Red shield. Rothschild caste

16.10.2020

The Rothschilds raised a new financial tycoon. You will soon find out about him.

On May 17, the investment bank Rothschild & Co will be headed by a representative of the seventh generation of the famous Rothschild dynasty - 37-year-old Alexander de Rothschild. For two hundred years, the family has been strictly observing the precepts of the patriarch and the founder of the clan, who ordered the descendants to always act together, entrust the management of the family business only to male relatives and maintain secrecy in business. The famous banking house has been dealing with transactions of historical magnitude for centuries. The image of the almighty behind-the-scenes puppeteers was formed under the impression of their activities. Conspiracy theorists are sure that the famous family, whose branches are widely spread in Europe and the United States, controls world finances with the help of the Federal Reserve System. The origins and change of generations in a well-known banking clan - in this material.

Shop under a red sign

The end of the eighteenth century is an era of gigantic changes for Western Europe: the revolution and the overthrow of the monarchy in France, the birth of industrial production, a series of large-scale wars, the gradual loss of political influence by the aristocratic landowners and the emancipation of oppressed groups. It was at this time that the foundation of the Rothschilds' financial power was laid. The founder of the dynasty is Mayer Amschel, son of Amschel Moses, a humble money changer from the Jewish quarter in Frankfurt am Main.

Mayer Rothschild, founder of the dynasty.

His father wanted the bright boy to become a rabbi, but Mayer showed a penchant for worldly affairs. For some time he practiced at the Oppenheimer's banking house in Hanover. Then he worked in his father's exchange shop under a red sign (in German it sounds like Rot Schild, later this phrase became a surname).

Having “caught the trends”, Mayer Amschel started buying up old coins and medals. The German nobility of that time was fond of collecting various antiquities, so the courteous and neat young man quickly made useful acquaintances with the powerful of this world, and the exchange shop was transformed into a bank.

The career of the ghetto moneychanger's son took off after meeting the Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel Wilhelm. Traditionally, Jewish bankers were involved in various financial transactions for the German princes. For example, representatives of the House of Oppenheimers were the court bankers of the Habsburgs in Vienna, the King of Prussia Frederick II the Great used the services of the Berlin firm Ephraim and Sons. Bypassing competitors with the help of patronage and gifts to patrons, Mayer Amschel became the chief court financier of Wilhelm.

Everybody in the house

The family's well-being went up sharply, the growing children were actively involved in the family business. Like fairy-tale characters throwing arrows in search of happiness, Mayer's sons dispersed to the largest cities in Europe: Solomon to Vienna, Nathan to Manchester (he later moved to London), Kalman to Naples, Jacob to Paris. The eldest son remained in Frankfurt am Main.

In memory of this, the Rothschild coat of arms depicts five arrows and a motto in Latin: Concordia, Integritas, Industria - Consent, Honesty, Diligence.

Rothschild family coat of arms

This is how the international financial network was founded, covering the most developed European countries. Formally competing, the brothers supported each other in every possible way and exchanged news using coded Yiddish correspondence. Subsequently, the English (from Nathan) and French (from Jacob) turned out to be the most viable branches of the family tree - they still flourish.

The court financier approached the marriages of children very seriously: the sons brought daughters-in-law with a substantial dowry to the family, the spouses of the daughters also belonged to the clan, but worked in lower positions. In any case, sons-in-law did not have a chance to take the helm of the family business. The wealth of the clan could only be controlled by a male descendant of Mayer Amschel. The money earned had to remain in the family, so Mayer's descendants married cousins \u200b\u200band second cousins.

However, this is what the entire elite did. For example, by the end of the 19th century, the Austrian imperial family turned out to be so ramified that marriages between relatives belonging to different branches of the Habsburg clan became more and more frequent, Andrey Shary and Yaroslav Shimov write in their book "Austria-Hungary: the fate of the empire". Archduke of Austria-Hungary Franz Ferdinand, who became heir to the throne in 1895, was indignant about this:

If someone from our family falls in love on the side, there will certainly be some kind of nonsense in the pedigree that prevents such a marriage. So it turns out that we have a husband and wife, all twenty-fold relatives. As a result, half of the children are fools or complete idiots.

The Rothschilds entered into marriages exclusively with adherents of Judaism and won the glory of the "Jewish royal family". The rules established by Mayer Amschel remained unchanged for 200 years, only in the 1970s, David René, a representative of the French branch of the Rothschilds, married a Catholic, Italian aristocrat Olympia Aldobrandini.

They raised their daughters in the Catholic faith, but the only son Alexander - the future heir to the family business - in Judaism.

Also in 2010, the Rothschilds, for the first time, appointed an out-of-kin person - Briton Nigel Higgins as the executive director of the investment bank NM Rothschild. True, Higgins was still not a completely alien - by this time he had worked for the family for a quarter of a century.

To whom the war

The Rothschilds could have remained at the level of the small-town rich, if not for the war. In 1806, the French Emperor Napoleon I invaded Germany. Landgrave Wilhelm fled the country, leaving affairs in the care of his court banker. It was then that Mayer came in handy with his arrow, shot in the direction of Foggy Albion. His son Nathan immediately gave up the textile trade in Manchester and retrained as a stock exchange tycoon in London.

The French confiscated part of Wilhelm's gold, but the main capital of his boss, Rothschild Sr., thanks to Nathan's securities operations, managed to transfer to England. To celebrate, the landgrave wrote to the court bankers for a symbolic commission all the rights to manage their securities, and Nathan started buying and selling British government bonds. This is how the Rothschilds became the first European millionaires and financed Britain's wars against Napoleon. One of their highlights is the transfer of gold for Wellington's army in Spain.

On September 19, 1812, the Russian army exhausted by the battles under the command of Field Marshal Prince Golenishchev-Kutuzov retreated to Podolsk. On the same day, the founder of the Rothschild house, Mayer Amschel, died in a house on Jewish Street in Frankfurt am Main in his seventieth year, but his business lived on and grew - the wealth and influence of the Rothschild brothers increased along with the amounts of loans they provided.

There is a legend that Nathan learned about the victory over Napoleon at Waterloo a day earlier than anyone else in London, but he came to the stock exchange with a sad face and started selling government bonds. Seeing this, the traders decided that the British and their allies were defeated, and rushed to get rid of the papers for next to nothing.

After waiting for the collapse, agents of the cunning Nathan bought up the fallen in price government bonds. As a result, the London Rothschild earned 40 million pounds from this operation.

However, some researchers deny this story's credibility - Nathan bought up securities amid defeatist sentiments before the Battle of Waterloo, they say.

The peace that was established in Europe after the Napoleonic wars also contributed to the growth of the family's well-being - the countries ravaged by war needed loans to rebuild. The grateful victorious monarchs endowed the banker brothers with the nobility, and the Austrian emperor Franz II granted the Rothschilds a baronial title. Napoleon tried to conquer Europe with guns and cannons, but he lost. The Old World submitted to bills and loans from a banking family.

World behind the scenes

The nineteenth century was the golden age of the Rothschilds. Europe, and with it the whole world, was rapidly changing, the Rothschild banking network financed the construction of industrial enterprises, railways, the purchase of the Suez Canal by Great Britain, and the development of oil fields in the Russian Empire (on the territory of present-day Azerbaijan).

The Rothschilds partnered with De Beers in the search for diamonds and gold in South Africa. They are accused of helping to unleash military conflicts, for example, the devastating war of Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay with Paraguay. Numerous descendants of Mayer Amschel were fond of luxury and art, building of palaces and charity. But by the end of the century, the family's fame began to fade. Perhaps they themselves wanted it, because money, as you know, loves silence, and left and right publicists blamed the bankers for all the troubles of mankind.

In the twentieth century, the Rothschild structures began to specialize in large-scale mergers and acquisitions. Conspiracy theorists consider the Rothschilds to be the masterminds behind the First Bank of the United States, the prototype of the Federal Reserve System (FRS). The dynasty is ranked among the real masters of the system. The Fed is officially owned by 12 Federal Reserve Banks approved by the US Congress, but organized as private companies.

Fulfilling covenants

Alexander Rothschild, the only son of the current head of Rothschild & Co, 75-year-old David René, is a direct descendant of Jacob, the founder of the French branch of the Rothschilds. After graduating from the Graduate School of Foreign Trade (ESCE International Business School) in Paris, Alexander gained experience at the New York bank Bear Stearns, as well as at the Argan Capital investment company in London.

He joined the family business in 2008, and four years ago became the second person of Rothschild & Co - Deputy Chairman of the Board of Directors, that is, his father David. According to media reports, Alexander is fond of equestrian sports and horse riding.

After Alexander officially takes the helm of the company, David will look after him - he will take the position of chairman of the supervisory board. Rothschild commented on the change of generations to the newspaper Le Monde as follows:

Good luck, a little knowledge and what has always been the main thing in the family: by the end of his career, each Rothschild always put a family member in his place, usually choosing the best. If such was not found, the worst was not chosen. The ability to do the job must be considered.

David Rene Rothschild ran the family business for over 40 years, and under his leadership the Rothschilds merged the British and French branches of the clan in 2007. Now more than 3.5 thousand financiers in 40 countries of the world work for a family, providing services in private wealth management, consulting and commercial banking. The Rothschild family members own 48 percent of the financial holding Rothschild & Co., another 10.3 percent of the shares belong to families or partners close to the Rothschilds, and the rest is traded on the stock exchange. The company's capitalization is 2.4 billion euros, revenues in 2017 - 1.9 billion euros, net profit - 247 million euros.

Father David Rothschild and son Alexander Rothschild. |

The surname comes from the appearance of the emblem of the jewelry workshop, which belonged to Angel Moses Bauer (father of Mayer Amschel Rothschild), the emblem of the workshop was an image of a golden Roman eagle on a red shield. Over time, the workshop became known as the "Red Shield". Later, his son took the name of the workshop "Red Shield" or "Rotschield".

The founder of the Rothschild dynasty is Mayer Amschel Rothschild (1744-1812), who founded a bank in Frankfurt am Main. The case was continued by his five sons: Amschel Mayer, Solomon Mayer, Nathan Mayer, Kalman Mayer, James Mayer. The brothers controlled 5 banks in the largest cities in Europe (Paris, London, Vienna, Naples, Frankfurt am Main). Currently, there are only two branches of the Rothschilds - English (from Nathan) and French (from James), the rest have been suppressed (the founder of the Frankfurt branch, Amschel Mayer, died childless in 1855, the Neapolitan branch stopped in the male knee in 1901, in the female knee in 1935 year, the Austrian branch stopped in the male knee in 1980, in the female one still exists).

Origin

The ascent of the Rothschild dynasty began with the birth of Mayer Amschel Rothschild in Frankfurt am Main in Germany in 1744 to the money changer Amschel Moses Rothschild, who traded with the House of Hesse. Born in the Jewish quarter between the city wall and the moat, Mayer Amschel built a banking business and expanded his empire by sending five of his sons to European capitals.

Paul johnson notes that unlike the Court Jew of the old days who helped finance European noble houses, Rothschild created a new type of international firm that was protected from anti-Semitic riots. In 1819, as if to demonstrate that newly acquired Jewish rights were still illusory, anti-Semitic violence broke out in many parts of Germany. These so-called Hip-Hip pogroms (Hep-Hep-Unruhen (German)) included the storming of the Rothschild house in Frankfurt. This did not change anything, nor did the subsequent attack during the 1848 revolution.

Another essential part of Mayer Rothschild's strategy for future success was keeping control of the business in the hands of the dynasty, allowing its members to maintain complete freedom of action both in the amount of wealth and in their business achievements. In 1906, the Jewish Encyclopedia noted: “The Rothschild-initiated practice of setting up several branches of the firm, run by brothers, in various financial centers, was adopted by other Jewish financiers, such as Bischoffsheims, Pereires (Pereires), Seligmans (Seligmans) , Lazards (Lazard) and others, and these financiers, through their reliability and financial experience, gained trust not only from Jewish brethren, but from the entire financial community as a whole. Thus, Jewish financiers received an increased share in international finance during the middle and last quarter of the 19th century This practice mimics the royal and aristocratic technique (members of one royal family marry members of another royal family), which was also later copied by other dynasties of entrepreneurs, such as the Dupont dynasty (Du Pont family (English)).

Mayer Rothschild successfully preserved wealth within the family by carefully organizing marriages of convenience, including marriages between cousins \u200b\u200band second cousins \u200b\u200b(so that the accumulated property remained within the family and served the common cause), although at the end of the 19th century, almost all Rothschilds began to marry outside the family , usually with families of aristocrats or other financial dynasties.

International large financial transactions

The elevation to the nobility took place at the request of the Minister of Finance, Count Stadion. First, Amschel received the title, then Solomon. By this time, the brothers were at the head of the Frankfurt Bill of Exchange in Schönbrunn. This happened on September 25, 1816, and on October 21, the brothers Jacob and Karl received the title. On March 25, 1817, each was issued a nobleman's diploma. At the request of the adviser to the government of Lower Austria and the court agent Sonleitner, the confidant of the four brothers, the diploma was awarded to each separately, since the brothers lived in four different countries. Nathan, who lives in England, was not mentioned in these documents.

Noteworthy for evaluating the activities of the Rothschilds was the fact that they, as Jews, were recorded in the diploma by money changers, while the financiers of the Christian faith were called bankers. Usually, court financiers, shortly after receiving the nobility, sought the title of baron, so the Rothschilds also petitioned for this title. On September 29, 1822, their request was granted. Now, some members of the dynasty used the family prefix "de" or "von" (in the German version) Rothschild as an indication of aristocratic origin. Now Nathan was included in the documents, who immediately became a baron. This time, the five brothers were directly named bankers. They were Austrian barons, "taking into account the services rendered to the state", "with the respectful word, Your Honor." Again, each of the five brothers received their own baron diploma. Their coat of arms was decorated with the motto: Concordia, Integritas, Industria. (Consent. Honesty. Diligence.).

This motto fully expressed the brothers' unity, their honesty and tireless diligence. But obtaining the title of baron hardly meant an increase in their authority for the five brothers. Nathan had no way to use this title in England. This was contrary to the English constitution, which did not allow the granting of titles of nobility to foreigners. But nevertheless, the elevation to the nobility changed the lifestyle of the Rothschilds. They acquired luxurious palaces, began to give magnificent dinners, which were attended by representatives of the aristocratic circles of many countries.

In 1885, Nathan Mayer Rothschild II (1840-1915), eldest son of Lionel de Rothschild (in turn son of Nathan Rothschild), also known how Nathaniel, a representative of the London branch of the dynasty, hereditary baron, first became a lord. He was the first Jew to enter the House of Lords. From this point on, it can be assumed that Nathan's descendants have completely merged with English society.

The Rothschild family banking business was the founder of international large financial transactions during the industrialization of Europe, contributed to the construction of the railway network in France, Belgium and Austria, contributed to the financing of projects of high political importance, such as the Suez Canal (only the Rothschild banking house was able, within a few hours, to provide many tens of millions in cash for the acquisition of shares in the Suez Canal).

The dynasty bought a huge portion of the property in Mayfair, London. The main activities in which the Rothschilds have invested include: Alliance Assurance (1824) (now Royal & SunAlliance (English)); Chemin de Fer du Nord (English) (1845); Rio Tinto Group (1873); Société Le Nickel (1880) (now Eramet (English)); and Imétal (1962) (now Imerys). The Rothschilds financed the founding of De Beers, as well as Cecile John Rhodes' expedition to Africa and the establishment of a colony in Rhodesia. From the late 1880s onward, the family controlled the Rio Tinto mining company. The Japanese government applied for funding from the London and Paris offices during the Russo-Japanese War. The London consortium issued Japanese war bonds worth £ 11.5 million (at 1907 prices).

After an impressive huge success, the Rothschild name became synonymous with wealth, the family became famous for their art collections, their palaces, as well as their philanthropy. By the end of the century, the family owned, or built, at the least estimate, more than 41 palaces, commensurate with or even superior in luxury to even the richest royal families. Soon after, in 1909, British Prime Minister David Lloyd George claimed that Lord Nathan Mayer Rothschild II was the most powerful man in Britain. In 1901, due to the absence of a male heir, the Frankfurt House closed its doors after more than a century of work. It wasn't until 1989 that they returned when N M Rothschild & Sons (UK investment branch) and Bank Rothschild AG (Swiss branch) opened a representative office in Frankfurt.

Rothschild dynasty in France

There are two French branches of the Rothschild dynasty. The first branch was founded by Mayr Amschel Rothschild's youngest son, James Mayer Rothschild, who established de Rothschild Frères in Paris. An adherent of the Napoleonic Wars, he played a major role in financing the construction of railways and mining companies that helped make France an industrial power. James' sons, Gustave de Rothschild and Alphonse James de Rothschild (English), continued the banking tradition and became the sureties of 5 billion reparations demanded by the occupied Prussian army during the Franco-Prussian war in the 1870s. The next generations of this branch of the Rothschild dynasty became the main force in international investment banking. Another son of James Mayer Rothschild, Edmond de Rothschild (1845-1934) was a great fan of philanthropy and art, a prominent supporter of Zionism. His grandson, Baron Edmond Adolph de Rothschild, founded the LCF Rothschild Group, a private bank in 1953. Since 1997, it has been headed by Baron Benjamin de Rothschild (English). The group has assets of € 100 billion and many wineries in France (Château Clarke (English), Château des Laurets (English)), Australia and South Africa. In 1961, 35-year-old Baron Edmond bought Club Med after visiting and appreciating the resort. His stake in Club Med was sold in the 1990s. In 1973 he bought shares in Bank of California, sold his stake in 1984, before it was sold in 1985 to Mitsubishi Bank.

The second French branch was founded by Nathaniel de Rothschild (1812-1870). Born in London, he was the fourth son of the founder of the British branch of the dynasty, Nathan Mayer Rothschild. In 1850, Nathaniel moved to Paris, apparently to work with his uncle, James Mayer. However, in 1853 Nathaniel acquired Château Brane Mouton, a Pauillac vineyard in the Gironde department. Nathaniel renamed the estate Château Mouton Rothschild, making the name one of the most famous brands in the world. In 1868, Nathaniel's uncle, James Mayer Rothschild, acquired the neighboring Chateau Lafite vineyard. By 1980, Guy Rothschild's annual business turnover was in the order of 26 billion francs (in 1980 prices). But later, when Parisian business was close to collapse in 1982, the socialist government of François Mitérand nationalized it and renamed it Compagnie Européenne de Banque. Baron David Rothschild, aged 39, decided to stay and rebuild the business, creating a new company, Rothschild & Cie Banque, with just three employees and $ 1 million in capital. Today, the Paris-based company has 22 partners and accounts for a significant portion of its global business.

Rothschild dynasty in Austria

One of the many palaces built by the Austrian branch of the dynasty, Schloss hinterleiten.

In 1817, when the Rothschild dynasty did not yet belong to the baronial title, the House submits a sketch of its coat of arms to the Austrian college. Initially, the coat of arms included a crown with seven teeth and various signs of baronial dignity. There were storks on it as a symbol of piety, and hounds symbolizing loyalty, and lions (the Lion is the official symbol of Israel), as well as the Austrian eagle. A hand holding five arrows, symbolizing brothers, sons of the founder of the family, Mayer Amschel Rothschild. Such a coat of arms was presented to the heraldic college of the Austrian Imperial House. The Rothschilds believed that they could get the crown and other royal and ducal symbols for the coat of arms. But the collegium furiously set about the proposed coat of arms, changing it almost beyond recognition. The proposed crown turned into a small helmet, storks, hounds, lions and other noble fauna were completely removed. A part of the Austrian eagle remained on the coat of arms. The hand holding the arrows has also been changed. Now instead of five arrows, she squeezed four. According to official data, one of the brothers Nathan did not take part in the successful transfer. And on March 25th, 1817, little resemblance to the original coat of arms was approved. But this did not suit the Rothschilds and they decided to raise their status. A convention was held in Ensk and the Duke of Metternich received a personal loan of 900,000 guilders from the House of Rothschild. Of course, it was an absolutely honest deal, but strangely enough, six days later, an imperial decree was published, which already elevated all five brothers and their legitimate descendants of any sex to the barony. The number of arrows on the coat of arms returned to five, the Hessian lion returned with the Austrian eagle, but in the center, instead of a crown, we still see a helmet. Article taken from http://kovka-stal.ru/istoriia-gerba-rotshildov/bez-kategorii/istoriia-gerba-rotshildov.html - Help to correctly link to the source, while maintaining copyright.

Rothschilds in culture

He is also repeatedly mentioned in the book by FM Dostoevsky "Teenager", where the main character Arkady cherishes the main "idea" of his whole life - to become richer than the named descendant of Rothschild.

The Rothschild story has been featured in a number of films. In 1934, The House of Rothschild was shot in Hollywood. House of the Rothschilds), telling about the life of Mayer Amschel Rothschild. Excerpts from this film were included in the propaganda documentary

The Rothschild family tree stretches back 150 years.

In the Rothschild family, marriages are concluded only with representatives of the Catholic faith. Exceptions are made for women, but men are required to marry exclusively Catholic women.

The family tree of the Rothschilds is very confusing: all generations have kept the names of their ancestors.

At every family celebration, all guests were presented with a chocolate soufflé, this became a tradition over time, since the Rothschilds have always had a weakness for sweets.

The history of the Rothschild family begins with the city of Frankfurt, although now it says almost nothing about this family. Once, in a small Jewish ghetto, here he married Gutele Schnapper, got a small shop, and then had five sons (out of 12 children, 10 survived). It is they who have achieved incredible success, fortune and fame in the field of business. Now in Frankfurt there is a Rothschild park, several documents from the city archives, the rest of the evidence was taken away by the Second World War.

It was Mayer Amschel Rothschild (1744-1812) who once said: "Let me manage the money of the country, and I don't care who sets the laws there."

Where did the Rothschild surname come from?

Part of the surname "Rothschild" comes from the German "mouth" - "red". Mayer Rothschild's parents once lived in a house with a red roof. The peculiarity of their house served as a nickname for their family, since in those days Jews could not have surnames.

collecting coins

Mayer Amschel's ascent began with the study and collecting of old coins. At first, this activity seemed completely hopeless, and given the total poverty, it was also stupid. By the way, Mayer Amschel made one fateful choice, abandoning a rather "warm" place in the exchange office (Hannover) after studying in favor of a hopeless Jewish ghetto with humiliation of its people and the inability to earn money. 20 years later, after studying and practicing at the office, Mayer Rothschild returns to almost "nowhere" and as a result makes a fortune! Another proof that the prospects are not always obvious.

Currency exchange

In the 18th century, Germany was like a patchwork land where everyone spoke their own dialect and had their own currency. Mayer Rothschild could not stop selling old coins, because it was a rare and unstable income, although he was able to carry out some transactions even with royal persons. During the fairs, coins of various origins flocked from all over Germany - ducats, florins, etc. Mayer came up with the idea of \u200b\u200borganizing an exchange office for such fairs, and he welded well on the difference from the exchange.

The founding of the dynasty

The head of the Rothschild family dreamed of a strong dynasty and did not lose by teaching his sons the skills of banking. After a while, 5 sons have achieved no less success than their father. They had energy, thirst for profit, the ability to see the prospect of income, without being greedy here and now. In 1800, a father makes his children partners. Until now, only family members have held key positions in banks and firms. This was an important and fundamental law of the dynasty.

The business was passed on only through the male line and no one could access it. Even the husbands of the daughters remained abroad and kept in the dark. It remains so to this day.

Betty Rothschild: daughter of one of her older brothers - Solomon. She became the wife of her own uncle, the younger brother of James.

The head of the family has always taught his children that the family is the most important thing. The bonds of brotherhood were so strong that gradually the Rothschilds introduced a new tradition into their family - to save not only money, but also the name within the family, as the royal family of the Habsburgs did. And the first to do this was James, the youngest son of Mayer Rothschild. On July 11, 1824, he married Betty, the daughter of his older brother, Solomon, that is, his niece. History notes 58 marriages, which were concluded by the descendants of the elder Rothschild, moreover, half of them were concluded with cousins.

This policy was driven by 3 main factors:

preserve the name, preventing others from preying on it;
save capital, and not break it up into small parts;
a dowry to family members of the same level as that of the Rothschilds could only be provided by the Rothschilds themselves.

Eldest son Amschel Rothschild

The eldest son, stayed to live in Frankfurt, in his father's house, in the same poor ghetto. He never had children, but he attached great importance to the fate of his nephews and nieces, keeping the dynasty intact through family ties in marriages. It was he who introduced the tradition of holding wedding ceremonies for all family members in Frankfurt, in the same ghetto.

Dowager Gutele, wife of the founder of the Rothschild dynasty, remained in her house until the end of her life and died at the age of 96. It was to her that the newlyweds came to ask for blessings. It was Gutele who made the final decision on choosing a partner in a new marriage.

Once, a neighbor of Gutele in the ghetto, ran to her house, worried that her son might be taken to a new war. She wanted to know if there would be a war. To which the Rothschild Empress Dowager replied: "Nonsense, my boys won't let them."

There are few people on the globe who have not heard of the Rothschilds. Today this surname has become a symbol of wealth. Where did these same Rothschilds come from?

Descendants of the Jewish money changer

Mayer Amschel Rothschild, who was born in 1744 in Frankfurt am Main (Germany), is considered the founder of the dynasty of the famous Jewish bankers of the Rothschilds. His father, money changer and jeweler Amschel Moses Bauer, was a trading partner of the House of Hesse. The emblem of his jewelry workshop depicted a golden Roman eagle on a red shield, so the workshop was called "Red Shield" (German - Rothschield). Mayer Amschel took this name as his surname.

The first Rothschild went into the banking business and succeeded in it. Paul Johnson writes in The History of the Jews that he managed to create a new type of international company that survived a series of Jewish pogroms, wars and revolutions.

Mayer Amschel's five sons - Amschel Mayer, Solomon Mayer, Nathan Mayer, Kalman Mayer and James Mayer - founded banks in five of Europe's largest cities: Paris, London, Vienna, Naples and Frankfurt am Main.

During the Napoleonic Wars, Nathan Mayer Rothschild financed the transport of gold bars for the Duke of Wellington's army, and also subsidized Britain's continental allies. In 1816, the Austrian Emperor Franz II granted the Rothschilds the title of baron. The family now has its own coat of arms, which depicts five arrows, symbolizing the five offspring of Amschel Mayer, by analogy with the text of the 126th biblical psalm: "As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man, so are young sons." The family motto is inscribed in Latin below: Concordia, Integritas, Industria ("Concord, Honesty, Diligence"). The British Rothschilds were adopted at the court of Queen Victoria.

The Rothschilds tried to keep the fortune within the family. They entered into marriages only by calculation, and until the end of the 19th century they entered into marriage alliances between distant relatives. Subsequently, they began to marry representatives of influential financial families in Europe, mainly of Jewish origin: Warburgs, Goldsmiths, Coens, Raphael, Sassoon, Salomon.

The Rothschilds walk the world

The Rothschild family made a significant contribution to the industrialization of Europe. It facilitated the construction of the railway network in France, Belgium and Austria and the Suez Canal, financed the founding of the De Beers concern, the Rio Tinto mining company. During the Russo-Japanese War, the London consortium issued Japanese war bonds in the amount of 11.5 million (at 1907 prices).

By the early twentieth century, the Rothschild surname had become synonymous with wealth. The Rothschilds owned more than 40 family palaces, superior in luxury to the royal castles of Europe, and extensive collections of works of art. Among other things, the Rothschilds were actively involved in charity work.

At the beginning of World War II, the Rothschilds were forced to emigrate to the United States as the persecution of the Jews began. All their property was confiscated and plundered by the Nazis. In 1999, the Austrian government returned a number of palaces to the family, as well as 250 pieces of art that ended up in the state museum.

Secret rulers of the world?

Since 2003, the Rothschild investment banks have been under the control of the Swiss-registered company Rothschild Continuation Holdings, headed by Baron David Rene de Rothschild. The family owns numerous vineyards, they own property not only in Europe, but also in North and South America, South Africa and Australia.

At the end of 2010, Baron Benjamin Rothschild issued a statement that the Rothschild clan did not suffer from

the global financial crisis thanks to conservative business practices. “We got through this because our investment executives didn't want to invest in crazy things. The client knows that we will not speculate with his money, ”the banker said.

The Rothschilds are believed to be the richest people in the world. In 2012, their combined fortune was estimated at $ 1.7 trillion (according to other estimates, more than 3.2 trillion).

Conspiracy theorists periodically show interest in the Rothschilds. For example, supporters of conspiracy theories argue that representatives of this clan belong to the secret society of the Illuminati and control all the finances of the world, and are also the organizers of military conflicts between various powers.