eloquent plaudits of the multitude, reminiscent
of a glorious past. Externally, things seemed to be going
on as before, and it would have been difficult for
the uninitiated to guess what was happening behind the scenes.
The President's representative and James Rothschild walked side by side
behind Honore de Balzac's coffin on August twentieth, eighteen fifty.

(06:51):
During the years of his growing success, Balzac had been
a constant visitor and friend of the house of Rothchild.
He had never been able to get out of the
habit of contracting debts, and having made James's acquaintance at
Ike's less Baines, he naturally borrowed money from him. The
novelist described his creditors in an amusing story A Creditor's Scheming,

(07:11):
which he dedicated as well as the business men, to
James Rothchild, to the Baroness Betty, who often invited him
to the house he dedicated the cursed Child. After meeting
Heina and Rothschild on the boulevard one day, Balzac remarked,
there go all the wealth and all the intelligence of
the Jews. Arm in arm politics were too acute to

(07:33):
leave much time for funerals. The opposition between Chane Garnier,
who controlled the military forces in Paris, and the President
became more and more pronounced. The General overestimated his influence
and his position in the National Assembly. His popularity in
the capital was declining, whilst that of the Prince was increasing.
Her Vaughan Hubner, the new Austrian representative whose predecessor James

(07:57):
continued to lament, attributed this fact partly to the fact
that the General's relations with the House of Rothchild were
no secret. The feeling of popular resentment from which the
General is suffering just now, he reported on the June eighteenth,
is largely attributable to his intimate relations with the Rothschild family,
arising out of a heartfelt emotion for Madame James Rothschild,

(08:19):
the prince whom Change Garnier has on several occasions provoked
by holding reviews of the troops without even advising him,
previously learned that the said lady was present at them
in a magnificent equipage, and that the gallant general saluted
her before the whole army of Paris. Lewis Napoleon finally decided,
at the instigation of his entourage to take steps to

(08:39):
relieve General Changarnier of his command. The decree of dismissal
had lain for four days on the President's desk when
he changed his mind again, the insincere and short lived
reconciliation being marked by a magnificent review at which the
general marched the troops past the Prince. During this period,
the enthusiastic Bonapartists were working zealous for the re establishment

(09:01):
of the Empire. Jean Persigny played a prominent part in
this movement. He had become a friend of Louis Napoleon
during the latter's exile at a Rennenkrig in Switzerland, and
had taken part in the Strasbourg adventure at the end
of October eighteen thirty six, as well as in Louis
Napoleon's unsuccessful landing at Boulogne. The latter attempt had resulted
in a sentence of twenty years imprisonment, and he did

(09:24):
not regain his liberty until the February Revolution of eighteen
forty eight. Inspired with a burning hatred of the Bourbons,
he now became the most zealous champion of the empire.
Louis Napoleon had at once taken him into his confidence
and employed him on important diplomatic missions. From December eighteen
forty nine until April eighteen fifty, he was at Berlin.

(09:46):
Foreign countries, and especially Germany, were disturbed to observe the
internal developments in France, as that country appeared to be
moving towards a second Napoleonic Empire, with all the unfortunate
associations connected with that name. Meyer Amskill at Frankfort and
his brother Solomon, who had also been staying at Frankfort
since he had fled from Vienna on the outbreak of

(10:07):
the revolution, shared these misgivings. They asked their brother James
to let them know the truth as to the state
of affairs in Paris and how far they had real
cause to feel alarmed. During James's temporary absence, his eldest son,
Alphonse Rothschild, answered their letter. He admitted that the conflicting
and exaggerated reports in them newspapers gave distinct ground for alarm.

(10:29):
He therefore wished his uncle to know the opinions of
well informed persons, who, by reason of their position in
the stale, exercised a direct and powerful influence upon the
course of events. In that category, Chain Garnier was obviously included.
By implication. Alphonse Rothschild expressed the view that there was
a unanimous desire to maintain peace and order. The only

(10:51):
cause of alarm was connected with Persigny and the imperialist elements.
M de Persigny, he wrote, the representative of France in
Berlin is to return to his post in the near future.
He is still of a very warlike turn of mind.
He means to induce Prussia to declare war on Austria
with the idea that France shall intervene in this fratricidal strife.

(11:14):
He hopes thoroughly to confuse the issue in Germany, so
that certain ambitious schemes in France the Empire may be
brought to fruition, which have no chance of success without
a foreign war. You may assure your friends that these
schemes in no way enjoy the approval of our government,
of influential members of the Chamber, or of the country itself.

(11:34):
France has no desire at all to see Prussia and
Austria at war. The idea of German blood being shed
by Germans seems criminal. And if the alas a the
President Lewis Napoleon should really embark upon such an eccentric policy,
our statesmen and parliamentarians would certainly refuse to adopt it
or carry it through. You may therefore set your minds

(11:56):
at rest. The government will follow an entirely con conservative policy.
Chain Garnier was sanguine too. He said of Persigny, who
was somewhat short of stature, that he was busily engaged
in turning the little man's head. But the general was mistaken.
Louis Napoleon pursued his course unswervingly. On the January fifth,

(12:18):
eighteen fifty one, the President relieved General Chainegarnier of his
military command, although he had failed to carry a vote
of censure on the general in the National Assembly. The
result was that Louis Napoleon broke with the Assembly, but
The Assembly itself was split by this event, and its
majority became divided. Meanwhile, the President, who was determined to

(12:39):
cut the Gordian knot, had completed his preliminary preparations by
the coup d'eta of the December second, eighteen fifty one,
whereby he dissolved the National Assembly. He laid the foundations
of his personal power. Louis Napoleon's most important opponents, numbering
almost twenty seven thousand persons, were arrested and deported or

(13:00):
otherwise dealt with. In this number were included Tierre, Cavagnac
and Change Garnier. The President said to the people, your
constitution and your National Assembly are detestable. I liberate you
from them. Up to the last moment, the ministry had
no suspicion of what was in the air. The leading
positions were mostly occupied by persons whose names were closely

(13:22):
associated with the First Empire, the new men being Morny, Fla, Halt,
Persignean food. These events caused consternation in the House of
James Rothschild. Change Garnier's fall made an end of all
the hopes which he had set on him. The arrest
of the General Hubner reported has brought sorrow into the
home of the Rothchilds. But it must be admitted that

(13:44):
Baron James is bearing the blow with great resignation. All
things considered, the position is exceedingly serious. Lewis Napoleon submitted
the draft of the new constitution to the people and
took a plebiscite on his measures, which resulted in his
obtaining an enormous majoriy alory, seven and a half million
votes being cast in favor of his measure and six

(14:04):
hundred and fifty thousand against. The people wanted peace, and
for them the name of Napoleon symbolized a happy future
by way of encountering any misgivings, lest as in a
time of the First Empire, the calm which every one
longed for should be shattered by war. Lewis Napoleon made
the statement at Bordeaux, the Empire is peace, thereby giving

(14:25):
open expression to his intention of assuming the Imperial crown.
James had to make the best of a bad job
and adjust himself to the course of events. Louis Napoleon
had not shown any overt hostility to James. He had,
even in accordance with his policy of securing the support
of the Catholics induced him to grant alone to the Pope. Moreover,

(14:46):
at the beginning of eighteen fifty two, he had granted
a syndicate of bankers operating under the leadership of the
House of Rothschild, the concession for constructing the railway from
Paris to Lyons. Nevertheless, James had lost his position financial
supremacy in Paris. He would not be able to retain
his footing at all without a struggle, and, having regard

(15:06):
to the persons now in power, that struggle was bound
to be a hard one. The Paris House had scarcely
recovered somewhat from the consequences of the February Revolution of
eighteen eighteen when it was faced with these further serious problems.
At this time, an event occurred that profoundly affected all
the members of the Rothschild family. Frau Gudla, widow since

(15:27):
eighteen twelve of Meyer Amskill, the founder of the bank
and mother of the five Frankforters, who had witnessed the
rise of the House from its beginning, died on the
May seventh, eighteen forty, at the age of ninety six.
She had seen the passage of the Law of the
February twentieth, eighteen forty nine, conferring civil and political equality
on all members of the state, including the Jews, an

(15:49):
event which her husband and her sons had done so
much to help bring about. In spite of all the
wealth that had come to her family, she had never
left the little family house in the Jewish Quarter, for
she feared that fortune would desert the house if she
were to forsake the spot where it had first come
upon them. During the lifetime of her beloved husband, she
had kept her health up to an advanced age, and

(16:10):
then when the first sign of trouble occurred, she was
angry with the doctors for not being able to assist
her more effectively. When doctor Steeble replied that it was
unfortunately impossible for him to make her younger, she answered,
in the words that have since become famous, I do
not want you to make me younger. All I want
is to be made older. Until the end of her life,

(16:31):
the venerable woman remained saving, simple, unassuming, and deeply religious.
Her bridal wreath, carefully preserved under glass and still occupying
its place of honor at Frankfort, was a symbol of
the pious life of this fine old woman, so true
to her traditions. While the old mother of the House
was dying at Frankfort, her sons and grandsons throughout the

(16:53):
world were fighting to maintain the position of power which
they had won. The financial supremacy of the House in
England had scared been affected by the development of events
on the continent. In England, they were rather concerned to
raise themselves socially, for the House of Lords was strongly
opposed to the idea of Jewish emancipation. Anthony, Nathan's second

(17:13):
son and the younger brother of Lionel, who was now
head of the English House, had, on Sir Robert Peel's recommendation,
been created a baronet on the January twelfth, eighteen forty seven,
with the special provision that if he had no heirs male,
the title should devolve upon the heirs of his elder
brother Lionel. He lived the life of a wealthy country
gentleman and kept open house at his place asked in

(17:36):
Clinton in Buckinghamshire. Meanwhile, Lionel, whom the City of London
kept electing to Parliament, did not cease his efforts to
secure admission to the House. In spite of the obstacles
of the Christian oath and the opposition of the House
of Lords. His case raised the important question of principle
as to whether Jews should be admitted to the House
of Commons or not. On the July twenty fifth, eighteen fifty,

(18:00):
a meeting of electors of the city, which had been
called that a London tavern, decided that Lionel should go
to the House of Commons on the following day and
claim his seat. He duly appeared and asked to take
the oath on the Old Testament. Sir Robert Inglis. However,
the leader of the Tories and the opponent of Jewish emancipation,
opposed the suggestion. Lionel was asked to withdraw and the

(18:23):
matter was postponed until the July twenty ninth. On that
day he again appeared in the House of Commons and
took the oath of loyalty to the Queen, as well
as the oath of Supremacy, which recognizes the sovereign as
the only head of the Church, these two oaths being
quite unobjectionable since they closed with the words so help
me God. In the case of the third oath, required

(18:44):
by law, However, the Oath of Abjuration, which deals with
the descendants of James the Second and is still required,
and which closes with the words on the True Faith
of a Christian. Nathan substituted the formula So help Me God,
adding that these words were more binding on his conscience
than any other. He had taken up the pen to
sign his name in the register of admitted members when

(19:06):
the Speaker told him to withdraw. A fresh election was
demanded on the ground that Baron Rothschild had refused to
take the oath in the prescribed form. An amendment that
he should be regarded as an actual member of the
House was lost by a majority of one hundred and
one votes. The matter aroused great excitement, and there was
keen public discussion. The position was that any change in

(19:28):
the formula in the Oath of Abjuration could be brought
about only by an Act of Parliament passed by both houses,
although the oath was quite redundant and had a purely
historical significance. If, however, the House of Commons had agreed
after all that had occurred in his taking his seat,
Rothschild could have sat in it from that day. By
doing so, however, he would have made himself liable to

(19:51):
an action by any person in any one of the
three principal courts of justice, and to a penalty of
five hundred pounds for each day that he had sat
in the house, the fine being payable to the person
who brought the action. Although at a later date of
majority of the House of Commons actually voted that Lionel
should be admitted, the bill was rejected by the House
of Lords, and some years passed before the matter was

(20:13):
finally settled. Through his brother Nathaniel and through occasional visits,
Lionel kept in close touch with his uncle James in Paris.
In view of the development of events in France, James
felt that he ought to discuss the situation with his
other brothers and nephews in Frankfort and Vienna, and accordingly
set out on a journey to these cities in August
eighteen fifty two. At Vienna, James was received an audience

(20:37):
by the Emperor Francis Joseph, who asked him what was
happening in France. The Emperor informed James, as Austrian consul
general in Paris, that he cherished the most friendly feelings
for Lewis Napoleon and asked him to pass this on
the duty of communicating. This message, noncommittal though it might be,
was a welcome one to James, since he would be

(20:58):
coming to the President, who was on the vertage of
achieving the imperial dignity with pleasant words from a legitimate podentate,
and would thereby be enabled to improve his unfortunate position
in Paris. After Solomon's flight, the Vienna branch of the
House of Rothschild was without a real head, being carried
on by managers and secretaries. Later on, Solomon's eldest son, Anselm,

(21:21):
who was forty nine years old at the time, frequently
visited Vienna, and although he was Austrian consul general at Frankfort,
he took over the control of the business, constantly coming
and going between the two towns. When the reaction set
in in Austria and the aged Medinick returned, it became
easier for the House of Rothschild to regain their footing
in Vienna. The family wealth was unimpaired, society and the

(21:45):
states still wanted their money. The aristocracy returned to power
and closely guarded the throne. Old connections from the time
of Medinich, which had been only temporarily severed, were resumed,
and the house in Vienna was soon re established in
its former respected position. When James returned to Paris from Vienna,
there was an unpleasant surprise awaiting him. His opponents had

(22:08):
succeeded in entirely winning over to their side Lewis Napoleon,
who had very little understanding of financial matters, and they
were already venturing upon a move which should take the
financial power in France entirely out of the hands of
the Rothchilds. They had planned to found a great rival
bank which should receive extensive support from the state, and
in which this was the essential point, Food, Parire and

(22:31):
their retainers should play the leading parts. The roles had
been cleverly allotted. The highly gifted and assiduous Pursires, with
their tireless energy, who had been schooled by Rothschild were
ostensibly to be the founders. A kill. Food was to
stand aloof so as to be able to hold office
under the state, but his intimacy and influence with the

(22:51):
new ruler would be his highly important contribution to the
capital of the new venture. With the support of the
ruler and of the state. They hoped that their business
would succeed. There was an element of Saint Simonism and
socialism for decorative effect, and indeed this was not a
matter entirely of phrases and theories, such as the democratization
of banking, for some new ideas of real value were

(23:13):
certainly developed. The fundamental idea was that the state should
be made independent of rich individual bankers, and that even
the smallest savings of its citizens should be canalist into
a gigantic reservoir the new bank, which would distribute them
as and where capital was required. Food won over his
sovereign by the pleasing prospect of being able to make
himself independent of Rothschild, who at heart was an Orleanist,

(23:37):
by the proposal that any loan for which the necessity
should arise should be issued in small quantities direct to
the public, and thus escaped the Rothchilds. The phrase national subscription,
coupled with the idea of independence of the anti Napoleonic
Rothchilds entirely one over Lewis Napoleon, and Food and Pereer's
hope sowared so high that they already saw themselves in

(23:57):
control of a monopoly for the whole credit orderization of France.
Thus they hoped to drive the Rothschilds entirely out of
the field. When James perceived this danger, he did everything
he could to warn the President of the Republic and
to open his eyes. He sent Louis Napoleon a memorandum
written in his own hand, in which he set out
the dangers of all these innovations and prophesied that the

(24:20):
new venture would come to a bad end. It was
an easy matter for Food to make it clear to
Lewis Napoleon that this could all be explained by James's
hostility to the formation of a new Napoleonic empire. On
the November twentieth, eighteen fifty two, the memorandum constituting the
new company was actually published in the Monitor. It was
given the name Credit Mobilier. The two brothers, Perier and

(24:43):
the Folds held the majority of the shares, each couple
holding over eleven thousand out of the original capital of
forty thousand shares. The name of Lewis Napoleon's confidential adviser,
Akil Food did not appear, the shares standing in the
name of his brother Benoit, who was head of the
bank by el Food and fud Oppenheim. Associated with the

(25:05):
founders were the names of decorative personages belonging to the aristocracy,
such as the Princess Vaughan Lutteenberg and the Duke of Galliera,
and also the Bank of Torlonia in Rome and Solomon
Heine of Hamburg Heinrich Heine's uncle. Altogether, a total of
one hundred twenty thousand shares that five hundred francs a
share were issued so that even the smallest capitalist could

(25:26):
take part in the venture, which indeed they proceeded to do.
France was at the time living in a kind of
fever evoked by the name of Napoleon. Everyone hoped that,
in accordance with the promises of the new ruler, peace
and tranquility were assured for a long period, and that
it would therefore be easy to grow rich without much effort.
The share, which any one could easily take in the

(25:47):
new venture, seemed the obvious way of achieving the desired result.
One day after the publication of the memorandum which called
the Credit Mobilier into existence, a plebiscite yielded almost eight
million votes in favor of an imperial Constitution against two
hundred and fifty thousand votes on the other side. On
the November twenty third, the first day on which the

(26:08):
shares of the Credit Mobileer were quoted on the Bourse,
the securities, whose nominal value was five hundred francs, were
quoted at eleven hundred, rising to sixteen hundred four days later.
James Rothschild watched these developments ironically, but with a certain
amount of concealed fear. His warnings passed unheeded. He naturally

(26:29):
took no part whatever in the undertaking, and in his
heart declared relentless war upon it. The contest, he now realized,
would be no easy one, for behind the new undertaking
stood the name of the head of the state, who,
on the December second, eighteen fifty two, was proclaimed Napoleon
the Third, by the grace of God and the will
of the people, Emperor of the French. James was able

(26:51):
to derive a certain secret satisfaction from the fact that,
as early as the thirty first December of that year,
the shares of the Credit Mobileer were quoted at only
eight hundred and seventy five francs. The shares had become
as dangerous as any securities on the Bourse, and were
a sport of unsound speculation. Not everyone had been dazzled
by these developments. There were other contemporaries of James who

(27:15):
perceived the dangers lurking behind these financial experiments thanks to
the new concern. One such skeptic wrote sarcastically to Vienna,
the more favored people on the Paris Bourse, at any
rate will be enabled for a time to speculate with
every prospect of success without touching its so Thus, owing
to the support of the authorities, new men had come

(27:35):
into the control of financial affairs. Not only food and
prosire had come into the foreground, but some highly unsavory
elements as well, which sought to make hay by a
skillful combination of business and journalism. There was in particular
a certain Jules Myers, originally a poor wretch from the
lowest class in Bordeaux, where he hit upon the idea

(27:55):
of publishing a paper which, in addition to certain items
of news, should contain a daily list of persons who
had died in the town. In each case, the illness
of which they had died was stated, as well as
the name of the doctor who had attended them. This
caused annoyance to the younger members of the profession, and
they paid Meyers a sum of twenty five thousand francs

(28:16):
to cease publishing the paper. With this money, Myers migrated
to Paris, where he founded a railway paper on the
same system, calling at the Journal de Chemens deffirs. By
means of both true and fabricated disclosures, he alarmed the
public and produced consternation among the companies which were forced
to pay for his silence. In addition, he acquired so

(28:37):
much wealth by speculation that he soon achieved a place
amongst the leading Paris financiers, who associated with so many
important persons. The new powers and enterprises had not yet
reached the stage of being able to compete with the Rothchilds.
Outside France, everyone even including the papal states, still applied
to the Rothschilds when in need of money. During Napoleon

(29:00):
Yinns presidency, Rome had been the scene of dramatic events.
It was hoped in Italy that the nationalist and liberal
Pope Pious the Ninth would join the general movement against Austria. He, however,
feared the spirit of anarchy fomented by the revolution and
any too great extension of democracy, while he also hesitated
to enter upon open hostilities against Catholic Austria. The result

(29:23):
was to produce the exciting November Days in Rome, when
the Pope's palace was besieged by the mob and the
Holy Father was compelled under threats to appoint a radical ministry.
Thereupon the head of Christendom lied in disguise to Gata
in Neapolitan territory, whence he protested against any deeds of
violence in Rome, while the Roman Republic was being set

(29:43):
up in the residence of the papal states. On the
February twentieth, eighteen forty nine, Pious the Ninth applied to
the Catholic powers France, Austria, Spain and Naples and sicily
begging them to assist him with their arms to regain
his temporal power. Lewis Napoleon, who at that time wished
to win the support of Catholics throughout the world with

(30:05):
a view to his ultimate imperial schemes, did actually land
troops in April eighteen forty nine to march on Rome.
After various vicissitudes, the French occupied the city on the
July third, and reinstated the papal government. Meanwhile, the Pope
was living at Gala in wretched circumstances and was in
great need of money. This was particularly necessary for his return,

(30:27):
since he could not re enter his capital with empty hands.
The Pope accordingly entered into negotiations with a company of
French capitalists, but it soon transpired that the bank which
was backing these people had not the necessary funds at
its disposal. Pious the ninth was therefore advised to apply
again to the House of Rothschild, whose international connections were

(30:47):
such that, even so soon after the revolutionary events that
had occurred throughout Europe, they controlled the necessary amount of money.
The papal envoy at Naples accordingly got into touch with
Karl Rothschild, but the terms offered by the latter seemed
to him to be wholly unacceptable. As has already been
pointed out, there could be no question of the Pope
returning to Rome until the loan was settled. Karl made

(31:11):
it a condition for granting the loan that the gates
and walls of the ghetto should be abolished, that Jews
should be allowed to live where they pleased in the
papal states, and that all special taxes and separate forms
of procedure for dealing with Jews in the courts should
be abolished. The secretary of the Jewish community at Rome
had come to Naples to discuss these requests. Karl also

(31:32):
demanded a mortgage on the ecclesiastical estates as security, since,
as his son put it to the Austrian minister at Naples,
Count mortz Estehazi, it was difficult, in view of the
complete absence of any material or moral guarantee offered by
the present papal government to enter into a transaction involving
such a large sum of money without a mortgage. The

(31:52):
first conditions were at once definitely rejected by the Pope,
who refused even to consider such demands as conditions. He
stated that he would prefer to suffer an indefinite amount
of financial misery rather than incur the reproach of having
subordinated higher to temporal interests. The second set of conditions
seemed to Carl Rothschild to have a greater chance of

(32:13):
being accepted. The negotiations proceeded actively at Naples, but finally
Karl declared, since the ecclesiastical authorities were strongly opposing the
mortgage as well, that he had exceeded the instructions of
his house, and that James Rothschild in Paris should be
approached with a view to continuing the negotiations. Pious the
ninth accordingly sent a request direct to the French government,

(32:35):
asking them to use their influence with the House of Rothchild.
When the papal nuncio transmitted this request, both Lewis Napoleon
personally and the Paris cabinet approached James with the request
that he would offer the Pope acceptable conditions. James decided
that the House did not stand to lose much, since
the papal government was just about to be reinstated and

(32:56):
its continuance in office would be guaranteed by the Catholic powers.
James also mentioned the wishes of the Jews in Rome
and referred to the abolition of the ghetto walls and
a question of extraordinary taxes and restrictions on their liberty
of movement. Such conditions affected the Pope unpleasantly, as they
constituted an obvious interference in the internal affairs of his state. However,

(33:19):
the Pope did not wish the negotiations to break down
on account of these demands. James was accordingly informed that
the concessions which he was asking for his coreligionists were
to a large extent already in force, and that His
Holiness could not expose himself to the suspicion of having
granted concessions affecting questions of religion on account of the
financial difficulties from which he was suffering. He then gave

(33:41):
a written assurance to James, through Monsignor Fornerini, the Papal
Nuncio in Paris, to the effect that the Holy Father
had the best intentions with regard to the Jews in
his states, and that the Nuncio was authorized to repeat
to him that the Holy Father would not withdraw his
promises in that matter. This also involved an edict regarding
the use the abolition of the ghetto. The final difficulties

(34:03):
had thus been disposed of, and the money was paid
by the Rothchilds into the Papal treasury on very favorable terms.
The final obstacle to the return of His Holiness to
Rome was removed. After the satisfactory conclusion of these difficult matters,
the Pope took his leave of the King of Naples,
who had offered him a refuge in these trying times,

(34:23):
and on the April twelfth, eighteen fifty he made his
entry into Rome. The Wrothchilds had therefore provided the money
for the return of the Pope, without having secured a
formal assurance regarding the betterment of the lot of their
correligionists in anything but the most general terms. Karl Rothschild
went to Rome shortly afterwards, and on this occasion he

(34:43):
again heard the most painful lamentations about the lot of
the Jews, which, in spite of everything, had not been improved.
He therefore decided to ask Prince Schwarzenberg to intervene with
the Holy See. During my last stay in Rome, he
wrote to the Prime Minister, I was brought both by
personal observation and by hearing the representations of the leaders

(35:04):
of the Jewish community there, to the conviction that their
lot is a very hard one, and in view of
their pressing requests, I was unable to refrain from promising
that I would use such feeble influence as I might
possess with any influential persons who may be willing to
listen to me favorably to secure the betterment of their lot.
He went on to state that he and his whole
family had the most keen and lively sympathy for the

(35:26):
sufferings of that community, and he begged the Imperial Government,
which offered such a moving example in the way it
granted its equal paternal protection to all confessions alike, to
use its ascendancy and its powerful influence with the Holy
See on their behalf. Schwarzenberg instructed Count Esterhazi to make
representations in Rome, but it was a long time before
the matter was settled. On receiving a letter of complaint

(35:50):
from the Jewish community in Rome, James also applied to
the Austrian government. He suggested that the Pope was not
aware that the Jews had again been confined to the
ghetto and subjected to every possible kind of restriction. Estrahazi
was again instructed to discuss the matter in a friendly
way with the Pope, and this was done on several
further occasions, the reason being that the Austrian government were

(36:12):
just at that time negotiating with the Rothschilds for a
Sterling loan. In spite of having resumed its good relations
with Austria. The House of Rothschild was constantly engaged in
lone negotiations with Sardinia, the enemy of the papal government.
That state was suffering acutely from the consequences of the
unfortunate war with Austria, which, after Radetzky's successes at Mortera

(36:34):
and Neva, had cost King Albert his crown. As the
king felt that fortune was against him, his son Victor
Emmanuel had to go the hard road of concluding a
peace with Austria, which was signed in the lawn on
the August sixth. He succeeded in avoiding any surrender of territory,
but Austria demanded a substantial war indemnity, for the payment
of which the state of Sardinia had to incur a

(36:56):
heavy load of debt and enter the international financial markets
as an application and for loans. At that time, the
banker Giovanni Nigra was Sardinia's finance minister. Although only moderately
endowed with financial gifts, he had dared at this difficult
moment to take over the direction of the state finances.
He was at that time on friendly terms with Count
Camillo Cavour, who did not then hold any public office.

(37:19):
Although he was already a member of Parliament, it was
with him his authority in such matters, being already recognized
that Nigra mostly discussed economic questions. Even before the conclusion
of peace, the Finance Minister had got into touch with Rothschild,
who had asked him what would be the amount of
the war indemnity demanded by Austria, But it was not

(37:41):
until after the conclusion of peace that serious negotiations were started.
James came from Paris to Turin to conduct them with
Nigra and also came into touch with Cavour. Rothschild and
Cavoor once dined together with Nigra, James was at first
somewhat suspicious. He asked for information with Recis guarding the
internal arrangements of Sardinia's finances, and it was not until

(38:04):
he had been convinced that the State of Sardinia had
achieved clarity and order in its own affairs that he
became more amenable. Kavor expressed the following opinion on Rothchild.
He is really most anxious to have serious dealings with
this country, and he has repeatedly told me that in
spite of everything he regards the state of Piedmont as
established on a firmer basis than that of Austria. James

(38:25):
had been brought to this opinion by the experiences of
his brother Solomon at Vienna and by events in Hungary.
Nigra also carried on negotiations with James Rothschild, independently of Cavour,
who wished to leave as small a share as possible
of the loan to the Italian bankers. Cavor had hoped
that ten to twelve millions would be allotted to the
Turin and Geneva bankers, part of which amount he had

(38:48):
wished to be reserved for the Swiss banker de LaRue,
who was a friend of his and in close business
relations with him. On the evening of the October fourth,
eighteen forty nine, Niger had a long conference with ro Rothschild,
in a course of which he allowed himself to be
persuaded to reserve for the Italian bankers only eight million
out of the sixty two million franc loan. Cavour, who

(39:09):
knew nothing of this, went to Rothchild the same evening
to ask him for six hundred thousand francs worth of
bonds for D. C. Larux, or rather to inform him
that the banker would underwrite that amount. The old jew
Cavour wrote to d C. LaRue replied with a smile
that you were acting very wisely, and that it would
be better for you to buy rant in Trurin and
Genoa than in Paris. I thought that everything was going

(39:33):
through splendidly, for it was not until afterwards that Bombrini
informed me of Niger's affection. Under these conditions, I cannot
ask Rothschild for any favors, for that would make me
an accessory to an operation which I consider to be
opposed to the best interests of the country. I will
accept no bonds from him that he does not offer
freely to all the houses that wish to apply for them.

(39:55):
One A m furious Cavor continued, and I have every
reason to believe that Nai Bigre has allowed himself to
be bamboozled by that cunning old rascal Rothchild. Nigra left
me out of the negotiations, only calling me in when
the agreement was to be signed. I flatter myself that
if I had been in his place, I should have
got better terms. I had worked out a scheme through

(40:17):
which it would have been possible to dispense with Rothschild.
I used this scheme to counter some of his demands,
but could not alter the basis of the agreement, which
had been definitely fixed. Niger's great mistake has been that
he has not had enough confidence in the capacity of
our own banks to take up the loan. This morning
at hervon Landau called to offer me on behalf of

(40:38):
Rothchild as many wrant at cost price as I wanted.
As you may imagine, I refused this offer, but it
gave me some idea of the way business is done
in most of the European cabinets. A few days later,
the loan had been fully subscribed. It was so popular
with the Italian people that the finance ministry was besieged
by a mob who positively fought to get rid of

(41:00):
their money. Turin alone could have absorbed far more than
nine millions. Nigra is being roundly abused, wrote Kavour. The
poor fellow had the best intentions in the world, and
honestly believed that the country would be satisfied with eight millions.
I am convinced that if the loan had been opened
on the first of this month, and if as I suggested,

(41:20):
bills on London and Paris had been accepted in payment,
we could have dispensed with the rothschilds. We see, although
he had no official position, how great an interest Cavour
was already taking in the financial business of the state,
and how much he resented the fact that his country
had come to be so dependent on the House of Rothchild.
He had already made up his mind, if he should

(41:41):
ever have anything to say in the matter, to make
a radical change from this state of affairs. Nevertheless, the
loan was a great success for Sardinia, and the country
had no reason but to congratulate itself on its relations
with the Rothchild Bank. The loan, however, did not suffice
to relieve Sardinia of all her pressing obligations or to

(42:02):
cover the deficit in the budget. Nigra therefore had to
look about for a further loan. But on this occasion
his unofficial financial adviser, Kavor meant to keep a closer
watch over his inexperienced friend and fellow countrymen. Nigra is
constantly corresponding with Rothschild. Kavor wrote at the beginning of
the year eighteen fifty, I shall, as he see to

(42:23):
it that he is not bamboozled. Rothchild, who had already
made up his mind to underwrite the second loan, assumed
an attitude of indifference towards Nigra in order to secure
better conditions, and he made every effort to ensure that
the first loan should be quoted as low as possible
on the bourse, so that he would not have to
offer lou higher rate for the second. The slump in

(42:44):
the bonds and Roth's Child's apparent reluctance greatly disconcerted Nigra.
It never even occurred to him that an effort might
be made to raise the loan through another house if
the bonds refused to rise in value. Kavor wrote, it
is Nigra who is to blame, since, as he owes
Rothchild twenty one millions, he cannot make up his mind

(43:05):
to enter into negotiations for the new loan. You will
understand that until the baron has definitely secured it, he
will continue to depress the market. Only an ingenuous person
would fail to appreciate this fact. In the end, James
was afraid that he might fail to secure the handling
of the loan, and he decided to go to Turin again. Himself.

(43:26):
I have been definitely informed, Kavor wrote on the September
twenty first, eighteen fifty, that the great Baron will shortly
arrive at Turin. Nigra is extraordinarily nervous, and I cannot
understand why. For if Rothschild takes the trouble to come here,
he will certainly not leave without having concluded his loan,
even if it costs him one percent more to do so.

(43:48):
Kavor was at the time keeping away from Turin, although
he was already generally regarded as a candidate for the
ministry and had had occasion to enter into lengthy discussions
on this matter. That being the position, if he had
taken a personal part in the loan negotiations, he would
have given the impression of already acting as Finance minister
without actually being a minister. I have prolonged my absence

(44:11):
from Turin, Cavour stated, in order not to have to
associate with Rothschild. I felt that it would have been
hardly fitting for me, in view of my present abnormal position,
to interfere in the lone negotiations. On the very day
on which Cavour wrote this letter, the MARQUESI Diazaleo Sardinia's
Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs summoned Cavour and

(44:33):
asked him to accept the portfolio for Agriculture, Trade and shipping.
Kvor assented, although as he himself said, he knew nothing
about shipping. Having now as a minister become a member
of the cabinet, this brilliant man hesitated no longer to
intervene in matters of finance and in Nigra's department, although
he was naturally unable as yet to exercise a determining

(44:56):
influence in financial matters. The second loan and nuities of
six million, representing a capital value of one hundred and
twenty million, was concluded by Nigro with Rothschild. For millions
of annuities were left to Rothschild to sell, Nigro retaining
two million to be disposed of at his discretion. The
result was that the public finances of the State of

(45:18):
Sardinia became very closely bound up with the House of Rothschild,
and Kavor was not at all pleased to see his
country falling so entirely under the financial influence of that House.
On Parliament authorizing the Ministry of Finance to issue eighteen
thousand bonds in order fully to repay the debt to Austria.
Kavor was determined to try and find a way of
making his country independent of the Rothschilds at any rate.

(45:41):
In this matter, Kavor conceived the plan of selling these
securities in Vienna and Frankfort, and he asked Olaru to
discuss this suggestion with his business friends in those towns,
Goldschmidt and Sena. It is a business I, he minister wrote,
that ought to appeal to them. I believe that they
would be very pleased to steal a march on Rothschild

(46:01):
and it would delight me to put a spoke in
the wheel of that jew who is cutting our throats.
Kavour's influence, however, was not as great as he could
have wished. Nigro was still Minister of Finance and the
bonds were not immediately issued. Nigro was not equal to
his task. The burden of debt and the deficit continued
to increase, and the state's finances fell more and more

(46:24):
under the influence of the Rothchilds. I am greatly concerned
about the financial position, Kavor wrote to the Prime Minister
at the end of March eighteen fifty one, Niagre is
shockingly incompetent. After he had taken office, Kavour's opposition to
the Finance minister became more and more pronounced. It culminated
in Kavour offering to resign during the discussion of commercial

(46:46):
agreements with England and Belgium if Nigres should insist upon
adhering to his scheme. As Nigra himself felt the burden
of office. The result was that he and not Kavour, resigned.
In April eighteen fifty one. Kavor was accordingly appointed Minister
of Finance and obtained the opportunity of demonstrating that he
did not merely know how to criticize, but was also

(47:08):
competent to act. It was certainly no cheerful task that
he took over. Only rather more than half of the
four million annuities underwritten by James Rothschild had been sold,
while Nigra had accepted advances from the House of Rothchild,
so that Sardinia owed that house twenty five million. There
were still balances on account of the war indemnity due

(47:29):
to Austria, and the budget deficit amounted to sixty eight million.
In spite of the unfavorable conditions obtaining in the Paris market,
which made it difficult to dispose of the four million
which the Rothschilds had underwritten. They wished to get into
their own hands the remaining two million, which Nigra had reserved,
and they made proposals to the new finance minister to
this end. Kavor now had his reward for having maintained

(47:52):
his personal freedom and independence with regard to the Rothschilds.
He fully realized that the only way of obtaining favorable
trees ters in the future was to prove to the
Rothschilds that they had no monopoly of state loans and
that the state was not so entirely dependent upon them
as they have been able to assume under Nigra's administration.
Cavour meant to avail himself of the English market, and

(48:14):
for this purpose he applied as early as the April
twenty fifth, eighteen fifty one, six days after his appointment
as Minister of Finance, to Sardinia's minister in London, the
MARQUESI Immanuel Diezaleo. We must, he wrote, at all costs
extricate ourselves from the painful position in which we are
placed with regard to the House of Rothschild alone, concluded

(48:36):
in England, is the only means whereby we can regain
our independence. It is not my intention immediately to break
with Rothschild, but merely to show him that we can
do without him. It is possible, it is indeed probable,
that when he realizes that our minds are firmly made up,
he will try to take his share in the operation
which we want to carry through on the London Stock Exchange.

(48:57):
In such a case, I would have no objection to
negotiating with him if he were only in agreement with
other English bankers. If we do not speedily succeed in
concluding a loan in London, we shall find ourselves compelled
again to pass through the caughting forks of the Rothschilds.
This financial operation, Cavour wrote at the same time to
the Deputy Count, revel is of an importance that cannot

(49:20):
possibly be overestimated. It alone can liberate us from our
dependence upon the House of Rothchild, which for some time
has had such a devastating effect upon our credit. Having
obtained powers from Parliament to conclude the loan, Cavor was
particularly inclined to consider the House of c. J. Hambrough
and Son, originally a Danish firm from Copenhagen, which had

(49:40):
settled in England after the eighteen forty eight revolutions, the
family becoming naturalized in July of that year. Cavour did
in fact succeed in concluding the loan with Hambrough. He
noted this success with satisfaction, adding, if we had not
succeeded in obtaining money in England, the government would have
been compelled again to fall into the he hands of
the Rothchilds, and to accept such terms as they might

(50:03):
have been pleased to force upon the State, terms which
would have been all the harder after the ministry had
made such intense efforts to escape from their domination. Moreover,
my personal prestige as the new Finance Minister, would have
suffered a severe blow. The various branches of the Rothschilds
had observed Kavour's maneuver with the greatest dissatisfaction and had

(50:24):
done everything possible to upset the negotiations. The loan, Cavour
wrote to Count Revel was concluded in the nick of time.
For it seems to me that our enemies had all
but united the whole of public opinion against us. I
believe the article in the Times was inspired by the Rothchilds.
Baron James stated publicly that we should fail. Indeed he

(50:46):
made a pun about it. The loan was open but
not covered. This was indeed true, for of the three million,
six hundred thousand pound nominal loan at eighty five one million,
four hundred thousand pounds at first remained und However, everything
ended well, for it was possible later on, when times
were better, to dispose of the remaining securities at a

(51:08):
better price. The terms on which Hambro had concluded the
loan were more favorable than those granted by Rothschild in
the case of the earlier loan. Kavor was enabled to
pay Austria the last installments of the war indemnity and
show Rothschild that he was not as indispensable as Rothschild
had hitherto imagined. Kavor now felt more friendly to the

(51:29):
House of Rothchild and allowed them to transfer to Vienna
the six million of war indemnity, which were still payable
to Austria. For he wrote, it has hitherto been the
Rothchilds who have paid for us and collected for Austria.
I think it will be well in order not entirely
to alienate that great financial power to pay this last
installment of our misfortunes through them. But the Rothchilds were

(51:52):
exceedingly angry at Kavor's action, and they meant to show
that they could not be easily trifled with. They did
everything possible to depress the price of earlier loans which
they had got rid of, and at the beginning of
September Sardinian wrot were in fact quoted at a very
heavy discount on the Paris Bourse. Although this development was
not entirely unexpected, Cavour was not pleased. I was more

(52:16):
annoyed than alarmed. Cavour wrote to revel at the slump
in our bonds. I know that this is certainly mainly
attributable to the efforts of Rothschild. He has, it is true,
not attempted to deal in the script directly, as he
is too cunning for that. But he has directed his
efforts to depressing our earlier five percent loan, and in
that he has succeeded. In fact, he has had large

(52:39):
blocks of securities sold in Turin, not through one of
his own agents, but through a house which is not
known to be associated with him. This operation has been
kept very secret and has caused the serious slump which
we have experienced, and which has reacted upon the Paris market,
that market being unfortunately only too sensitive to any downward movement.

(53:00):
But this maneuver must come to a natural end. Rothschild,
who has now been selling for six months without acquiring
any of the bonds himself, will soon find his power
of action exhausted, and then the reaction will set in.
I therefore beg you, my dear count, to tell mister Hambrough,
to be of good courage and point out to him
that this ward of the knife which the great Baron

(53:21):
has declared does not frighten us. I am told that
there is a certain courty at the Sardinian embassy in London,
and that he is a highly gifted and intelligent man.
He might be instructed to act as our intermediary with
mister Hambrough. Cavor was proved right, The roant did not
fare so badly. The rate improved, and in January eighteen

(53:41):
fifty two they were quoted at a very fair price
on the Paris Bourse. The house of Rothschild thereupon again
approached the Piedmont government, James sending his son Alfonse to
Turin to offer Count Cavour a loan of forty million
francs two million Rant at the extraordinarily favorable rate of
ninety two. Kavor did not intend yet to issue a

(54:02):
further loan, but he was delighted by the high figure
offered by the House of Rothschild, which he rightly regarded
as attributable to the success of his move in England.
He laid the proposal before the Chamber with the observation
that he would be able to carry on until the
early months of eighteen fifty three without a loan. The Chamber, accordingly,
not wishing the country's debt to be prematurely increased, rejected

(54:24):
the offer in spite of all its advantages. Meanwhile, after
a short interval of retirement, Kavour became Prime Minister on
the November fourth, eighteen fifty two, retaining the portfolio of Finance.
During the early days of January eighteen fifty three, the
Piedmont Treasury, as had been expected, again felt the need

(54:45):
of money, and Kavour decided to sell the two million
Wrant which Nigra had reserved out of the loan of
eighteen fifty one. James, who had always wanted to underwrite
this portion of the loan which he had handled, did
not hesitate to travel to Turin. He he offered eighty eight,
whereas Cavour asked ninety five, and in the end he
agreed to ninety four point five zero, that is, for

(55:07):
points above the highest price that Hambro had ever reached.
This money, however, did not suffice, and Kavour was forced
to consider a new loan, which this time he intended
to be a three percent one. Cavour had no objection
to the House of Rothchild and principle he merely wanted
to get the best possible conditions for his country and
contrived skillfully to play off one financier against another. Hambro

(55:32):
felt that he was too weak to undertake a second
loan on a large scale, and Count Courty reported accordingly
to Kvour. Kavoor instructed him to go to Paris and
negotiate with Food and see whether the credit mobiliir, who
were in keen rivalry with the Rothchilds, would not be
prepared to underwrite the loan. He sent Courty an introductory letter,
which the latter handed to Food on the January twenty first,

(55:55):
eighteen fifty three. Courty stated to Food that Cavour was
absolutely free to negotiate the loan when red the interests
of his country would be best served, and that he
would therefore conclude it where he could get the best
terms I believe. Food replied that you will find the
market in Paris and London well disposed to your country.
The slump which has again occurred lately is a consequence

(56:17):
of the deliberate maneuvers of Rothschild and of the fact
that everybody is sure that you intend to issue a
further loan. Corti's view was that Food had the highest
opinion of Sardinia and was very much inclined to underwrite
the loan and block. On the following day, Courty again
called on Food, who talked to him about his syndicate,
the Credit mobil Eir, saying how marvelous it was and

(56:39):
that its like could not be found anywhere else. He
then asked about terms, and Courty mentioned the figure seventy.
Food said that was too dear and that he must
insist upon better terms. Nevertheless, it was apparent that he
was most keenly anxious to underwrite the loan. Meanwhile, Cavor
had received Cordy's letter My dear count, he replied, I

(57:01):
have read with great interest the report of your conversation
with him, Benjamin Food. You have skillfully carried out the
instructions that I gave you. I request you to call
on m Food again before you leave, and to do
everything possible to induce him to name a price. You
may tell him that I am expecting him to make
a move, but you must give him clearly to understand

(57:21):
that I am not in the least in a hurry,
and that I am determined to follow his advice and
wait until the storm that is raging on the burses
of Paris and London is over. Courty further reported from
Paris that Food was still very jealous of Rothschild. Food
had once said to him with some heat, Cavour must
choose between me and him. The French financier was particularly

(57:43):
excited when he heard that Alphonse Rothschild had again set
out for Turin, and he had every reason to be
for while Cavor was instructing his envoy Cordy to negotiate
with Benjamin Food and the firm of Food Oppenheim, the
Minister himself was negotiating in Turin with Rothchild. At the
beginning ding of February, statements appeared in several Paris papers
to the effect that the new Sardinian loan had already

(58:05):
been concluded with the house of Rothchild. In a state
of high excitement, Food asked Cordy the meaning of this,
and the latter truthfully replied that he had no knowledge
of it. Food's information, however, was not derived solely from
the Rothschild himself, who, without suspecting that Food was also
negotiating with Sardinia, asked him whether he would care to

(58:26):
have a share in a Sardinian loan, saying that in
that case he would be prepared to transfer a portion
to him. Food declined the offer, stating that he wished
to retain his freedom of action in that matter in
order to be able to act on his own account.
In dealing with Cordy, he showed a growing keenness to
take over the loan. About this time, Food rashly said

(58:47):
to Rothschild, when the latter again proposed that he should
take part in the loan, in a rather self satisfied
and patronizing manner, that he was sorry, but he was
himself engaged in similar negotiations. Rothchild was m much taken
aback and asked him several questions, amongst others, inquiring as
to the price. Food naturally did not reply, but he

(59:08):
was to pay dearly for having given himself away. Rothschild
still endeavored, through the Finance minister m Bino, to ascertain
the price that Food had asked and the price that
he had been offered, and then immediately sent his son
to Turin. Luigi Cordy called on Food on the February
twenty seventh, informing him that Favor's price was seventy three,

(59:29):
whereupon Food pretended to be highly disconcerted and made his
first counter offer of sixty six point sixty six. Luigi
Courty thereupon said that that figure was quite impossible, and
that he ought to make a reasonable offer, as Rothschild
was in Turin and prepared to snap the business up
under his nose. Young Rothschild had indeed actually arrived at

(59:50):
Turan on the evening of the February twenty sixth, eighteen
fifty three. Although Kavor had not invited his visit in
any way. The Minister Cavour was advised of his arrival
by the representative of the House of Rothschild, g Landau.
The new stiffened Cavour's resistance to an extraordinary degree. My
dear count, the Prime Minister, wrote to Luigi Cordy the

(01:00:13):
same day, m Food wants to take our loan by
storm and to profit by the panic which has overwhelmed
the courses of Paris and London, to compel us to
capitulate on unfavorable terms. We cannot, however, nor should we
hurry unduly. You must therefore play for time. Courty accordingly
had to stay in Paris, and Cavour wrote him a

(01:00:34):
jocular letter saying that he ought to find a young
and rich heiress to pay his attentions to. Meanwhile, negotiations
proceeded between Luigi Cordy and Food. The latter and the
banks which he represented, were unwilling to offer substantially better terms.
The young diplomat used the greatest precaution in keeping Kavoor informed,

(01:00:54):
lest the correspondence should be intercepted. Just at the critical
moment telegraphic communications between Paris and Turin were broken. Thereupon,
Alphonse rothschild A turn offered Kavour on his own responsibility
seventy subject to two percent commission, and Cavour accepted. I believe.
He wrote to his banker friend that it would not

(01:01:16):
have been possible to get better terms. You will appreciate
the fact that Food's competition has been worth some millions
to us. Cavour thereupon telegraph to Cordy on the March
third that he had come to terms with Rothchild, as
the latter had offered so much better terms than Food.
Cordy broke off the negotiations and left Paris without having
had time to follow out Kavour's playful suggestion. In later

(01:01:40):
years he often enjoyed saying how cleverly Cavour had played
the various greedy financiers off against one another. The great
statesman in later years two was guarded and cynical in
his dealings with the House of Rothschild, and was always
afraid of being Jewish by Rothchild, as he put it,
Corty's services were warmly recognized by Kavour. I thank you,

(01:02:02):
my dear count, he wrote to him, for the manner
in which you have carried through the task with which
you were entrusted. Although the agreement was not concluded through you,
you contributed very largely to its success through the skillful
manner in which he had handled the problem. Cavour, the
new star on the political horizon, and the genius of
the Unification of Italy had proved himself the financial equal,

(01:02:25):
nay the superior, in his contest with the Rothschilds. At
about the same time, Bismarck, the statesman of the Unification
of Germany, came into contact with the Frankfort rothschild through
his appointment as Prussian Minister to the Diet at Frankfort.
Since the Rothschilds, as bankers to the Federation, looked after
its financial affairs. As long as Metternich had been at

(01:02:47):
the Helm, the German Federation and its organ the Diet
at Frankfort, worked harmoniously since Prussia and Austria followed similar aims.
It is true that the Nation v as by no
means satisy, fied with the ineffectiveness of the Diet in
internal affairs, while it was disgusted with its impotence abroad.
The revolutions that convolst Europe in eighteen forty eight and

(01:03:09):
eighteen forty nine at once upset the tranquil working of
the Diet. The idea of national unity took a strong
hold upon Germany, and after the episode of the National Assembly,
Prussia and Austria each came forward with the intention of
assuming the leadership of Germany. Whilst the Prussian government summoned
its supporters to Eirfort, Austria called upon all German states

(01:03:30):
to restore and reopen the Frankfort Diet as it had
been constituted before the revolution. Austria had triumphantly dealt with
the risings in Italy, in Hungary and in Vienna, the
heart of the monarchy and her new leader, Prince Schwarzenberg,
proceeded to turn his whole attention to regaining Austria's old
dominating position in Germany. In this he could count on

(01:03:52):
the support of Russia, who had shown in the case
of Hungary that she was prepared to come to the
rescue with armed force in suppressing revolution. At that time,
Prussia's military strength was not sufficient to enable her to
put a recovered Austria in her place. She was therefore
compelled on the March twenty ninth, eighteen fifty, to yield
to the humiliating demands of Schwarzenberg. One year later, the

(01:04:16):
German Diet of eighteen fifteen was restored, and Prussia also
notified her intention of re entering the diet in May
eighteen fifty one. Amskilmeyer Rothschild had maintained an attitude of
cautious reserve as he watched the vicissitudes of the struggle
for the settlement of the German Constitution that was being
carried on in his native town. Although he was banker

(01:04:37):
to the Federation and therefore intimately concerned in its destiny,
he did his utmost to remain aloof from all complications.
Being in eighteen fifty already seventy seven years old, efforts
were constantly being made to draw him into politics. He
was asked, for instance, to finance political newspapers, but the
House of Rothschild refused to have anything to do with

(01:04:59):
such proposals. If they needed papers, they always had recourse
to individual editors who had the desired articles published, but
they were never tempted to publish a paper themselves, in
which they would have had to identify themselves with a
definite political point of view and a clearly defined program.
Amschkill Meyer accordingly replied on the March twentieth, eighteen forty nine,

(01:05:20):
to a proposal of this nature that his house had
always objected to taking part in the foundation of political papers.
And he therefore sincerely regretted that he was unable to
fall in with the suggestion. Prussia's re entry into the
Diet called for the appointment of a representative. On the
May tenth, Otto Vaughan Bismarck, who was appointed to this

(01:05:40):
office at the age of barely thirty six, arrived at Frankfort.
Although personally he shared the conservative sentiments of Austria, he
was inspired by a presentiment of the future greatness of
his country and determined, in spite of all that had occurred,
to secure for Prussia the place in Germany that was
her due, and if necessary, to write for it. Bismarck's

(01:06:00):
first impression of Frankfort was not a favorable one. He
found it deadly dull, and his new profession of diplomacy
was anything but congenial to him. He described the social
life of the delegates as consisting of nothing but suspicious
spying on one another. No one, he wrote, would believe
how much charlatanism and self importance there is about this diplomacy.

(01:06:22):
Bismarck was looking for lodgings, and meanwhile was seeing callers
in a plain furnished room in the town. One of
the first to call on him was Old amskill Meyer Rothschild,
who wished to get on good terms both with the
representative of Prussia and with count than the representative of Austria.
Bismarck regarded Rothschild as a curiosity, for he was little

(01:06:43):
impressed with exclusive society in Frankfort. You need not be
afraid of high society here, Bismarck wrote to his wife.
As far as money goes, Rothchild stands highest. And if
you were to take all their money away from the others,
they would not stand particularly high. After all, money doesn't
really count. And may the Lord keep me humble, for

(01:07:04):
the temptation to become self satisfied here is very great.
Roth's Child's call was followed up with several invitations to
the house of the aged banker in order to give
Bismarck no chance of refusal. Roth's Child's first invitation to
dinner was for a very long time ahead. Bismarck replied
that he would come if he were still alive. My answer,

(01:07:26):
Bismarck wrote to his wife affected Amskal so profoundly that
he has told everybody about it, and goes about saying
why shouldn't he live? Why should he die. The man
is young and strong. The impression which Old Rothschild made
upon Bismarck is described in a letter which he wrote
shortly afterwards to his wife. I picked the enclosed leaves

(01:07:47):
for you in Old amskill Roth's Child's garden. I like
him because he's a real old Jew peddler and does
not pretend to be anything else. He is strictly Orthodox
and refuses to touch anything but kosher food at his dinners.
Take tommey read with you for the dear, he said
to his servant, as he went out to show me
his garden, in which he keeps tame dear her. Baron, Baron,

(01:08:09):
this plan cost me two thousand golden on my honor,
it cost me two thousand golden cash. You can have
it for a thousand, or if you'd like it as
a present, I'll bring it to your house. God knows
I like you, Baron. You're a fine handsome fellow. He
is a short, thin little man and quite gray, the

(01:08:30):
eldest of his line, but a poor man in his palace.
He is a childless widower who is cheated by his
servants and despised by conceited frenchified and anglicized nephews and
nieces who will inherit his wealth without any love or gratitude.
When on the August eighteenth, eighteen fifty one, Bismarck was
finally appointed Prussian Envoy to the diet Rothschild made still

(01:08:52):
greater efforts to ingratiate himself with the new power. Bismarck
had still failed to find lodgings that would be within
his means. Amshkill offered him an elegant Rothschild villa some
way out on the Bockenheim road. On the October first,
Bismarck moved into the house at forty Bockenheimer Landstrass, which
as a matter of fact, did not belong to the Rothschilds,

(01:09:14):
but the first two floors of which had been used
by Karl Meyer Vaughan Rothschild on the occasion of his
second visit to Frankfort. No sooner had these personal matters
been settled, when politics engaged Bismarck's full attention. The defeat
of Prussia at Almots burnt in his soul. He and
the leading men at Berlin were at heart convinced that
Prussia had the right to seize the leadership of Germany

(01:09:37):
to establish her ascendency over Germany. The fact that Austria
indisputably enjoyed the formal leadership at Frankfort made Bismarck all
the more determined to watch over Prussia's interests. It became
apparent that Vienna intended to use the Diet, the majority
of whose states were in favor of Austria, for the
purpose of out voting Prussia. But Bismarck meant at once

(01:09:58):
to contest Austria's leading position as far as this was possible.
The following remark, which he made shortly after his appointment,
was characteristic of the man. Let him but have his way,
he said, and he would return with Austria's scalp. Bismarck
was reserved and somewhat suspicious in his attitude towards the
House of Rothschild, since he felt that he had reason

(01:10:18):
to believe that the bank was more attached to Austria
than to any other federal state. The Rothchilds had at
that time been in Berlin on financial matters and had
expressed a wish to be granted the title of bankers
to the Prussian court. The government at Berlin asked Bismarck
to express his opinion on this request, and the latter
replied that, in his view, the Rothchilds were adequately rewarded

(01:10:39):
by their pecuniary profit for any possible efforts they might
have made in the interests of Prussia. Thereupon the proposal
was dropped. Bismarck was annoyed because Austria took the chair
at the Diet and her representative carried the title Presiding Envoy.
The opposition between Prussia and Austria was constantly making itself felt,

(01:11:00):
and questions of minor importance were often the occasion for
a struggle for prestige. Such a question arose on the
subject of the fleet. The central authority at Frankfort had
created a German fleet in eighteen forty eight, to which
Prussia contributed financially, while Austria did not. It had become
necessary to find further funds, and it fell to the

(01:11:21):
Presiding Envoy, Count Thun to bring the matter before the Assembly.
An assessment of the states was to be made, but
Prussia protested against any further expenditure as long as certain
states were in arrears in respect of the earlier installments.
Do The matter dragged on until the requirements of the
fleet became so pressing that something had to be done.

(01:11:41):
Towards the end of the year, Bismarck had almost made
up his mind to agree to the assessment when he
received peremptory instructions from Mancuffle to protest against it and
immediately to return to Berlin. The Prussian envoy left for
Berlin on the January third, one eighty five dash, and
in accordance with the established practice, he asked his opponent,

(01:12:01):
Count Thun, who was exceedingly angry at the attitude of
the Prussian government and the difficulties which it was constantly making,
to represent him in his absence. Anomalist though the position
would be now the officers and men of the fleet
required their pay. It was essential, as Thun observed, as
speedily as possible, to see that the deficit was covered

(01:12:22):
unless we were prepared to face a mutiny on the ships.
Thun accordingly summoned a meeting of the Diet for the
January seventh, when the Prussian envoy Bismarck would be absent,
and after a lively debate, it was decided to ask
the Rothschilds for a loan of two hundred and sixty
thousand gulden to meet these requirements on the security of
the federal monies deposited with the bank. Thun, who proposed

(01:12:45):
the motion, had simultaneously to vote against it as representative
of Prussia. Bismarck and the Prussian government were kept telegraphically
informed of what was happening by the Councilor of Legation Wetzel.
The day after the resolution was carried, Count Thunn proceeded
to enter into confidential negotiations with Rothschild to determine the
conditions on which the necessary money could be advanced. The

(01:13:08):
banker was prepared to grant the loan for six months
at four percent without charging commission, merely expressing the wish
that he should not be required to put the terms
into writing, as this might convey the impression that he
wanted to take advantage of the unfortunate position in which
the fleet was placed. The diet therefore immediately agreed to
the necessary advance of sixty thousand gulden and addressed a

(01:13:29):
letter to the House of Rothschild asking them to pay
this amount. Meanwhile, Bismarck telegraphed on the January ninth to
Wetzel instructing him to protest to Amskilmeyer, and on the
tenth he confirmed these instructions in detail in the following message.
Prussia does not regard the contemplated payment of money as
a federal loan. The federal moneys deposited with Rothchild cannot

(01:13:50):
legitimately be diverted from the object to which they had
been originally assigned. Register your protest with Rothschild against this
money being spent or appropriated. We maintain our right of
action against the House of Rothschild for any damage that
we or the Federation may suffer through such payment. Rothschild
is not required to obey the President's instructions in loane matters.

(01:14:13):
When on the evening of the tenth Wetzel met Count Thunn,
who was taking a breath of air after a hard
and trying day. Wetzel told him that he had intended
to come and see him in order confidentially to inform
him that he had received instructions from Berlin to bring
pressure to bear upon Rothschild to refuse to advance money
for the fleet. Thunn replied to him that this was
Wetzel's affair, and that although he had the highly unpleasant

(01:14:37):
duty of representing Prussia in the Diet at that time
he was not responsible for her actions, but only her mouthpiece.
He added that he was doubtful whether Rothschild would listen
to Prussia's views, since he had received his instructions from
the Presiding Officer in the prescribed form in accordance with
the resolution of the Diet, and he was not to
take cognizance of the negotiations at the meeting of the

(01:14:58):
Diet or of differences of a pl pinion between the
various members. Wetzel said to Thun that this was his
opinion also, and that for this reason it was all
the more painful for him to carry out his instructions.
Whereupon they parted. As Thun expected that such action on
the part of the Prussian delegation could not fail to
produce some effect upon Rothschild, he asked one of his attaches,

(01:15:20):
the Baron vaughan Nell, to call on Rothchild on some
pretext or another on the morning of the tenth and
endeavor to ascertain his attitude her. Vaughan Nell reported to
Count Thun in due course that he had found Rothchild
entirely changed in his attitude and that Rothschild had said
to him that he could not afford to make an
enemy of Prussia. Finally, Rothschild had stated that he wanted

(01:15:42):
to give the matter further consideration, and that he wished
to request Count Thun to fix a time for the
following day, the eleventh, that he could come and discuss
the matter with him. Thun invited him to come at
twelve o'clock. The position was exceedingly painful for Rothschild. He
did not in the least wish to annoy either Austria
or Prussia, and he wanted to remain banker to the

(01:16:03):
Diet and carry on his business in peace. And now
he suddenly found himself faced with the conflicting claims of
two of the most important states of the Federation, and
was compelled to take sides with one of them. He
described the difficulties of his position in eloquent language to
Count Thun during their conversation on the January eleventh. According
to his report, Thunn put the following points to Rothschild,

(01:16:26):
who has to decide questions affecting the business of the
Federation the Federal Assembly. What is the official means by
which the Federal Assembly communicates its wishes to third persons
such as yourself through the delegate who presides over the Diet.
The demand which you have received has therefore fulfilled all
the conditions necessary to make it in order. In my opinion,

(01:16:49):
Prussia has no reply at all if you say to her,
I have no knowledge of what occurs within the Federal Assembly.
My legal authority is the presiding Delegate, who has sent
me his instructions in a court with a resolution of
the Diet, and I have carried out these instructions, as
in my position I am required to do. Thunn also
gave Rothschild to understand that if he refused to make

(01:17:10):
the desired payment, Thun would be compelled to call a
further meeting of the Diet upon the following day. It
would be impossible for the majority of the Assembly to
allow an individual government to prevent the execution of a
resolution which it had passed, so that, in all probability
it would pass a resolution that the Diet's business should
be transferred to another bank at Frankfort, which would be
prepared to pay the money when it was wanted. The

(01:17:32):
aged amskill Meyer followed what the Count had to say.
In a condition of great excitement, he suggested, as a
way out of the difficulty, that he should be authorized
to pay the sixty thousand gulden to Austria's account. Thun, however,
stated that he could not agree to this. In the end,
amskill Meyer yielded to the pressure brought to bear by

(01:17:53):
the Count and the combined endeavors of his entourage, and
promised to make the payment. As the old man left
Count thigh UN's antechamber, he met the Prussian councilor Wetzel,
who had called to discuss the same matter with the
presiding delegate. Thunn reported as follows. With regard to the
dramatic discussion with the Prussian diplomat which resulted, I could
not refrain from telling him just exactly what I thought.

(01:18:16):
I began by explaining that I felt so indignant about
Prussia's last actions that it would be impossible for me
completely to restrain myself. I found this all the more difficult, since,
in accordance with my conceptions of duty and honor, I
had never permitted myself to give third persons the slightest
inkling of the constant differences and divisions of opinion that
had occurred at the meetings of the Diet, and I

(01:18:37):
had accordingly applied the greatest self control in my recent
discussions with the Wrothchilds, I id, I must therefore ask
him not to regard any expressions I used as official.
I felt that I must honestly say that it had
never occurred to me as conceivable that a government of
the Federation could ever be moved so far to degrade
the Federation's authority as to protest to a banker against

(01:18:59):
a resolution passed by the Federation, leaving it open to
him to let the whole town and the whole of
Germany know what was happening. If Prussia had been concerned
only to maintain her principles, a formal protest that the
meeting of the Diet would have sufficed. The incident, however,
revealed the fact that Prussia was not concerned with achieving
this trivial object, but wished to establish what, in my

(01:19:21):
view was an entirely unreasonable and inadmissible principle, namely, that
Prussia alone should lay down the law to the Federation,
and if this were so, the very existence of the
Federation would be at stake. For those questions which we
have conscientiously endeavored to keep in the background would be
forced to an issue, and that the decision in their
case might easily lead to consequences of the gravest nature.

(01:19:44):
Thun also gave the counselor to understand that in such
circumstances it would be exceedingly painful and indeed impossible for
him to take the place of the Prussian delegate. The
presiding delegate was indeed enraged to the utmost by Prussia's action.
It had not occurred to anybody. He wrote to his
government that it would be possible even for Prussia to

(01:20:05):
have recourse to such a disgustingly contemptible means as to
appeal to a Jew against the Diet. I feel that
their action has made the position so acute that an
understanding and reconciliation will no longer be possible. The Diet
naturally could not accept the position, and if Rothschild had
not agreed to pay the money, I could not have
left the matter in suspense for another twenty four hours,

(01:20:27):
even if war would have been the inevitable result. The
failure of this attempt will merely serve to make Prussia
feel humiliated. She will be more irritable than ever, and
I myself do not perceive how she can reverse her policy.
He went on to state that his success in inducing
Rothschild to pay had produced a few days peace, but
that Prussia's aim was still merely to humiliate the Diet

(01:20:49):
as Tea have said. Thun's letter continued, I am convinced
that Prussia will not allow Matters to proceed to extremes,
that is, to a breach if she sees in others
the firm determined not to be intimidated by the idea
of proceeding to extremes. And it seems to me that
matters have now reached the point where such a firm
attitude is an absolute necessity. Anshkill Meyer. Rothschild, having yielded

(01:21:13):
to Thun's pressure, had replied to the councilor Wetzel stating
that he would be exceeding the bounds of his business
duties in an unwarrantable manner if he were to take
account of a difference obtaining in the High Federal Assembly
and were to refuse to grant an advance which he
had been required to make by the High Federal Assembly
through the recognized channel of its presiding delegate. He was
unable to take cognizance of the protest and was compelled

(01:21:35):
to make the money available. Wetzel accordingly reported that anshkill
Meyer was paying the money in spite of any representations
that had been made. He said that the banker would
rather sacrifice the money than fall out with Austria, and
that Count Thun was highly indignant, as he regarded the
protest as an insult to the whole Diet and wished
therefore to be relieved from the representation of Prussia. Thun

(01:21:59):
was not content with Lee, leaving it to Wetzel to report,
but himself wrote direct to his Prussian colleague Bismarck at Berlin.
In this letter, he also stated that he would never
have believed that a German government belonging to the Diet
could so far have degraded the authority and prestige of
the German Diet as to protest to a Jew against
the resolution of the Diet. I confess, wrote Thun, that

(01:22:20):
so long as I live, I shall blush to think
of it. The evening, when Councilor Wetzel showed me the protest,
I could have cried like a child at the disgrace
to our common fatherland. Bismarck replied, very sharply, it is
not our fault if, as you say, the Diet has
been dragged in the mud through arguments with a Jew.
It is the fault of those who have exploited the

(01:22:41):
Diet's business connection with a Jew in order in an
unconstitutional manner to divert monies that were in the Jews
keeping from the object to which they had been assigned.
Thun still further embittered the dispute by declaring the Prussian
official of the Federal Treasury, Kruger, who had protested against
money being paid by Rothschild, dismissed from his office. Meanwhile,

(01:23:02):
a telegram was received from Vienna, where the government was
horrified at the entirely unexpected dispute with Prussia. Thunn was
severely reprimanded Schwarzenberg, giving him to understand that he was
not prepared to run the risk of suddenly one day
learning by telegram from Frankfort that Austria would have to
march against Prussia. This cold douche from Vienna had a

(01:23:22):
very damping effect on the gravely offended Thun. But his
first interview with Bismarck, who returned to Frankfort on the
January twenty third, was of a highly emotional nature. Bismarck
took a very firm tone, and, amongst other things, referred
to the matter of Kruger, giving Thunn to understand that
his government would never recognize the right of the Presiding

(01:23:44):
Delegate to dismiss an official of the Kingdom of Prussia.
Thunn endeavored to maintain his point of view against Bismarck's
schoolmaster's tone, as he called it. When Bismarck, on taking
his leave, stated for the second time that he expected
to pack his trunks in a few days, Thunn replied
that he could but congratulate him on getting out of
a position which must have been a highly painful and

(01:24:05):
unsavored one for a man of honor, since the governments
themselves attached so little importance to the maintenance of the
honor and prestige of an assembly in which they were
jointly represented, that they were prepared to protest to a
jew against this resolution. Bismarck showed the Rothchilds very plainly
how angry he was with them. He did not accept

(01:24:26):
any of their invitations, and showed them in every possible
way how strongly he disapproved of their conduct in this matter.
All the Rothchild's efforts to conciliate him availed nothing for
the time being, and Bismarck did not confine himself to
a social boycott. But in his wrath at the Rothchild's
having placed money at the disposal of the diet in
spite of Pruscia's protest, he endeavored also to secure that

(01:24:48):
his government should break off all business dealings with the House.
As your excellency is aware, Bismarck wrote on the March
eleventh to the Prussian Prime Minister Manscheffel. The firm of
Meyer Amsch, gil Vaughan, Rothschild and sons here has completely
ignored the protest and paid the sum of sixty thousand
golden at its own peril, as the head of the
firm himself stated, in order not to spoil its relations

(01:25:11):
with the Imperial Government of Austria. The protest did have
the result that it was decided not completely to carry
out the resolution authorizing the Military Subcommittee to take up
a loan of over two hundred and sixty thousand golden.
But it would have been easy for the House of
Rothschild to find reasons for withholding the sixty thousand golden
or for paying the money in some other way without

(01:25:31):
excessive collusion with the Austrian government. Your Excellency may infer
the extent to which that House is anxious to please
the Austrian government in every possible way, from the fact
that he immediately informs the Austrian delegate of every remittance
that he receives for the Prussian delegation to the Diet.
On one occasion, Count Thun actually informed me that the
House of Rothschild had been instructed to make such a

(01:25:53):
payment before I had received any official intimation to that effect.
The conduct of the House of Rothchild in connecttion with
this protest has caused me to ignore all invitations from
the hrvon Rothschild resident here and in general, to give
him to understand that his action has been highly displeasing
to the Prussian government. I cannot but also regard it
as desirable that the business relationship in which the Prussian

(01:26:15):
Delegation to the Diet has hitherto stood with the House
of Rothschild should be broken off, and that the business
should be transferred to another firm. Here. Your Excellency will
agree with me that a continuance of this relationship would
be liable to be misinterpreted and might be represented as
indicating that the Prussian government had convinced itself that the
House of Rothchild could not have acted otherwise. Bismarck accordingly

(01:26:37):
proposed the House of Morritz Bethman as being a suitable
house to be entrusted with the business instead of the
Rothchild Bank. It transpired, however, that the Rothchilds had a
supporter in the president of the Seahandlung Bank, whose name
was Block. Manchufel had referred Bismarck's proposal to the Prussian
finance minister Bodlschwing, and he had consulted Block. Prussia had

(01:27:00):
concluded loans with the House of Rothschild both in eighteen
fifty and in eighteen fifty two, and although Block expressed
the opinion that the House of Bethman was perfectly sound
and reliable, he suggested that there were other considerations of
a general nature, especially in the interests of the Sea
hand Lung, against the change. He mentioned that the sea
hand Lung had very considerable sums on deposit with the Rothchilds,

(01:27:23):
which they could at any moment deal with as they pleased,
and the important question arose whether, having regard to the
substantial amounts that are involved in this case, another firm
would be in a position to offer the same security
as the Rothchilds undoubtedly afford. Block further pointed out that
whereas the Heron Bethman, in spite of the invitation they
had received from him, had taken no share in the

(01:27:44):
loan of eighteen fifty or in the loan of eighteen
fifty two, the Rothchilds had invested very considerable sums in
both these loans, and had always co operated most readily
with the State of Prussia in other financial operations. They
must therefore obviously feel them slighted by the sudden withdrawal
of the business in question. And besides, it was possible

(01:28:05):
that on a future occasion the success of similar financial
operations might be frustrated through the opposition of these bankers, who,
through their extensive means, exercised a determining influence on the
money market, and that in any case, without their assistance,
the success of such operations would be made much more difficult.
Block further stated that he was far from holding a

(01:28:26):
brief for the Heron Vaughan Rothschild, or from wishing to
give them any advantage inconsistent with the public interest, and
expressed the opinion that they were hardly likely to favor
Austria as against Prussia, since their attitude and financial transactions
was affected by purely business considerations. Having regard therefore to
the business relationship between the Sea hand Lung and the Rothschilds,

(01:28:48):
he was in favor of ignoring Bismarck's proposal. Manchufel thereupon
decided that Prussia's business relationship with the rothchild should not
be broken off. They, on their side, did not weary
in their endeavors to obtain Bismarck's forgiveness and re establish
themselves in his favor. Karl Rothschild, Solomon's son Anselm, and

(01:29:09):
indeed Solomon himself, who was at the time on a
short visit to Frankfort, called one after the other on
Bismarck to express their regret at what had happened. Young
Anselm went so far as to attribute the incident entirely
to the senility of his uncle, who was already seventy
seven years old, saying that he had been so fiercely
threatened by Thun that he had finally acquiesced in the payment. Meanwhile,

(01:29:32):
the question of the fleet had been settled by agreeing
that Prussia should not have to make any further claim
and the fleet itself should be put up to auction. Indeed,
Prussia was indemnified for having paid more at the beginning
by having two ships seated to her. The Rapprochemond between
the Rothschilds and Bismarck, was promoted by the fact that
Count Thun, who was not particularly well disposed to the Jews,

(01:29:54):
supported a protest brought forward by twelve Catholic citizens of
Frankfort against the extension to the Jews of the rights
of citizenship granted on the October eighth, eighteen forty eight
and February twentieth, eighteen forty nine, which were decried as
revolutionary legislation. The Senate of Frankfort sent forward this protest
to the Diet, and on the August fifth, eighteen fifty two,

(01:30:17):
the Diet resolved that the law of the February twentieth,
eighteen forty nine, conferring on the Jews equal civil and
political rights, was to be regarded as not legally enacted,
and that the Free City of Frankfort should be requested
to announce accordingly that the law was not valid. As
this proposal had emanated from the Austrian Catholic Party, it
was opposed by Bismarck, with the result that the Prussian

(01:30:39):
delegate found himself on the same side as the Rothschilds,
who were watching the further development of the matter with
deep anxiety. Anselm Rothschild appealed to Vienna with an urgent
request to Schwarzenberg that the Imperial Court should use its
influence to ensure that the resolution of the diet should
not result in the Frankfort Jews sustaining a reverse, which
would be unjust and not in accordance with the general good.

(01:31:01):
He pointed out that out of fifty seven thousand, five
hundred fifty citizens, only zero percent, that is three thousand,
five hundred were Jews, so that it was ridiculous to
fear being outvoted. When in the middle of November eighteen
fifty two Count Thun was recalled from Frankfort, Bismarck felt
that he had completely carried the day and he was

(01:31:22):
prepared to take the blame for the incident of the
Rothchild advance. He again accepted invitations to the Rothchilds, and
his attitude implied not merely that he had been reconciled
to the House of Rothschild, but that his feelings had
changed completely in their favor. When later on Mancuffle again
asked Bismarck for his opinion in the matter of appointing
Rothschild Court Banker to Prussia, he no longer found him

(01:31:45):
opposed to the idea. Manchuffell emphasized that it would not
be exactly easy to call such an important bank to
account with reference to any profits it might make, and
wish to be told whether he could grant the Rothchilds
the title they desired, or whether their sympathies were still
predominantly anti Prussian. My interest in the matter, wrote Manchufel,
I would tell you in the strictest confidence, is somewhat

(01:32:08):
to divert her von Rothschild from the efforts he is
making here to improve the Vienna Exchange, and to induce
him favorably to consider the construction of a railway which
we may wish to have built. Bismarck replied that he
had no objections to raise against the title being granted,
and that in his opinion there was reason to believe
that the persons concerned would highly appreciate the honor which

(01:32:28):
it was inintended to confer upon them. The Rothchilds, Bismarck wrote,
have never been really guilty of anti Prussian sympathies. All
that happened was that, on the occasion of a dispute
that occurred between ourselves in Austria about a year ago,
on the question of whether certain deposits should be made
available for the fleet, they were more afraid of Austria
than of us. Now, since the Rothchilds cannot properly be

(01:32:51):
expected to show such courage as would lead that the
man just and firm of purpose to resist such passion
of citizens commanding wicked things, as count undeveloped on that occasion,
and as the other members of the family have since
apologized for the attitude of Baron Amskill, whom they described
as senile. He died in eighteen fifty five, I feel that,
in view of the services which this financial power is

(01:33:14):
able to render, their mistake on this occasion may be
consigned to oblivion. Of his own initiative, Bismarck went even further.
He repeatedly recommended, both in conversation and in writing that
the banking house, which, with the exception of the single
instance in January of the preceding year, had always shown
its willingness in its financial dealings with the Prussian delegation

(01:33:37):
to be of service to his government, should be granted
some distinction. The blame in that instance was, as stated
by members of the House of Rothschild themselves, attributable to
the senility of Amshkill Rothschild, who had allowed himself to
be intimidated by the threats of Count Thun. The conviction
has repeatedly been forced upon me. Bismarck wrote that the

(01:33:57):
leaders of this financial power would value a distinction conferred
upon them by Prussia, since they do not merely value
personally honors conferred upon them. They also regard official marks
of the good will of governments, especially of those governments
whose financial house is in order as an important element
in their credit. That there are occasions when other but
purely business considerations are a determining factor on the attitude

(01:34:21):
of the House of Rothschild in financial operations seems to
me to be indicated by the success with which Austria
has secured the financial services of the House. Since I
am convinced that, apart from the financial profit to be
gained by such transactions, the influence which the Imperial Government
was able to bring to bear upon the Jewish problem
at Frankfort profoundly affected them. House of Rothschild. The efforts

(01:34:45):
which Austria made in the course of the summer to
secure the emancipation of the Jews seem to be attributable
to the efforts of the Rothchilds. The present senior partner
of the House here, Meyer Carl Vaughan Rothschild, has repeatedly
given me to understand how greatly he desiredres to receive
the red Eagle of the third class, which order has
been conferred upon two of his subordinates, one of them

(01:35:06):
whose name is Goldschmidt, being at Vienna, and as was
particularly emphasized by her Vaughan Rothschild, upon the eldest of
the brother's, Vaughan Bethmann, who is Prussian consul here, I
would regard the conferring of such an order on Meyer
Karl Vaughan Rothschild as being wholly in the interests of
the state, and I am willing to recommend to your
Excellency that, in addition to this order the honorable distinction

(01:35:28):
of Royal Court Banker to His Majesty the King, should,
for the reasons above indicated, also be conferred upon all
the members of the House of Rothschild. The Prussian Finance Minister, however,
unlike Manchuffel, was not well disposed to the Rothschilds. He
ignored the opinion expressed by the President of the Sea
hand Lung and informed Manchuffel that, in his view, the

(01:35:50):
firm of the Brother's Vaughan Rothschild, has of recent years
shown itself less disposed to act in the interests of
our government than previously. He therefore held that neither the
old order of the Red Eagle nor the title of
Court Banker should be conferred upon them. The Finance Minister's
aim apparently was by this refusal to induce the Rothchilds
to prove themselves more amenable to the wishes of the

(01:36:12):
Prussian government in financial matters, in order that they might
be deemed worthy of such distinction. His Majesty the King, Manchuffell,
wrote to Bismarck, has no objection if, when a suitable
occasion offers, it should be indicated to the members of
the firm that it is greatly regretted that in the
circumstances it is not possible to confer the mark of
favor contemplated, but that it is hoped that the House

(01:36:33):
will find another opportunity of enabling the government to do so.
Bismarck informed the Rothchilds that Manchuffell was not averse from
the idea of conferring a distinction upon them, but that
the Finance Minister had complained to the King regarding the
attitude of the House in recent times. The Rothchilds protested
that they were exceedingly hurt at this suggestion, and that

(01:36:54):
they had no idea at all what could be the
basis for it. The newspapers put forward the idea Dia
that since the Order of the Red Eagle was in
the form of a cross, a special form of it
would have to be designed for the Jews. If this
view is correct, Bismarck wrote to Mantuffel, any more or
less emancipated Jews such as the Rothchilds are, with the

(01:37:14):
exception of the very aged Amshkill, will lose any inclination
to adorn themselves with a decoration which will have become
a stamp of Judaism. A conflict arose in Berlin between Manchuffel,
who was on the side of the Rothschilds, and the
Finance Minister, who was against them, the conflict ending in
the victory of the Prime Minister on the February twelfth,

(01:37:35):
eighteen fifty three. The bankers Meyer Amshkial Vaughan Rothschild were
appointed court bankers after all as a mark of his
Majesty's satisfaction, and Manchuffell hastened to inform Bismarck of this fact,
having reason to believe that the latter would be pleased
to be the first to bring this information to the Rothschilds.
Bismarck reported that he had done so, adding some items

(01:37:57):
of financial news which he had heard at the Rothschilds.
There was such a superabundance of money in the Frankfort
market at that time that Rothschild had terminated and repaid
a deposit of one million thailer which the government of
Saxony had deposited with him, stating that it could not
afford to pay more than one and a half percent
without loss. This superabundance of money, Bismarck wrote, is attributed

(01:38:20):
by Rothschild to the fact that, partly through the fear
of war and partly through the uncertainty regarding the future
of the Customs Union, the spirit of enterprise has vanished,
so that money is flowing back from business without being reinvested.
Rothschild said that he would be exceedingly grateful if he
could be shown a possibility of placing his money at
three one slash two percent. If the Prussian government should,

(01:38:43):
at the moment enter into any business transaction with the
House of Rothschild which would give the latter some opportunity
of showing their personal good will, I would venture dutifully
to repeat my suggestion that the mark of royal favor
already given should be followed up by conferring the Order
of the Red Eagle of the third class on Baron
meyer Karl. He is at the moment the most influential
member of the family, and I have had further proof

(01:39:04):
of the high value which he attaches to the conferring
of such a distinction upon himself, and of the eagerness
with which he is seeking it. It was impossible for
him to understand how he or his house could, as
I recently gave him to understand have given the Finance
minister any occasion for dissatisfaction. Beth Mann, who had been
cherishing the hope that he might himself become Court Banker

(01:39:25):
to Prussia, and thereby when a victory over his old
rival Rothschild, was exceedingly disconcerted when he heard that the
latter had succeeded in obtaining the appointment. He hastened to
Bismarck and told him that the rebuff which he had
sustained could be compensated for only by conferring a personal
distinction on himself. Bismarck's attitude was not encouraging. I failed

(01:39:47):
to see any necessity for this, he commented, and regard
his attitude as being merely a pretext for having his
vanity satisfied by being granted the Order of Saint John,
which he indicated as being a reasonable compensation. I cannot
regard him as being a suitable person to bear this order. If,
as he threatened, he were to resign his consulate out

(01:40:07):
of pique at the distinction conferred upon the Rothschilds, we
should find plenty of others willing to undertake the office.
Bismarck's attitude towards Austria had remained unaltered whenever the Diet
showed any sign of activity. He attributed some secret or
crooked motive to the Austrian government and its new representative,
Baron Vaughan Prokeshastin. Similarly, in their treatment of the Jewish problem,

(01:40:32):
the protest of the Catholic citizens of Frankfort had still
not been disposed of, and Bismarck expressed the suspicion that
Austria herself had deliberately tried to make this an important issue,
so that if it depended upon the President of the
Diet to retard or expedite it, this fact could be
used to bring pressure to bear on the House of
Rothschild and financial negotiations. Bismarck meant to suggest that Austria

(01:40:54):
would vote on the question of the retention of the
constitutional liberty of the Jews according as the House of
Rothchild should prove obliging to her in financial matters or not.
The effect of such pressure, Bismarck wrote, can be justly
estimated only when one bears in mind the exceptionally high
importance that all members of the Rothschild family attached to
the attainment of better political and social conditions in their

(01:41:16):
native town of Frankfort. Especially the chief of the house
here C. M. Vaughan Rothschild, who one gathers has a
decisive influence in the family affairs, is especially sensitive on
this point by reason of the rivalry of Christian bankers.
There was no way of pleasing Bismarck in this matter.
If Austria opposed any alteration in the constitution that would

(01:41:39):
damage the Jews, this proved her servility to the Rothchilds
and her dependence on the Jews. If, on the other hand,
she supported such a change, this amounted to the resumption
of her former paramount position in the governance of the city,
and this would be a dangerous development. Bismarck remained true
to his policy of opposing Austria's influence with the Diet

(01:42:00):
whenever he could. The Prussian delegate therefore opposed the protest
and supported the retention of Jewish liberties in Frankfort, thereby
winning the gratitude of the House of Rothschild. The personal
relationship between the old bank and the delegate, who was
still to play such an important part in the history
of Germany, remained a very satisfactory one until Bismarck's official

(01:42:21):
duties at Frankfort came to an end in eighteen fifty nine,
it was not affected by such temporary difficulties as arose
during his period of office at Frankfort. Between Prussia and
the House of Rothschild there were two opposing parties in
the Prussian government. The party to which Manchuffel and the
cabinet's adviser Neber belonged were favorable to the Rothschilds, whereas

(01:42:43):
the finance minister Bodenschwing did not attempt to conceal his
dislike of them. When in the spring of eighteen fifty four,
just after the Western Powers and Turkey had declared war
on Russia, the Prussian government was faced with the possibility
of being forced to take military measures, Manschuffell pursus awaited
the King that Neber should be commissioned to sound the
House of Rothschild regarding a possible loan of fifteen million failure.

(01:43:06):
Without the Finance minister being told anything about this, Neeber
fixed on neutral Heidelberg as a place for the discussions,
which were attended by Meyer, Karl and Nathaniel, who already
an invalid came from London for the purpose. Even the
aged James was asked to come from Paris to Heidelberg,
a fact which dearly showed Neber the great importance that

(01:43:27):
the House attached to the conclusion of this business. He
therefore hoped to obtain favorable terms, But the Rothchilds proceeded
with extreme caution and kept oil, excusing themselves from any
definite statement on the ground that James was still absent.
Until after three hours of negotiations, Dotnieber asked them with
some heat whether they wanted to do the business or not.

(01:43:48):
If not, would they kindly say no? It was not
a matter of politeness, but of business, and he and
his government wanted to know where they stood. Neiberg got
a decided yes by way of anae, and they proceeded
to argue as to the price at which the loan
should be underwritten. The Wrothchilds offered ninety but neiber replied

(01:44:09):
that this was an impossible figure and he must have
ninety three, which had been offered elsewhere. The Rothchilds declared
that it was impossible that such an offer should have
been made by people who seriously meant business. Nieber thereupon
provisionally broke off negotiations and returned to Frankfort with meyer Karl,
where he told him that the Minister Mancheffel would gladly

(01:44:30):
have concluded the loan with him out of respect for
the House of Rothschild and owing to his feeling that
he would then be carrying through a plain and reliable transaction,
but that this required a certain amount of courage, as
public opinion in Prussia was prejudiced against doing business with
his house. On the June eighth, the negotiations were resumed
at Hanover with the Paris and Frankfort Rothchilds. These both

(01:44:52):
repeated the previous offer made, but appeared very disturbed regarding
the political situation, and asked that until the loan was
fully subscribed, no Prussian mobilization should be ordered, as this
would inevitably bring about a fall in quotations. Agreement on
many points had already been reached when the Finance Minister,
Vaughan Bodelsaywing suddenly heard of the negotiations which had been

(01:45:14):
carried on behind his back and protested emphatically. He bitterly
reproached Manchuffel and Nebur, stating that the Rothchilds had offered
the most worthless conditions. Bodelsaywing secured the breaking off of
discussions with the Rothschilds and had the loan subscribed privately.
With a fair measure of success. Meyer Karl returned to

(01:45:35):
Frankfort very much disappointed, and poured out his soul to Bismarck,
who found food for thought in the differences of opinion
in his own government. At about this time, the president
of the governing body at Tryer asked Bismarck to use
his influence with Rothschild on behalf of the Jewish community
at Cologne. Bismarck felt compelled to reply that while he

(01:45:56):
was prepared to use his personal and private influence with
the family, he was unable to ask a favor on
behalf of the Prussian government, since, as he said, the
conduct of the House of Rothschild in connection with the
last Prussian loan has not been such as to make
it desirable to ask these gentlemen a favor on behalf
of the Prussian government. This rift and elute was a
matter of some concern to the Prussian delegate, since it,

(01:46:19):
being his constant aim to restrict the sphere of Austria's influence,
he had intended to make use of the rothschilds in
connection with a scheme that he had planned, the object
of which was to check the circulation of Austrian securities
in the South of Germany. In the South and particularly
in Frankfort, many persons held Austrian investments, and they were
led to place their political support where their financial interest lay.

(01:46:42):
Bismarck meant to counter this by facilitating dealings in Prussian
securities in every way possible. When meyer Karl asked him
to have the interest on all Prussian state bonds paid
through him, an arrangement which would substantially facilitate dealing with
these securities in South Germany, Bismarck immediately agreed. He reported
accordingly to Manchuffell, adding that Rothschild had offered very favorable

(01:47:05):
terms since he looks at the arrangement from the point
of view that it increases his business. If therefore, Bismarck wrote,
higher quarters should be disposed to accede to the request
which Rothschild has so frequently made to me. I believe
that the greater convenience and security against loss thereby offered
would be an inducement to Jewish investors to increase their
holdings of such securities. This proposal, however, again met with

(01:47:29):
strong opposition on the part of the Rothchild's bitter enemy,
the finance Minister Bodelschwing. He pointed out that the Rothschilds
had already been entrusted with the interest payment on the
loan of eighteen fifty and eighteen fifty two, as well
as on the premium loan of eighteen fifty five. Had
this firm, he continued, taken a proper share in the

(01:47:50):
loan of eighteen fifty four, which was concluded in exceptionally
difficult circumstances, the same arrangement might have been made that
it would be exceedingly agreeable to the House of Rothschild
to be granted the same advantages with regard to the
four and a half percent loans of eighteen fifty four,
eighteen fifty five and eighteen fifty six, although it had
nothing to do with their issue, is readily intelligible. Such action, however,

(01:48:15):
would not be in accordance with the interests of the
treasury Manchufel held that Bodelschwing had been largely responsible for
the fact that Rothschild had not taken part in the
loan of eighteen fifty four, but for the time being
Bismarck's proposal was not accepted. The Rothschilds, however, persisted in
their request, and Bismarck was not the man easily to

(01:48:35):
accept a refusal. Meyer Karl addressed two urgent letters to
Bismarck at a short interval, reminding Bismarck that he desired
all the Prussian four and a half percent loans, including
that of eighteen fifty six, to be domiciled with his bank.
Your excellency is aware, he wrote, that my house, which
has been devoting itself as always with the greatest zeal

(01:48:57):
to strengthening and extending the financial credit of the State
of Prussia, has succeeded not only in obtaining a market
here for the most recent loan issued by the Bank
of Prussia, but also in obtaining such an extensive market
for this loan throughout the whole of Southern Germany that
securities to the amount of seven millions have already been sold. Thereupon,
Bismarck wrote a letter to Manscheffel strongly urging that the

(01:49:19):
Rothschild's wishes should be carried into effect. I do not know,
he wrote, the reasons which prevented the House of Rothschild
from taking a proper share in the loan concluded in
eighteen fifty four under difficult conditions. In raising this matter,
I did not proceed from the assumption that there was
any question of punishing or rewarding a bank for its
business methods. My sole aim was to discover an arrangement

(01:49:42):
which would favor a larger sale of Prussian securities abroad
and would attract foreign capital for our needs. That such
an arrangement, as has been suggested, would assist in achieving
this end, appears not to be disputed by the Finance Minister,
only he does not regard the advantages as so considerable.
As has been stated, I do not gather from the
arguments advanced by the Finance Minister that he fears that

(01:50:05):
we should suffer any disadvantage from such an arrangement, especially
as the House of Rothschild is prepared to forego even
a small amount which they had asked to cover expenses.
We may, of course assume that the bank has its
own reasons for making such a proposal, for it is
not going to undertake all the work involved out of
devotion to Prussia. The fact However, that its advantage is

(01:50:27):
identical with ours does not seem to me to furnish
any reason why we should ignore ours. Bismarck further developed
his argument against Bodolschwing and concluded by suggesting with all
deference that the matter should be discussed once more with
the finance minister. This was done, but without producing the
desired result. Bodelschwing held that there was no reason for

(01:50:48):
further considering the Rothschild proposals. Indeed, in a letter to Manchuffel,
he made a counter attack upon Bismarck and endeavored to
show that the latter had failed clearly to grasp the
prop posel On still failing to obtain a favorable decision,
meyer Karl applied direct to Manchuffel. He said that he
would accept any indemnification for the work involved that might

(01:51:10):
be considered reasonable, as he was solely concerned to demonstrate
again the sincere devotion of his house and their desire
to serve the interests of Prussia's finances. The matter was
not decided until Bodelschwing resigned and a new finance minister,
Vaughan Peitou, was appointed. Although Bismarck had left Frankfort by
then he urged the new finance minister to accede to

(01:51:32):
the Rothschild's request, but this was not done until Bismarck's successor,
for Vaughan Usidom had also supported the proposal, and Rothschild
had appealed to the President, Vaughan Camphausen, pointing out that
he had recently sold Prussian securities to investors to the
value of several millions, and had thus assisted in consolidating
the financial interests with those of South Germany. This matter, too,

(01:51:55):
had clearly revealed the excellent understanding that had subsisted between
Bismarck and the Rothchild during the later years of his
stay at Frankfort. Neither did their pleasant relations suffer through
the following Tragy comic incident, which originated in Berlin and
was exceedingly painful to the house of Rothschild, but for
which Bismarck, as they well knew, was in no way responsible.

(01:52:16):
Bismarck's suggestion that Baron Meyer Carl Vaughan Rothschild, who lived
at Frankfort and was the eldest son of Karl Meyer
Rothschild of Naples, should be given the Order of the
Red Eagle as well. The title of Court Banker was accepted,
but a special Order of the Red Eagle was designed
for non Christians, being of an oval shape instead of
in the shape of a cross. At the beginning of

(01:52:37):
July eighteen fifty eight, Bismarck handed meyer Karl this order,
which who considered to be very tastefully designed. Rothchild appeared grateful,
but he accepted the decoration with mixed feelings, since as
he already held, amongst others, the Order of the Redeemer
of Greece, he would clearly have felt himself more at
home amongst the cross wearers. The house of rothcham Child

(01:53:00):
did in fact regarded as a slight rather than as
a distinction, and this decoration was a constant source of
irritation to meyer Karl Rothschild he felt it all the
more keenly when on the August fourteenth, eighteen fifty seven,
just after Prince William of Prussia had taken over the
government from King Frederick William the Fourth, who was ill,

(01:53:20):
he received the Order of the Red Eagle of the
second class, also in the form design for non Christians.
Meyer Karl, as far as possible, avoided wearing the order
as he felt that it marked him out in an
unpleasant way. But persons who were ill disposed to the
Rothschild's whispered to the new Regent that Rothschild wore the
Order of the Red Eagle in the form of a cross.

(01:53:41):
One day, to his surprise, Bismarck received the following communication
from Mancuffel. It has been brought to the notice of
His Royal Highness, the Prince of Prussia, that the Court Banker,
Baron Vaughan Rothschild at frankfort An, Maine, upon whom the
Order of the Red Eagle of the second Class was
conferred by Royal decree on the August eleventh, in the
form appointed for non Christians, is wearing the Order in

(01:54:03):
the form of a cross, and I have been instructed
to inquire into this matter. The Prime Minister requested Bismarck
to state in confidence whether the Prince had been correctly informed.
Bismarck hastened to send the following reply, in accordance with
the royal command of the twenty seventh Instant, I have
the honor dutifully to inform your Excellency that I have
not seen the court Banker Karl Meyer Vaughan Rothschild, who

(01:54:26):
should properly be called Meyer Karl, wearing such a decoration,
since he does not go to big functions, and when
he does wear orders, prefers to wear the Greek Order
of the Redeemer or the Spanish Order of Isabella the Catholic.
On the occasion of the official reception which I myself
gave on the twenty fifth Ultimo to celebrate the marriage
of h r h. Prince Frederick William, which he would

(01:54:48):
have had to attend in uniform, he excused himself on
the grounds of ill health, it being painful to him
to wear the Red Eagle decoration for non Christians, as
he would have had to do on that occasion. I
draw a similar inference from the fact that whenever he
comes to dine with me, he merely wears the ribbon
of the Order of the Red Eagle in his buttonhole.
I have never heard that her Vaughan Rothschild has worn

(01:55:10):
the decoration appointed for Christians. Although the Frankfurters love making
the most of such incidents, and in view of the
keen rivalry between the various financial powers, the Christian bankers
have derived no small satisfaction from the fact that her
Vaughan Rothschild may not wear the regular decoration. I shall
not fail to give this matter my most careful attention,
and shall report further if I should learn of any

(01:55:32):
facts of the nature indicated in the royal Command of
the twenty fifth Ultimo. This report disposed of the matter,
and nothing more was heard about it. In later years.
Bismarck once told of the only speculation that he engaged
in as the result of information which he owed to
his diplomatic position. Prussia meant, if necessary to use force

(01:55:53):
to end the everlasting dispute to what country the Canton
of New Chattel should belong. This might have meant war
with Switzerland, which however, would have been possible only if
the Emperor Napoleon, whom Prussia would have had on her flank,
had raised no obstacle to her action. Bismarck was sent
to Paris in order to ask the Emperor personally what
his attitude was in the matter. He knew that Napoleon

(01:56:17):
would raise no objection, and that it was therefore highly
probable that Prussia would go to war with Switzerland. Bismarck
wished accordingly to dispose of securities which would have been
adversely affected, and went to see Rothschild for this purpose.
Rothchild advised against selling, as the securities in question had
good prospects. Yes, replied Bismarck, but if you knew the

(01:56:39):
object of my journey, you would think otherwise. Rothchild replied
that that might be so, but he could not advise
him to sell. Bismarck, however, got rid of his securities
and left for Paris. Lewis Napoleon was very amenable and
would not have been likely to raise any difficulties about
the action against New Chattel. Meanwhile, without telling Bismarck anything

(01:57:02):
about it, the King of Prussia had changed his mind
and decided to have nothing more to do with the matter.
The war, which had been expected therefore did not occur,
and the securities in question continued to rise in value.
Rothschild was proved right, and the Great Statesman lost a
considerable amount of money through the premature sale. Bismarck was

(01:57:23):
in Frankfort when Old amskill Meyer, so delightfully described by him, died.
He continued to be on the best of terms with
all the members of the House living there, when in
eighteen fifty nine he left Frankfort to take up his
new post at Petersburg. The Rothschilds hoped that they had
established themselves in the favor of the man who, their
instinct may well have told them was destined to great things.

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REIGN OF ROTHSCHILDS - 7. Fighting for Position with Louis Napoleon, Cavour and Bismarck

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}REIGN OF ROTHSCHILDS - 7. Fighting for Position with Louis Napoleon, Cavour and Bismarck