Rothschild
Posted by JW on March 17, 1998 at 02:13:36:
In response to Rothschild anecdote, written by Linden on March 16, 1998 at 22:42:39
] An anecdote about the banker Mr Rothschild at the time of Waterloo:
] It seems that the stock market was desperately worried about the outcome of the battle - if Napoleon won, shares would crash. Everyone knew that Rothschild had his own courier system. He was seen to receive a hurried messenger from Belgium, and went out and sold all his stock. Everyone assumed that he had heard early news of a defeat, and so they sold off their stock as well as they could in a crashing market. Rothschild then bought big when the prices were at their lowest just before the news of victory arrived.
] Can anyone tell me whether the story is true? It might be an early urban myth, as it seems to exemplify what 19th century British gentiles thought of the Jews: rich and clever. The fact that there were thousands of poor and/or stupid Jews in London's East End didn't seem to be noticed.
JW: The point was that R had beter sources of information than the Government via the commercial network of Rothschild houses throughout Europe. When the news of victory arrived he told the PM straight away--who refused to believe him! If R made money out of Government stock it was the Governments fault. More important was the earlier service of him and his brothers in Spain and elsewhere. Napoleons troops looted wherever they went, even in their own country because they were expected to live off the land. Wellingtom needed to pay his way to ensure the support of his allies and of the French in France. Only gold would be universally acceptable and the Commissary to the Army asked Nathan Meyer Rothschild to take on the job . The Rothschilds across Europe scooped up all the gold coins they could find--even from inside Napoleons' empire and shipped them to Wellington. This was a service of the very first importance to the war effort, and they went right out on a limb to do it. The successof the Rothschilds afterward was owed to this extraordinary achievement The Rothschilds had put their own credit at risk before there was any possibility of repayment.
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