Jacob Sr. had eleven children. However, of the seven sons, only three were able to seriously increase the family's wealth: Ulrich (1441–1510), Georg (1453–1506) and, of course, Jacob. Despite the fact that Jacob the Younger was an extremely pious man, in 1473 he went to study accounting in Venice (according to another version - in Genoa), and then, in 1482, began his career in the family business.
For a long time, the Fuggers' main occupation remained textile trading, but due to growing competition in this business, the brothers decided to take on credit operations. In 1488, the Fuggers lent a large sum to Archduke Sigismund of Tyrol on the security of the right to cheaply purchase silver from the Schwack mines (North Tyrol). This was the beginning of a serious mining business: the brothers bought up mining enterprises in Tyrol and Carinthia, and began developing copper and silver deposits in Hungary. But mining required constant capital injections, so the family acquired its own creditor in the person of a high-ranking Catholic dignitary, Cardinal Melchior von Meckau. The Church prohibited usury, and its position was especially harsh towards clergy, so transactions took place secretly.
Fugger Trade and Banking House
Having created a substantial capital, the Fugger brothers began to give loans to wasteful European rulers at considerable interest (or on the security of the right to develop silver or copper deposits). The money was used to finance luxurious royal courts and numerous wars. Lending to the papal court also brought great profits - since 1499, the Fugger office operated in Rome.
The mining business was also actively developing; in fact, the family owned a monopoly on the copper trade in Europe, they owned mines in Styria, Tyrol, Northern Hungary and Spain. To expand markets for the raw materials obtained from the mines, the brothers created the Fugger trading house. Branches were opened throughout Europe, some of which later became banking offices.
For the successful development of the business, various political and economic information was constantly required, so Jacob created a news collection service for the Fugger house. Numerous representative offices in European countries collected a variety of useful information and transmitted it to the main office in Augsburg. Strategic decisions were made based on the facts obtained. Subsequently, the information was disseminated among the clients of the Fugger house.
In 1509, after the sudden death of Cardinal Melchior von Meckau, promissory notes from the Fuggers were discovered among his documents. Pope Julius II demanded immediate repayment of debts to the cardinal's heirs, and the family faced the threat of bankruptcy. The Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I extended a helping hand, having previously repeatedly borrowed large sums from the Fuggers and promising the pope to launch a campaign against the Venetian Republic in exchange for writing off the Fuggers' debts. The Fugger trading and banking house paid 170 thousand guilders for this military campaign.
Court Banker
In 1510, after the death of his elder brother, Jacob Fugger the Younger took over the business. Firmly established at the court of Emperor Maximilian I, he was appointed court banker. From 1518 to 1556, rates on loans to the Habsburgs ranged from 10% to 14%. Rates on individual short-term loans during the same period could reach 24–52%.
According to the Golden Bull of Charles IV of Luxembourg of 1356, the throne of the Holy Roman Empire could not be inherited; the emperor was chosen by a college of prince-electors. There were seven electors in total: the Archbishop of Mainz, the Archbishop of Trier, the Archbishop of Cologne, the King of Bohemia, the Count Palatine of the Rhine, the Elector of Saxony and the Margrave of Brandenburg.
At the end of the 1510s, the grandson of Maximilian I, Charles I of Austria, and the king of France, Francis I, laid claim to the throne. The latter was supported by Pope Leo X, who feared the strengthening of the Spaniards. Money became the decisive factor in this political struggle.
Emperor Maximilian I, concerned about how to transfer the empire to his grandson, turned to the Fugger trading and banking house for help. In 1519, Jacob led a consortium of German and Italian bankers and merchants in providing a massive loan to Charles V of Habsburg: 850 thousand gold florins, 543 thousand of which he personally provided. In fact, the Fuggers became the economic support of the authorities - Charles received the crown of the Roman Empire, and the House of Fuggers, using the support of the monarch, extended influence to Spain and became the most influential financial structure in Europe.
Chief financier of Europe
In the 1520s, Jacob Fugger received income from the knightly orders of Spain, mined and traded strategic metals, while at the same time remaining the main supplier of linen fabrics. In addition, the House of Fugger took part in the development of mercury placers in Almaden and the silver mines of Guadalcanal, and controlled the production of artillery in Western Europe.
The Fuggers' fortune increased tenfold between 1487 and 1511 and reached 200 thousand guilders; between 1511 and 1528 it was already about 2 million guilders, that is, it increased again 10 times.
In 1499, Jacob married the daughter of a respectable Augsburg burgher, Sibylle Artz. The marriage lasted more than 25 years, but the Fuggers had no children. Soon after Jakob's death, Sibylla married his companion Konrad Rehlinger.
Jacob Fugger not only increased the family's fortune, he was also involved in charity work, creating the first of its kind social settlement for poor city residents. With his own money, he bought land on the outskirts of Augsburg and built an entire quarter, called Fuggerei. In addition to the extremely low rent, residents were required to pray twice a day for the salvation of the souls of Jacob and his family members. Remaining a pious man, he sought to atone for the sin of usury. The residential complex still exists today - for a nominal fee of one euro per year, with the permission of the Fugger Family Foundation, people in need live there.
Fugger financed the construction of churches, including taking part in the construction of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. He patronized the sciences and arts, collected rare and expensive objects, his Augsburg house was a center of rarities and jewelry.
To Soviet readers
This book is intended as essays on current issues in the sociology of the exploiting classes of Germany in the past and in the current Federal Republic of Germany. The Fuggers were chosen as an example - a family dynasty that was part of the 15th and 16th centuries. among the most powerful commercial, financial capitalists and mining owners in the world, whose descendants in the Federal Republic of Germany are now again playing an ultra-reactionary role.
The first edition of the book was published on the eve of the 450th anniversary of the Great German Peasant Revolution of 1525; This is not a coincidence - there is a direct connection. In this greatest class confrontation during the transition to a new era, the Fuggers personified the darkest forces of reaction. They contributed significantly to the defeat of the peasants. Waging a war requires money, a lot of money, and the Fuggers provided it. They financed the armies of Landsknechts, who shed rivers of peasant blood. Having become large landowners, in those years, as in subsequent centuries, they participated in reprisals against peasants in “their” villages.
The description of the history of this family dynasty made it possible to build a bridge from early capitalism to the classes now dominant in Germany. From the Fuggers of the late Middle Ages, a direct road leads to that same Prince Fugger, who, being a spokesman for the interests of imperialist forces, played an important role both in the First World War and during the period of Hitler’s fascism, and after 1945 became one of the founders of the Bavarian Christian Social union, which elected him as its treasurer and third chairman of the party.
The author had no intention of writing a family chronicle. It seems, however, that the appearance of the exploiting classes and their ideology can be shown more clearly and intelligibly if the general historical study is based on specific examples.
It is gratifying for a German communist author when his books are offered to Soviet readers in Russian. I belong to the generation of those who in my youth witnessed the Great October Socialist Revolution, the cause of which has been and remains my dear cause since then. I was raised on the ideas of Marx, Engels, Lenin, and the fraternal connection with the Soviet Union has always been and is decisive in my life. It is characteristic that the first article I wrote, published at the beginning of 1922 under the title “Help Soviet Russia!”, called for assistance to the starving population of the Volga region.
Six decades have passed, during which the forces of imperialism, through military adventures and with the help of the most vile slander, have repeatedly tried to liquidate or weaken the world's first socialist state of workers and peasants.
But everything turned out to be in vain. The victory was won by the Soviet people - the vanguard of humanity in building a new world. The victory was won, first of all, by the realization that love for the Soviet Union and loyalty to it are equivalent to love and loyalty to socialism.
I meant this, I meant the younger generation both in the GDR and in the USSR, which, fortunately, thanks to the peace policy pursued by the USSR, the GDR and many other states, knows the war only by hearsay.
This book aims to revive the past, reveal its connection with our days and show the present in order to draw lessons for the future. Let it serve as a weapon in the struggle of ideas of our time, which belongs to progress and communism.
A. Norden
To Soviet readers............... 5
I. The path to power................... 7
At the dawn of early capitalism......... 7
Buyers of weaving products....... 10
Wholesale merchants of international scale..... 23
International banker, mining monopolist and wholesaler.................................. 27
Exploitation and oppression of miners....... 42
Bankers of spiritual and temporal rulers....... 46
II. At the levers of policy................... 55
The arbiters of the crown's destinies............ 55
Financiers of wars................ 73
Reactionary Union............... 77
Princely lifestyle......................... 81
Worldview of the Fuggers.............. 87
III. The fight for progress............... 94
Revolt against “monopoly” and usury..... 94
The Reformation and its sworn enemy from Augsburg.......111
The people rise............... 120
IV. Executioners of revolutions............... 128
Silver and gold from peasant blood....... 128
Alliance with the Counter-Reformation............ 140
Crusade against the Netherlands....... 154
V. Decline and new rise............... 161
The end of the trading and banking house........ 161
Feudal lords................... 170
VI. In the era of imperialism............... 187
Hitler's accomplices............... 191
After the Second World War.......... 196
Literature of Germany about Fuggers........... 209
Two paths of history............... 219
Appendix......................... 223
Some information about the incomes of “big” and “small” people.................................. 223
A German family, which already in the Renaissance, in the 15th and 16th centuries, was a famous banking house operating in almost all countries of Europe. The Fuggers were European merchant aristocracy from Augsburg, bankers and venture capitalists at the same time. Together with the Welser family, the Fuggers controlled much of the European economy in the 16th century and amassed enormous wealth. The Fuggers in a sense replaced the Medici family, who influenced the whole of Europe during the Renaissance. The Fuggers took over not only many of the Medici's assets, but also their political power and influence.
The founder of the family was Johann Fugger, a weaver from Graben, a town near the Swabian free city of Augsburg. His son, also Johann (or Hans), settled in Augsburg, and the first mention of the Fuggers in Augsburg is Hans, who was entered in the tax register shortly after his arrival in 1357. Having married, he became a citizen of the free city, joined the weavers' guild, engaged in trade and by 1396 occupied a very high position in the list of local taxpayers.
His eldest son, Andreas Fugger, was a merchant who sold textiles and received the nickname Rich Fugger for constantly adding land and other property to the family's holdings. In addition, today it has become clear that the Fuggers were engaged in the trade of precious oriental carpets - a rather unusual enterprise for that time. Andreas' son, Lucas Fugger, was given a coat of arms by Emperor Frederick III, a golden deer on a blue background, for which Lucas also received the nickname - Fugger the Deer. However, Lucas's inflated ambitions failed him, and he went bankrupt due to too risky loans.
Hans Fugger's younger son, Jakob the Elder, founded another branch of the family. This branch developed more steadily and became known as the Lily Fuggers, also because of their coat of arms - a golden lily on an azure field and an azure lily on a gold one. Jacob started out as a weaver, but quickly switched to trade and became an alderman and a member of the city council. He married the daughter of a goldsmith, and his wealth grew rapidly - in 1461 he was the 12th richest man in Augsburg. He died in 1469.
The eldest son Ulrich Fugger took over the management of his father's enterprise, thanks to whom the Fuggers began a very profitable relationship with the ruling Habsburg family. With the help of his brothers, Ulrich concentrated in his hands the remittances of the papal court, supplied half of the ruling families of Europe with loans, began mining precious metals in Tyrol and Silesia, as well as copper in Hungary, and at the beginning of the 16th century, the Fuggers even rented the Roman mint. They also traded spices, wool and silk.
However, the most famous representative of this dynasty was Ulrich's younger brother, Jacob or Jacob the Rich, who, with the help of an advantageous marriage, opened many doors for himself. In 1511 he received the title of nobility. In 1519, he led a consortium of German and Italian bankers and merchants who lent Charles V 850,000 florins (roughly 95,625 ounces of gold), which enabled Charles to become Holy Roman Emperor. So, the Fuggers' share in this amount was 543,000 florins.
Jacob died in 1525. He is still considered one of the richest people of all time. He had no children, and Jacob was succeeded by his nephew Anton Fugger, the son of his older brother Georg Fugger.
By 1525, the Fuggers were receiving income from Spanish orders of chivalry and profits from the mining of mercury and silver. Anton established new trade relations with Peru and Chile and founded new mines in Sweden and Norway. He was even involved in the slave trade from Africa to America, but found the spice trade and the import of Hungarian cattle more profitable.
The Fuggers not only increased their wealth, but also actively spent it. So, in 1511, Jacob donated 15,000 florins for several almshouses, and in 1514 he bought up part of Augsburg and entered into an agreement with the city, according to which the Fuggers built more than fifty almshouses for their less fortunate fellow citizens. Some of them are still in use today.
Alas, by the end of the 16th century, the Fuggers faced a grandiose bankruptcy, and over time the family turned into large landowners and representatives of the aristocracy. A number of family members are still successfully running businesses in the financial sector.
They credited both the Vatican and monarchs throughout Europe
During the Renaissance, in the 15th and 16th centuries, the German Fugger family founded the most famous banking house, operating in almost all European countries. The Fuggers were European merchant aristocracy from Augsburg, bankers and venture capitalists at the same time.
Together with the Welser family, they controlled most of the European economy in the 16th century. and amassed enormous wealth. In a sense, the dynasty of German financiers replaced the Medici family, which influenced the whole of Europe during the Renaissance. Bankers from Germany took over not only many of the Medici's assets, but also their political power and pressure on the powerful.
From weavers to aristocrats
The founder of the family was Johann Fugger, a weaver from Graben. His son, also Johann (or Hans), settled in Augsburg, and the first mention of the Fuggers in this city is found in the financial documents of that time - Hans was entered into the tax register in 1357, shortly after his arrival. Having married, he became a citizen of the free city, joined the weavers' guild, engaged in trade and by 1396 occupied a very high position in the list of local taxpayers. His eldest son Andreas became a merchant, selling textiles and received the nickname Rich Fugger because he constantly replenished the family's property with land and other property. In addition, the Fuggers were engaged in the trade of precious oriental carpets - a rather unusual enterprise for that time.
The family became so influential that it did business with Emperor Frederick III, who granted the coat of arms to Andreas' son Lucas. The coat of arms depicts a golden deer on a blue background, for which Lucas received the nickname - Fugger the Deer. However, Lucas was ruined by adventurism, and he went bankrupt due to issuing too risky loans.
Meanwhile, Hans's youngest son Jacob Sr. founded a second branch of the family. This branch developed more steadily and became known as the Fugger Lilies, also thanks to their coat of arms - a golden lily on an azure field and an azure lily on a gold one. Jacob started out as a weaver, but quickly moved into trade and became an alderman and a member of the city council. He married the daughter of a goldsmith, and his wealth grew rapidly - in 1461 he was the 12th richest man in Augsburg.
After Jacob's death, the management of his father's enterprise was taken over by his eldest son Ulrich, who managed to establish very profitable relations with the imperial house of Habsburg. Ulrich supervised the remittances of the papal court, supplied half of the ruling families of Europe with loans, began mining precious metals and copper, and at the beginning of the 16th century. The Fuggers even rented the Roman Mint. They also traded spices, wool and silk.
Jacob - the favorite of kings
However, the most famous representative of the German dynasty was Ulrich’s younger brother, Jacob, or Jacob the Rich, who, with the help of an advantageous marriage, opened many doors for himself. He was ennobled in 1511, and in 1519 he led a consortium of German and Italian bankers and merchants who lent King Charles V 850,000 florins (approximately 95,625 ounces of gold), which enabled him to become Holy Roman Emperor. So the Fuggers' share in this amount was 543 thousand florins. Jacob and Ulrich in 1488 lent Archduke Sigismund of Tyrol 150 thousand florins, but before the debt was repaid they received the right to buy all the silver production of the Schwaz mines (North Tyrol) at a very low price. At the same time they bought up mining fields in Tyrol, Carinthia and Hungary.
Soon Jacob Fugger became the personal banker of Emperor Maximilian I. The silver and copper mines of the empire were given to him as collateral for huge loans. Bank loans became fashionable among the European nobility, and they began to get stuck in debt like flies in honey. Following the emperor, the Pope was drawn into debt dependence on the Fuggers - from 1499, Augsburg bankers began to serve the Vatican. For example, Jacob's Bank issued a loan of 170 thousand ducats to Pope Julius II for expenses in the war against Venice.
Jacob died in 1525. He is still considered one of the richest men of all time. He had no children, and the tycoon's successor was his nephew Anton Fugger, the son of his older brother Georg. He established new trade links with Peru and Chile and developed new mines in Sweden and Norway. He did not even disdain the slave trade from Africa to America, but found the trade in spices and the import of Hungarian cattle more profitable.
You need to get rich the right way
German bankers not only increased their wealth, but were also active philanthropists. Thus, in 1511, Jacob donated 15 thousand florins to several almshouses, and in 1514 he bought part of Augsburg and built more than fifty almshouses for his less fortunate fellow citizens. Residents were required to pay 1 guilder per year and pray for their benefactors. Some of the institutions still operate today. More than 150 residents still live in the Fugger Quarter. The cost of living here is only one euro. The Fuggerei burned to the ground in the 17th century. during the Thirty Years' War. Three centuries later, British and American bombers - allies in the anti-Hitler coalition - razed half of the houses to the ground. Both times the Fugger Foundation, founded by Jacob in 1521, restored its quarter. “The Second World War was not over yet, and the elders of the family, being in the bunker, decided to rebuild everything,” recalls 69-year-old Countess Elisabeth Thun-Fugger.
The Spanish King Philip II tried to get rid of credit dependence on German bankers by cunning. As soon as he ascended the throne (and this happened in 1554), he sorted out the debts to the Fugger bank and declared Spain bankrupt. Frightened bankers, in order to save their wealth, hastily made huge loans to Philip II, intending to subsequently receive significant dividends. The Spanish king accepted the help with gratitude, but after some time he again declared Spain bankrupt and refused to pay the bills. This was already a fatal blow, after which the Fugger house could not rise and in 1607 admitted its collapse. However, the dynasty had such a large margin of safety that family members retained large landholdings in their hands. A number of family members are still successfully running businesses in the financial sector. “We have always converted our assets from cash to property. And this was the most correct of all our decisions,” Elizaveta Thun-Fugger reveals the secret of the Fuggers’ success. This policy paid off in full during the hyperinflation of the Weimar Republic, when 1 dollar could fetch 4 trillion Reichsmarks. So the Fugger Foundation is still thriving.
Prepared by Anna Popenko,
based on materials from Bloomberg.com (translation by capital.ua), Peoples.ru, Sokrytoe.net
The history of world usury represents a consistent replacement of some people and family clans by others. Unfortunately, the names of not all the world's moneylenders have reached us.
The history of moneylenders in the Italian city-states of Florence, Venice, Genoa, and Lombardy is well documented. In the 13th century these were the families of Florentine bankers Bardi and Peruzzi, in the 14th - early 15th centuries. the families of the Florentine bankers Medici and Pazzi. At the end of the 15th century and throughout the 16th century, Europe was already dominated by the banking house of the German Fugger family. In the 17th century and throughout most of the 18th century, there were many family banking houses in Europe, but it cannot be said that any one of them was dominant.
Available documents allow us to say that until the beginning of the 19th century, the “life” of individual banks and the period of stay at the top of the financial power of individual banking clans did not exceed one century.
Finally, at the end of the 18th century, the Rothschild family entered the arena. Throughout the 19th century and in the 20th century until World War II, the Rothschild family was out of competition; other banking houses played a subordinate role in relation to the Rothschild clan. About a century ago, in the 53rd volume of the encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron about the Rothschilds it was reported: “Their fortune is estimated at several billion francs, concentrated mainly in the hands of 10-12 individuals.”
The second most powerful after the Rothschilds was the banking house, which belonged to the family Baringov .
I wrote about these banking houses Lord George Gordon Byron in 1822 "Don Juan":
Oh gold! Who excites the press?
Who rules the stock exchange? Who reigns at all the great diets and congresses?
Who makes politics in England?
Who creates hopes and interests?
Who gives joy and sorrow?
You think - spirit Napoleon ?
No! Rothschild And Baringa millions!
They and our liberal Lafitte -
Real lords of the universe:
The nation's credit depends on them,
The fall of thrones, the courses of change;
The exchange does not spare republics,
Bankers undoubtedly care
So that the correct interest grows
From your silver land, Peru.
The banking house of Baring (or Baring) no longer exists: Barings Bank, created in the 18th century, ended its existence in 1995, when it went bankrupt as a result of risky transactions with futures and was sold for a symbolic sum of 1 pound sterling.
And the Rothschilds in the 19th century were unrivaled not only in Europe, but also in the world.
The total wealth of the clan in the 70s of the 19th century was estimated at almost $1 billion - at that time it was a fantastic amount. Not a single major project could be completed without their participation. Their money was used to explore diamond mines in South Africa, finance the construction of railways in Europe, buy land for the construction of the Suez Canal, and extract oil in Baku and the North Caucasus. They owned a controlling stake in the oil company Royal Dutch Shell, which surpassed Rockefeller's oil companies in terms of production volumes of "black gold". Prussian kings, Austrian emperors, Russian tsars more than once resorted to Rothschild loans.
At the beginning of the 20th century, families also became known Rockefellers, Morgans, Kuhns, Loebs, Goldmans, Mellons, Sachses, Duponts, Lemans. Many of these families already had a certain history by that time. Almost all of them come from Europe, but made their careers as bankers in the USA (the exceptions are the founders of the financial dynasties Rockefeller and Morgan, who were born in America). As a rule, they did not start with banking, but then created their own banking houses. Many got rich by supplying the army with weapons, food, and equipment during the Civil War.
In 1867 Abraham Kuhn And Solomon Loeb established the bank Kuhn, Loeb & Co., which quickly became the largest lending institution in the country. The names of other prominent moneylenders are associated with this bank. These are the bank managers Jacob Schiff, Otto Kahn, Felix Warburg, Benjamin Buttenweiser .
At the beginning of the 20th century, on an equal footing with the bank Kuhn, Loeb & Co. the banking house JP Morgan (founded in 1893), owned by John Pierpont Morgan. He started by supplying weapons to the army during the Civil War, then began investing in industry and railways. According to many sources, J.P. Morgan was a secret agent for promoting the interests of the Rothschilds in the United States. And today, according to experts, the JP Morgan bank is controlled by the Rothschilds (specifically, the London bank N.M. Rothschild & Sons).
American business has been associated with the Rockefeller family for more than a century. It is believed that John Rockefeller, the founder of the banking dynasty, became America's first dollar billionaire.
This happened, according to researchers, somewhere on the eve of the First World War. And the founder of the dynasty began with the fact that during the Civil War of 1861-1865. supplied the army with flour, pork and salt. After the war, he became involved in oil, and in 1870 he founded the Standard Oil company (today this company is called Exxon/Mobil). Then he created the Chase Bank, later transformed into Chase Manhattan.
Lehman brothers (Heinrich, Emmanuel, Mayer) came to America in the first half of the 19th century and began their careers in the cotton trade. Later Lemans Lehman Brothers was founded.
Fargo and Butterfield families created the financial company American Express.
In 1977, Kuhn, Loeb & Co. merged with Lehman Brothers to form Lehman Brothers, Inc. Another 7 years later it merged with American Express.
Another example. In 2000, the Rothschild-controlled bank JP Morgan absorbed the Chase Manhattan bank, the brainchild of Rockefeller. After this, a hybrid was formed called JP Morgan Chase. The example of these mergers shows that there is an increasing merging and intertwining of the banking businesses of individual families. Perhaps, with such mergers, the balance of power on the financial Olympus of the moneylenders participating in the transactions changes.
"Family" nature of the business
As is known, in the 19th century (especially in the second half) a boom began in the creation of joint stock companies and/or the transformation of existing private companies into open joint stock companies. The family private business was finally undermined in the 20th century during wars, nationalizations, due to the adoption of antimonopoly laws, etc. The textbooks say that shareholder form business organization is more progressive compared to private family-type companies. The thesis is very dubious. World experience shows that family firms (this is well known to management specialists) have much greater stability and vitality. They are motivated to “live forever” rather than follow the suicidal logic of maximizing short-term profits. Such businesses, as a rule, have stable operating principles, strict managerial subordination, minimize the involvement of “outsiders” in their staff, and develop long-term development programs.
Global moneylenders encouraged the process of transition of other companies to the joint stock form, which made it easier for them to establish control over such businesses. However, they themselves tried in every possible way to preserve their business as a family one. A striking example is the Rothschilds, who even today, in the 21st century, show conservatism and maintain their banks and companies as private businesses based on family capital. Moreover, in their family companies and banks, they sought to use people who had some kind of family connection with the Rothschilds in all key positions. They say that the founder of the Mayer dynasty, Amschel Rothschild, wrote in his will that leadership positions in banking and other businesses should only be held by family members (by the way, women from the Rothschild family were prohibited from doing business).
In the 19th century, a banking house Lazarov was also a private family business. It was created by three French brothers - Alexander, Semyon and Ilya Lazar in America in the wake of the California gold rush. Later, the Lazarov bank changed its registration, moving to France. It was called the Morgans' trusted enterprise in Europe. Today it is an American-French bank, where the Lazars are no longer in charge: after World War II, the company was managed by a famous American financier for 40 years Felix Rohatin .
In many other banks and companies, family capital and family business are being eroded; key positions are gradually being replaced by people who initially did not belong to the dynasty of the founders of the business.
For example, in 1969 after the death Robert Lehman to the management of Lehman Brothers, Inc. “strangers” came. Gradually, the bank's stability began to weaken, and in September 2008, amid the crisis, the bank's final collapse occurred.
Some so-called "single-family" banks are gradually becoming "multi-family". Today, for example, families Rockefellers, Morgans, Coons And Loebov on a parity basis they control the financial conglomerate Citigroup, the bank JP Morgan Chase, and the oil concern Exxon/Mobil. At the same time, they closely monitor that “external” or “random” people do not fall into either the shareholders or the circle of senior management of companies and banks.
Violation of this principle threatens not only the weakening of the position of the banking house, but even its death. Today, in most banks, the staff is not "family", A "team". A “team” can be formed from people who, firstly, are not very well known to management; secondly, they are not very well controlled. The difference between the “family” and “corporate” spirit is well understood by real moneylenders and do not allow outsiders into their business.
We have already mentioned that the oldest Baring bank went bankrupt in 1995. This happened as a result of the fact that none of the same Barings who founded it remained in the bank. In fact, completely different people were “steering” the bank, and only the sign reminded of the Barings. There were a lot of “random” people in the bank, including someone Nick Leeson who was a stock trader. He traded futures on the Singapore exchange and in a short period of time created losses of £1.4 billion, which proved fatal for the bank.
Similar scandals regularly occur with other banks, especially those that have lost even the semblance of “family”. The managers of such banks treat the capital entrusted to them as someone else's property: they either engage in outright theft of it, or, in the interests of shareholders and their own (expectation of bonuses), they undertake very risky operations.
Dynastic marriages and some other “secrets” of moneylenders
Dynastic marriages prevent the “dispersion” of family capital. Much has been written about numerous consanguineous marriages within the Rothschild clan in the biographies of this family. As Rothschild biographers have calculated, in the 19th century, half of the marriages of clan members were intrafamily. Over two centuries, the number of such intra-family marriages is in the hundreds.
Marriages between representatives of individual banking families also became the norm.
Take, for example, the bank Kuhn, Loeb & Co. The owners and managers of this bank gradually became one big family, as their families were gradually united by blood through marriage. Yes, daughter Solomon Loeb married Jacob Schiff, A Felix Warburg married his granddaughter Solomon Loeb Nina. But the manager of the bank Kuhn, Loeb & Co. Benjamin Buttenweiser was married to the granddaughter of one of the brothers Lemanov. The number of such marriage alliances cannot be counted.
True, during dynastic marriages between close relatives, “genetic” surprises may occur in the form of children with certain mental, mental and physical disabilities, but such risks fade into the background when material and financial interests come first when resolving matrimonial issues.
Closedness- an important principle of the existence of moneylenders, and we are talking about secrecy both in personal life and in business. Sometimes closeness develops into conspiracy. For this purpose, front persons, front companies, various trust funds (TF), a system of multi-stage participation in the capital of other companies, offshore companies, etc. are widely used. TFs manage the moneylenders' stakes in various companies and banks, but the funds themselves are under the control of the moneylenders. It is almost impossible to assess the wealth of moneylenders; it is difficult to even get an accurate idea of which industries and areas of business are controlled by which families. The Rothschilds, according to a number of analysts, act through an agent such as George Soros, who is considered one of the main financial speculators in the world. He, so to speak, - "public" financier and always ranks quite high in Forbes magazine's rankings of the richest people. The Rothschilds voice their ideological guidelines through “public” politicians and journalists under their control. For example, via Jacques Attali, former president European Bank and Reconstruction (EBRD) and advisor to the former President of France N. Sarkozy .
Focus on building connections with political authorities
Moneylenders do business based on the opportunities provided by connections with the government, the legislature, monarchs, presidents, etc. There was even an expression "banking-political complex" (BPK). However, the role of banks and political power in the BPC is not the same: moneylenders have long turned state power into an obedient servant to them. The classic formula for the movement of capital, created by the classic of Marxism: M - C - M’. In modern conditions, the formula: D - V - D’ becomes more relevant. That is, capital grows through its investment not in goods (or the production of goods), but in political power (in the formula it is designated by the letter “B”). The mechanisms for increasing capital through the purchase of power are varied, but first of all, moneylenders gain access to the state's monetary fund - the budget. In addition, through the purchase of power, they write the laws they need, crush competitors, achieve the loyalty of judges, etc.
The Rothschilds pointedly declare that they do not interfere in politics. But actually it is not. They just do it more subtly than other moneylenders. French banking historian Jean-Marie Schmit about this he says:
“Formally, the Rothschilds, unlike the Rockefellers or, say, the Fords, were never involved in politics. But they overthrew kings and prevented wars, closed newspapers and removed ministers if this was required for their interests.”
Using any means that lead to achieving the goal.
Due to the informational secrecy of the life and business of the world's moneylenders, little is known about this side of their activities. But from various sources (for example, from the famous book John Coleman's "Committee of 300") it is known that moneylenders made and continue to make a lot of money from drugs, illegal supplies of weapons, do not disdain contract killings, discrediting political figures and business competitors they dislike, etc. In carrying out many of their operations, as we noted above, they rely on the military support of the state, start wars and organize revolutions, and actively use state intelligence services.
International nature of business
In Europe, the international financial network has developed since Templars, which had their “strong points” in the space from Scandinavia to the Mediterranean Sea and even in North Africa and the Middle East. However, after the liquidation of the order at the beginning of the 14th century, the financial activities of the moneylenders were carried out in a more limited space (even the moneylenders of Florence, Venice, Genoa, and Lombardy did not have the same international reach as the Knights Templar had).
Usury activities acquired truly international scope under the Rothschilds. The founder of the dynasty, Mayer Amschel Rothschild, felt cramped within Germany, where he made his capital. Therefore, he assigned his five sons to the main countries of Europe: Nathan- in London, James- in Paris, Amschel- to Frankfurt, Solomon- to Vienna, Carla- to Naples. There they created their banking offices. The presence of an international financial network gave the Rothschilds advantages over other bankers (quick settlements and prompt maneuvering of financial resources, exchange of information, coordination to exert the necessary influence on top officials of states, etc.), and allowed them to actively influence the course of political events in Europe and the world.
Having quickly settled in Europe, the Rothschilds began to spread their influence to the New World. This influence was manifested in the fact that they created their own agents there.
For example, already at the end of the 18th century, an agent Mayer Amschel Rothschild was in the USA Alexander Hamilton. He became Secretary of the Treasury for the North American States, and through his efforts the first central bank was established in that country in 1791. And in 1824, the Rothschilds became the personal financiers of the Brazilian emperor.
Particular attention was paid to the issues of operational secret communication between the centers of the financial network. It created its own postal service, as well as pigeon mail. Ciphers were used. A special language was used for mail, which was a dialect of German spoken in the Frankfurt ghetto, with letters borrowed from Hebrew.
Today, the Rothschilds have their own banks and enterprises in 40 countries. Family members live in dozens of countries around the world. At the same time, the main countries of their residence are quite clearly visible - Great Britain and France. Next come the USA and Switzerland.
Current head of the clan David Rothschild has three children - one son and two daughters. Following the example of his ancestor, he plans to send his children to different parts of the world - to the USA, Europe and Asia (today even women in the Rothschild clan have the right to do business).
Global moneylenders use this form of internationalization of their banking business as transnational banks (TNB) .
For example, JP Morgan Chase bank is a typical TNB, whose headquarters are located in New York (Wall Street), and operations are carried out in 60 countries, including Russia.
Rothschilds: centralization of family power and family business
The principle of centralization of family power and family business is most clearly demonstrated by the example of the Rothschild dynasty. In his will, Mayer Amschel Rothschild indicated that his heirs and subsequent descendants must elect from among themselves the head of the family, to whom other family members must obey unquestioningly. This is, of course, a very important management principle that has allowed the sustainability and survival of an international family business. The Rothschilds decide the most important issues at family councils, where the head of each branch has the right to speak. This is reminiscent of the principle democratic centralism, which was recorded in the CPSU Charter (but which was often violated). It is well known that after death Mayer Amschel Rothschild in 1812 the head of the clan became Nathan Rothschild who was based in London. Each country where the Rothschilds were located also had its own chain of command. The Rothschilds more or less consistently adhered to this principle of unity of command in subsequent times.
After World War II, the most powerful and influential of all branches of the international Rothschild clan are British and French branches. There are also other branches - American, Swiss. These branches formed during the Second World War, when the Rothschild property in France was confiscated by the Nazis, and family members emigrated overseas or moved to neutral Switzerland. A representative of the London or Paris branch is chosen as the head of the entire clan.
Today the reins of power in the Rothschild clan have passed to David Rothschild(born in 1942) - the head of the French branch of the family. David took control of the French branch after the recent death of the head of this branch, Baron Guy de Rothschild. Before this, the head of the entire clan was Evelyn Rothschild, belonging to the British branch of the family. Due to his advanced age, Evelyn transferred power to David.
Centralization in the Rothschild clan is manifested not only in the clear subordination of individual family members, but also in the fact that multi-level asset management structures, Moreover, management organizations and assets are scattered throughout the world. At the head of each management structure is a person who has some kind of blood ties with the Rothschild clan.
Currently, all the threads of managing the assets of the Rothschild clan converge in the holding company “Family Company”, headed by David Rothschild. Another important holding company of the Rothschild clan is Concordia B.V. It is owned by the London and Paris Rothschild banks. The holding company Continuation Holdings of Switzerland, in turn, controls the assets of the Swiss Rothschilds; she also owns all the shares of the American and Canadian Rothschilds. Among the holding companies of the Rothschild clan, one should also mention the Société d’investment du Nord; this company manages the assets of the French Rothschilds.
Today, in the context of the crisis, there is a clear financial consolidation of all branches of the international Rothschild clan, this gives them a good opportunity to strengthen their position in international finance. Some analysts talk about a “renaissance” of the Rothschild clan in the 21st century.
The main asset of the Rothschilds is the London bank NM Rothschild & Sons, which was created by Nathan Rothschild at the beginning of the 19th century. Other significant banks included in the Rothschild empire: Rothschild & Cie Banque (France), Rothschild AG (Switzerland).
Among the non-banking financial structures of the Rothschild clan, one should highlight the American investment company Atticus Capital, in which the co-chairman of the board of directors is Nathaniel Rothschild. On the eve of the crisis, the company's capitalization was estimated at $14 billion; during the crisis, it lost $5 billion. The British investment bank is also an important financial structure of the clan JNR Ltd. (J. Aron & Nathan Rothschild Energy International Limited)", investing in Russian and Ukrainian companies in the energy sector (also managed by Nathaniel Rothschild).
The Rothschilds' interests are not limited to the financial sector. They own companies in the mining industry: “Anglo-American corporation of South Africa” (mining gold, diamonds, uranium, and other minerals), “Rio Tinto” (coal, iron, copper, uranium, gold, diamonds, aluminum), “ De Biers" (mining and processing of diamonds).
In the energy sector, the Rothschilds' largest property is Vanco International Limited, which invests in the exploration and production of hydrocarbon resources.
In the development business, the Hungarian company Trigranit stands out, in which Nathaniel Rothschild has a 12% stake (the company has invested $5 billion in Russian real estate alone).
The Rothschild clan has countless companies in trade, restaurant and hotel business, wine production, and publishing. In particular, the Parisian publishing house Press de la Cité, the French newspaper Libération, the English publications The Economist and the Daily Telegraph, and the BBC broadcasting company are under the control of the Rothschilds.
For the reasons noted above, it is extremely difficult to assess the fortune of the Rothschild clan in monetary terms. There are estimates ranging from $1.4 billion (Israeli sources) to $15 billion (French sources). According to French sources, the family's income in 2003 was $828 million. But the assessment of assets under the control of the Rothschilds is generally impossible. However, judging by these figures, new wave capitalists have supplanted the Rothschilds in recent turbulent decades. They look quite modest against the background of the same Bill Gates or Warren Buffett Wall Street speculators or some Russian oligarchs. But to assess the position of the Rothschild clan, not only quantitative indicators are important, but also qualitative characteristics. The Rothschilds have an undeniable advantage over other oligarchs: they are very tenacious, able to withstand any historical cataclysms (wars, crises), and have an excellent ability to restore lost positions. For example, in the 50-60s of the last century they managed to restore their positions in continental Europe, lost during the Second World War. And in 1981, under a leftist president Francois Mitterrand The Rothschild bank in France was nationalized. However, the Rothschilds actively contributed to the change of government and president. In 1986, a right-wing president came to power Jacques Chirac, who returned the bank to the Rothschilds. Moreover, according to some sources, the Rothschilds received compensation through restitution, which significantly exceeded the bank’s capital before its nationalization.
World moneylenders: dialectics of unity and struggle
Since the beginning of the modern crisis, the centralization of banking capital, which resulted in a reduction in the number of world-class banks, many banks went bankrupt and ceased to exist or were acquired by more powerful ones. The surviving banks became even larger.
We have already noted above that at the end of 2009, the Financial Sustainability Council compiled a list of global financial institutions (IFIs), which included 6 insurance companies and 24 transnational banks. On Wall Street, the American banking system is now controlled by four to six banking giants. These are: Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, Bank of America, Citibank, Wells Fargo. The leader in terms of capitalization in this group today is JP Morgan Chase, which is under the control of the Rockefeller and Rothschild clans ($180 billion as of October 1, 2009). But the Goldman Sachs bank, considered the patrimony of the Rothschilds, is called a “profit generator” on Wall Street due to its record net profit figures: for the first half of 2009 they amounted to $5.25 billion (this is all the more impressive given the losses many other banks in the ongoing crisis).
In the context of the problems we are considering, it is important to note that the global financial elite controls the “general headquarters” of moneylenders - central banks. These institutions are the most important tool for managing all the lower levels of the “debt pyramid” of moneylenders. The central banks of individual countries form a kind of network with a clearly defined hierarchy. At the top floor of the central banking hierarchy is the US Federal Reserve. The “controlling stake” in the US Federal Reserve belonged to Rothschilds, Rockefellers, Morgans, Coons, Loebs and several more “celestials”. But if we consider that many members of this narrow circle of “celestials” were initially under the control of the Rothschilds, then we can assume that The most important shareholders of the Fed were the Rothschilds and Rockefellers. The latter managed to maintain a certain independence from the Rothschilds from the very beginning of their entrepreneurial career. This point of view is shared, in particular, by the American researcher Nicholas Hagger .
However, there are other versions as to who is at the top of the financial and political Olympus. Sometimes called the Baruch family. The most famous of them is Bernard Baruch, who “patronized” many American presidents, starting with Woodrow Wilson and ending Gerald Ford. We are talking about the same Baruch who gave the go-ahead to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York in October 1929 to “cut off” the “monetary oxygen” to the market and thereby provoked a collapse in the US stock market.
There is a well-known fact given in the book Anthony Sutton's "The Power of the Dollar":“In the USA, bills were printed in denominations larger than usual (one thousand, five thousand, ten thousand dollars). However, they are not being circulated (yet), but are kept in safes. It is characteristic that there are no portraits of US presidents on them. Who is depicted on the banknotes? Schiff, Leiba, Kun, Baruch. Then-Treasury Secretary Jackie Rubin said in a private conversation in the 1990s, commenting on the images on the bills: “These are slaves (US presidents depicted on small denomination bills. - V.K.), but these are slave owners (financiers depicted on high denomination bills. - V.K.)”. So on banknotes that are not in circulation among the people, portraits of those who really rule the world are already printed.
During the twentieth century, judging by expert estimates, the circle of the main owners of the Fed remained approximately the same as at the beginning of the century; Perhaps only their shares in the capital of the US central bank have changed slightly.
Apparently, relations in the club of “celestials” are not so cloudless; there is a constant "undercover" struggle, about which we know very little.
So, M. Rothbard conducted a thorough study of the history of banking in the United States in the first half of the 20th century and came to the conclusion that during the reign of President F. Roosevelt(the so-called “New Deal”) there was a serious shift in forces in America’s financial Olympus. Dominant before the crisis of 1929-1933. The Morgans, who represented the interests of the Rothschilds in the United States, lost the palm in the US financial and banking system to the Rockefeller clan in the 1930s.
In another interesting study by Nicholas Hagger, a conclusion is drawn about the weakening of the Rothschilds’ position among the main shareholders of the Fed. According to the figures he provides (with reference to data from the Standard and Poor rating agency), in the early 1990s. The Rockefeller banking group owned 53% of the shares of the Federal Reserve, another 8% allegedly belonged to the Bank of Japan. Banks controlled by the Rothschilds accounted for no more than 10%. Does this mean that the “Rothschild era” is becoming a thing of the past? The author believes not. In his opinion, the Rothschilds have a strong position outside America, especially in Western Europe, where they control such central banks as the Bank of England, the Bank of France, and the Bundesbank. They also dominate a number of markets. In particular, in the gold market. It is possible that the world may return to one or another version of the gold standard if the Rothschilds competently play a chess game called “reform of the global financial system.”
ABOUT confrontation between the Rothschild and Rockefeller clans The history of YUKOS And M. Khodorkovsky. The assets of this giant oil company were claimed by the Rothschild and Rockefeller clans. Initially, YUKOS was intended for the Rothschilds, who had complex, multi-stage relationships with this company. But the Rockefellers ruined plans to carry out an operation to transfer oil assets to the Rothschilds. So, by and large, the initiative to arrest and imprison Khodorkovsky came not from President Putin, but from Washington. We give this example to make it clear how difficult everything is on the global financial Olympus.
On Wall Street there is also a division of its inhabitants into those who gravitate toward the Rothschild clan and those who are closer to the Rockefeller clan. In particular, there is no special secret that the Goldman Sachs bank is controlled by the Rothschilds, and the Merril Lynch bank is controlled by the Rockefellers. Today, in the administration of President Barack Obama, according to analysts, there are more people associated with Goldman Sachs than with Merril Lynch. First of all, this is the Minister of Finance Tim Geithner who once held a high position at Goldman Sachs.
Another interesting “food for thought”. On September 17, 2009 (the 222nd anniversary of the signing of the United States Constitution), 290 of the 435 members of the US House of Representatives supported the bill "On the Transparency of the US Federal Reserve System." This number of votes in favor means that the US President can no longer veto the bill. This is an unprecedented event in American history: for the first time in almost a hundred years of its existence, the Federal Reserve may be subject to government scrutiny! The world media are silent about this historical event, distracting the average person with endless conversations about various international “financial and economic parties”: Davos, meetings of the G8, G20, etc. Analysts can give no other explanation other than that American legislators have finally “seen the light.” Why didn’t they, for example, “see the light” in 1920 or 1929, when the Fed caused crises? I dare to suggest my version of events: a “showdown” began among a narrow group of shareholders. Some of them (most likely, the Rothschilds) need to take revenge for weakening their positions in the group of main shareholders, and for this it is necessary to organize a “restructuring” of the Federal Reserve in the direction they need (most likely, with the return of gold in one form or another to world of money). The draft law “On Transparency of the US Federal Reserve System” is the first step towards such a “restructuring”. Whether the Fed's most important shareholder (the Rockefellers) will be able to “repel” this attack will become clear in the near future.
In general, many analysts are inclined to believe that the Rothschild group is in an attacking position. They are heading towards a sudden default on the dollar, the resetting of all records of debt and virtual assets, the revaluation of all assets and liabilities in ounces of gold, and the introduction of a monetary system that would be directly or indirectly tied to gold.
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