A towering figure that held no crown, nor office nor led armies, yet his handling of wealth brought him influence and contributed in changing the landscape of France in the 19th century. He inspired both admiration and a conspiracy of “space lasers.” Here are 10 things to know about James Mayer de Rothschild.
1. Rothschild was Born in Amidst Discrimination
Born on August 15, 1792, James Mayer went first as Jacob (Jakob) Meyer Rothschild and came from Frankfurt, Europe’s harshest city towards Jews back then. Youngest son of Meyer Amschel von Rothschild, he grew up in the family’s ancestral house of Grünes Schild (Green Shield) located in the Jewish ghetto dubbed Judengasse or Jew’s Alley. While the rest of Europe relaxed their discriminator policies against the Jews, Frankfurt maintained theirs, and amidst this prejudices the Rothschild beat the odds.
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| Rothschild Residence in Frankfurt |
2. His father was Successful and Well-Connected
The young Jacob’s father, Meyer Amschel Rothschild succeeded in life. Despite the discrimination hurled towards Jews in Frankfurt, the Rothschild Patriarch successfully climbed himself to riches. He became a trusted agent of the Elector of Hesse, Wilhelm IX. He also operated a wholesale business of wool, cotton, cloth, an flour. By the time war broke out against Revolutionary France, the family business profits just went up. Hence, Jacob enjoyed a good basic education and started to be groomed for the business just like his older brothers.
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| Meyer Amschel Rothschild |
3. Mayer Amschel Groomed his Sons and Together They Beat Napoleon
Mayer Amschel trained his sons to carry on and expand the family business. He sent them to different capitals of Europe to found and head a branch of the House of Rothschild bank. All of this happened on the backdrop of the Napoleonic War.
The Rothschild family supported the Allied Forces. By 1811, Jacob followed his brother Nathan in Paris managing the purchase of bullions and secretly shipping them to finance the Duke of Wellington’s Army in Spain. The financial support carried on until the final Allied victory in the Battle of Waterloo in 1815.
The family invested so much energy in the war, they kept themselves update with battlefield results. They proved to be efficient as Nathan said to have heard of the victory earlier than the British government.
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| Nathan Mayer Rothschild |
4. He Married his Niece and Both of them Became Patrons of Arts
In 1817, on the advice of the influential Chancellor of Austria, Clemens von Metternich, the Habsburg Emperor ennobled the Rothschilds and Jacob Meyer changed his name to James Mayer. While in Vienna, he spent much of his time with the family of his older bother Solomon. During this time, James decided to marry his brother’s daughter Betty.
The marriage that took place on July 11, 1824 became a grand spectacle. Celebrations moved through different lavish chateaus. The union gave birth to 9 children, the third generation of Rothschild financiers, including Alphonse and Gustave de Rothschild.
Similarly, James and Betty shared interest in the arts and culture. Writers, composers, and art dealers flocked to gain the patronage of the Rothschilds. James himself started his art collection in 1818. Composers such as Frederic Chopin and Gioachino Rossini found support from the Rothschild. Writer like Honore de Balzac found the same favor.
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| Betty von Rothschild |
5. James Mayer de Rothschild Offered More Than Just Banking Services
The Rothschild family proved themselves as reliable bankers, yet they provided services beyond financial needs. They demonstrated themselves useful in diplomacy. Their role gained so much importance they even became a factor on war and peace.
The family had a vast network of contacts that span across the continent. James’ brothers lived in different major capitals of Europe heading their respective branches and reported local developments to each other. Nathan operated the London branch, Solomon in Vienna, Carl in Naples, and finally James in Paris.
With each family members handling their own network of contacts and informants, governments sought Rothschild to serve as backdoor messengers delivering sensitive information between different governments and parties. It also made the Rothschilds well connected with officials making them influential in policies and, with their wealth, a factor in political and diplomatic moves.
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| A portrait of James Mayer de Rothschild |
6. He became known as the Railroad King
Essential bankers, they became a sought after investors for new capital-intensive ventures. Such risky undertakings became a question for James Mayer de Rothschild in the 1830s. he weighted between public perception and intimate advise.
France saw its first railroad in 1827. News of railroad in Britain reached France and many feared its effects, from forest burning due to the fire engine to politicians who thought of the technology only as a showpiece. Pockets in the government though believed in the benefits of railroads and some of them have the ear of James.
The French head of the House of Rothschild contemplated investing in railroads first due to impressive articles by Emile Pereire. Closer to home, his brothers Nathan and Solomon also argued for the railroads. In 1833, he decided to place his bet on the infrastructure. He then investment millions of Francs on the industry with some of the lines being instrumental in spurring industrial growth the overall France’s industrialization. His investment ultimately led to his title France’s Railroad King.
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| Embarcadère de l'Europe, first railway station in Paris |
7. 1848 Was Turn for James Mayer
As James Mayer de Rothschild seemed to be on top of the world, Paris begged to differ and unleashed a wave of Revolution in the year 1848. Being a backer of the toppled regime of Louis-Philippe, from then on he saw his position besieged.
Rothschild embodied the predictions of Jacques Laffitte when Louis-Philippe came to power in 1830 hailing the rule of Bankers. Indeed, Rothschild propped up the July Monarchy with loans and investments. But in 1848, Revolution erupted in Paris and spread to other capitals like Naples, Vienna, and Berlin putting the family in crisis mode.
Being close to the old regime, James feared a backlash. The instability took him in a roller coaster ride of hopes and dread. His old connections and acquaintances helped him to weather the storm, but ultimately, he found himself in a precarious situation when a nephew of Napoleon whom they financed to defeat came to absolute power in 1852.
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| Napoleon III |
8. He Competed with His Former Chief Engineer
James feared a reprisal from Napoleon’s nephew, Louis Napoleon who became Napoleon III in 1852 with the creation of the Second French Empire. Though the lesser Napoleon kept Rothschild around, he veered away from him for major financial support. He found a new ATM in form of the Credit Mobilier, which became a rival of House of Rothschild.
Founded in 1852, Credit Mobilier composed of several bankers and industrialists, including Achilles Fould, Isaac Pereire, and his brother Emile Pereire, the same who inspired James to enter the railroad industry and worked with for a railroad line in 1833. Credit Mobilier bankrolled most of Napoleon III’s adventures.
This reliance to Credit Mobilier besieged James’ position as France’s top banker. Later on House of Rothschild and Credit Mobilier competed across Europe for control of railway lines. An epic battle of 2 financial titans filled with intrigue, backstabbing, and betrayals.
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| Emile Pereire |
9. He Outlived the Competition
The competition with Credit Mobilier lasted for about a decade. Aged by 1860s, Rothschild fortunately lived to see the rivalry concluding. Reconciliation swept the air by 1862.
On that year, Napoleon III and Achilles Fould visited the estate of Rothschild in Ferreires. By that time, Credit Mobilier stood in dire situation. Much of Napoleon III’s venture went sour and resulted to loses to the Credit Mobilier. By the 1860s, the institution faltered and Napoleon III and Fould accepted the prominence of the House of Rothschild. Fould passed away in 1867 while the Pereire brothers retired.
Napoleon III’s regime fell in 1871, but James Mayer de Rothschild failed to witness it. He passed away on November 15, 1868 remembered as a a titan of finance and industries. He left his fortune and leadership of the Paris branch of the Rothschild to his sons Alphonse and Gustave.
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| A caricature of the meeting between Napoleon III and Rothschild |
10. His Success Made him a Target of Abuse
For all his success in finance and the influence he wielded, James Mayer de Rothschild also faced tremendous criticism. Newspapers and pamphlets attacked him and his reputation. These criticisms remained relevant to this very day.
Jacques Laffitte, a capitalist himself, declared in 1830 that bankers rule. Indeed bankers, especially Rothschild, used their money to influence policies. Newspapers and pamphlets questioned such influence and attacked Rothschild as a shadowy figure behind the throne or a kingmaker deciding who would be the next King or Prime Minister. Accidents on Rothschild-controlled lines intensified the demonization.
Others decided to defend Rothschild albeit with undesirable effects. One pretending to represent Rothschild titled his defense of the family as Rothschild, the First King of the Jews, to satan, the last King of Slanderers. Some did it out of mockery, while others in expectation of a reward.
“A Lion does not concern himself with the opinions of the sheep” became a stand of James. He ignored the scrutiny and attacks made by critics and wanna-be defenders. Even to this day, some conspiracy theorists point to the Rothschild as a mysterious and secretive institution pulling strings in the shadows even having its own “space laser.”
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