The ancestor of the Rothschilds is Mayer Amschel Rothschild, a banker towards the end of the 18th century. (1744-1812) The children of this ancestor established banks in various centers of Europe; but their headquarters are in Frankfurt. The fact that the family is Jewish is the most underlined detail for conspiracy theorists.
The name Rothschild means 'red shield'. The Rothschild Family has shown banking activities on a global basis (especially in Monaco, Luxembourg, France, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, the United Kingdom and the Cayman Islands). The family was founded in 1816 by the Habsburg Emperor II. He was declared an Austrian nobility with the title of baron inherited by Francis. With the permission of Queen Victoria, the English leg of the family had the opportunity to use the title of baron they had in Austria in England as well.
Born in Frankfurt's Jewish ghetto called Judengasse, Mayer sent his five sons to different European cities: Amsehel Mayer Rothschild (Frankfurt), Saloman Mayer Rothschild (Vienna), Nathan Mayer Rothschild (London), Calmann Mayer Rothschild (Naples), Jacob Mayer Rothschild (Paris). ). In 1819, anti-Semitic violence erupted in many parts of Germany, but the scattered Rothschild wealth remained unharmed. This method was followed by many Jewish and non-Jewish financiers over time. Mayer Rothschild took care of marriages so that wealth remained in the family. But from the end of the 19th century, nearly all Rothschilds married outside the family, usually within other financial dynasties and the aristocracy.
Nathan Mayer Rothschild
The Rothschilds had made a fortune before the Napoleonic Wars (1803-1815). Nathan Rothschild financed all of the British war expenses in London; He also developed a financial and political intelligence network with the gold transportation network he established. With this net, Nathan announced Wellington's victory at the Battle of Waterloo the day before the official envoy of the state. Nathan, predicting that the government bonds issued to help the economy recover after the victory would appreciate, bought it and sold it at a profit of 40 percent at the top.
Nathan established his first business in Manchester in 1806 and London in 1811. In 1818 he loaned the Prussian state 5 million pounds; By 1825, it had reached a level that could fund the market at a level that would not cause a financial crisis in England.
The wealth of the Rothschilds was legendary; their names appeared in films, musicals, novels, the phrase 'Oh if I were a Rothschild' in Yiddish was echoed in the famous Movie The Fiddler on the Roof, and it was interpreted by J. W. Goethe that the wealth of the family was built over generations.
Conspiracy theories
The Rothschild Family has been the target of various conspiracy theories for 200 years. Among them was to claim that the family was a member of the Illuminati, to defend exaggerated views such as claiming the wealth and financial institutions of the whole world, and to bring forward that they fueled interstate wars. As a matter of fact, wars reduce the value of government bonds and speculative gains can be obtained. However, historian Niall Ferguson says that the Rothschilds stood behind the United Kingdom in the Napoleonic Wars, but did not later get involved in political manipulations for financial purposes. According to another conspiracy theory, the purpose of the Rothschild Family was to try to keep the world population in balance with the wars and viruses they caused. But there is also the issue of which people will remain. These conspiracy theories have not been proven to be true.
New generations
By the time old Meyer was alive, the solidarity between the firms of the five boys continued. But the third generation mingled in high society in France, England, Germany, Italy, immersed in the fields of art and fashion. By the 1870s there was no longer a joint Rothschild bank; national firms. All the young members of the family struggled for the welfare of the countries they were involved in during the First World War.
We know that since Lionel Rothschild was accepted as a member of parliament in London in 1847, the Rothschilds always stood behind England in terms of financing in the Napoleonic Wars and the Crimean War. This prestige of the Rothschilds goes back to the letter that the British Foreign Secretary Lord Balfour sent to Lord Rothschild, President of the British Zionist Federation, containing the Balfour Declaration in November 1917. In this letter, it was expressed very carefully that His Majesty's government saw fit for the establishment of a "national home" for the Jewish people in Palestine. In fact, Lloyd George's cabinet in England had no intention of ruling out the possibility of a Jewish Commonwealth in Palestine.
During the Ottoman period, Palestinian territories such as Jaffa, Haifa, etc. The first immigrants (I. Aliya), who came to the areas especially from Russia, were not successful. The Ottoman State was constantly imposing strict restrictions on settlement and land purchase; the land was unproductive and the arrivals could not adapt to the environment. At this stage, Baron Edmond de Rothschild (1845-1934) sent experts to plant products such as tea, cotton and tobacco, and agriculture developed in settlements called moshav. The baron set up factories for the processing of wine, tobacco, and textiles. Baron's investments here are assumed to be 20 times his other investments. In this way, the settlement project in Eretz Yisrael and other settlers were able to take hold. In 1903, Jews bought 100,000 acres of land, established 23 agricultural settlements, and began to appear in cities in trade, banking, crafts, and cultural events.
Support for the Jewish world
The support of the Rothschilds to the Jewish world continued for many years. During the 6-Day War in 1967, the Jews of France provided significant material and moral support in favor of Israel. Among them, Guy de Rothschild was chairman of the board of directors of the organizing committee, which created a special fund. Likewise, Nathaniel Charles Jacob (1936), born in London, was known for his banker and social personality. He joined the bank in 1964 and increased his fortune, founded the Rothschild Trust and stood independently in the House of Lords, became an honorary citizen of Jerusalem, earned an honorary doctorate from the University of Jerusalem, and became president of the Institute of Jewish Affairs in 1990.
Baron Edmund James de Rothschild's financing of the first colonies in Palestine caused a negative perception about the Rothschilds that accelerated the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. However, the contacts between the Ottomans and the Rothschilds date back to very old times. It is understood from the letter sent by the Vienna Ambassador Ahmet Fethi Pasha in 1837 that the Vienna group of the Rothschilds followed this work with regard to the issue of deductions from the Greek compensation. In addition, after the difficulties of the Ottoman Empire were explained, Grand Vizier Mehmet Emin Rauf Pasha, Sultan II. He suggested the Rothschilds, one of the European money changers, to Mahmut. With the suggestions of Mustafa Reşit Pasha, a loan was taken from the Rothschilds for the first time in 1855; the largest amount was received for the arms supplier during the Crimean War. The compensation for the debt bonds was also received from the Rothschilds at the initiative of the intermediaries. After the war, the Ottoman Empire was able to obtain long-term loans from the Rothschilds, albeit with difficulty, with the bails of England and France. Borrowings followed one another; The government of Mustafa Reşit almost wanted to unite the fate of the Ottoman Empire with the Rothschilds. However, this chronic debt resulted in bankruptcy, and in October 1875, under the grand viziership of Mahmut Nedim Pasha, it was published in the newspapers that the Ottoman Empire had halved the interest and redemptions for five years.
Known to oppose Jewish settlement, II. During the reign of Abdülhamit, a loan was taken from the Rothschilds.
II. During the reign of Abdulhamid, the Ottoman's relationship with Palestine and the Rothschilds developed around the Parisian Baron Edmond de Rothschild (1845-1934). The baron was not interested in banking, dedicating his life and wealth to his co-religionists after the pogroms against the Jews in Russia. Rothschild bought the first land in Palestine in 1882. In 1918, between 418 and 650 thousand acres of arable land was created in the hands of the Jews. There was no disagreement between the Ottomans and the Rothschilds in this purchase business in the 1880s. However, these figures It worried Abdulhamid and he strictly forbade such transactions.
As a result, the government could not take serious steps against mass Jewish immigration from Eastern Europe, despite many reports that the bans were violated; He allowed local and foreign Jews living in Palestine to buy land, and thus the Jews who settled in Palestine began to live in the colonies of the Rothschilds, to farm and to establish a new homeland. II. From 1876, when Abdulhamid came to the throne, II. Until the declaration of the Constitutional Monarchy in 1908, the Jewish population in Palestine tripled and reached 80,000. An interesting point is II. Abdülhamit took care to establish close relations with the Rothschild Family.
The Rothschilds had hospitals built in Jerusalem and Safed, and contributed to the Ottoman Jews' access to modern schools; They provided financial aid to Darüşşafaka and donated during the Balkan War, and tried to help the Jewish communities in the blood slanders in Damascus and Izmir. Baron Edmond Rothschild had come to Palestine several times, and also stopped by Istanbul. He also met with Abdülhamit. According to a report in the press, the Sultan offered the Rothschilds to undertake the construction of the Anatolian Railways; However, the family did not accept this offer.