Written by Alessio Melita
In the worst revisionist and anti-Italian circles, in which a crowd of Neo-Bourbonists, Habsburgophiles and the lowest anti-patriotic Left wallow together, it is fashionable to assert that the Unification of Italy was a phenomenon willed by occult forces and "big powers". It would be appropriate to remind the devoted lovers of the imperialist and reactionary forces which occupied and despoiled the Italian Fatherland for centuries that these mythical occult powers to which they refer, first of all the Rothschild family, were the primary puppeteers of the Bourbon, Papal and Habsburg dynasties.
The Austrian Occupation of the South
The partnership began in 1821 with the arrival of Calmann "Carl" Mayer von Rothschild in Naples. He founded the Naples branch of the most powerful family of Jewish bankers in European history. The perfect opportunity to launch themselves into the affairs of southern Italy arose with the Austrian occupation of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. The southernist narrative pretends that the Bourbon dynasty heroically committed themselves to making the south of Italy prosper, defending it from foreign interference. Unfortunately, this version of history exists only in their dreams. King Ferdinand I of Bourbon, a monarch just as bloody as he was thirsty for power, in order to maintain dominion over a land threatened by internal insurrections, did not hesitate to dissolve the royal army and to occupy southern Italy by means of the armed forces of the Austrian Empire, a European power and puppet of the Rothschilds whose dissolution is today mourned by the anti-Italian clique. The Austrian army, having to remain in southern Italy for several years, had to be paid and maintained. And it is here that Carl Von Rothschild intervened. Thanks to the loans granted by the Rothschild family to the Kingdom of Two Sicilies, Ferdinand I managed to repress internal uprisings, thus guaranteeing his own power. The Rothschilds of Naples became the owners of the majority stake and the de facto custodians of the Bank of Naples. The headquarters of the prestigious Naples branch of the Rothschild family was opened on the Riviera di Chiaia where Carl Rothschild had purchased the future Villa Pignatelli, then known as Villa Acton, named after its owner Ferdinand Richard Acton, son of the Prime Minister of Naples who had it built in 1826. The villa became famous over time for its spectacular view of Mount Vesuvius. Carl Rothschild bought it in 1836, establishing his private residence in the villa, and in the same year he built a three-story building at the northern end of the park, known as the Palazzina Rothschild, which housed the bank.
The Birth of the Rothschilds of Naples
The line descends from Calmann "Carl" Mayer von Rothschild, who in 1821 was sent from Frankfurt am Main to Naples by his father Mayer Amschel Rothschild, the founder of the Jewish banking empire. Eager for his children to succeed and to expand the family business across Europe, Mayer Amschel Rothschild had arranged for his first child to stay in Frankfurt, while his other four children went to several European cities to found financial institutions to invest in businesses and provide banking services.
Endogamy within the family was an essential part of the Rothschild's strategy, in order to ensure that control of their wealth remained in the hands of the family. Through their collaborative efforts, the Rothschilds ascended to prominence through a variety of efforts, including bank loans, government bonds and bullion trade. Their funding offered investment opportunities and during the nineteenth century became the main stakeholders in the large-scale mining sector, and railway companies were key to the rapid expansion of Europe's industrial economy.
In 1820, the Rothschild & Sons bank was already successfully operating in London, England, de Rothschild Frères was operating in Paris, and von Rothschild was operating in Vienna, Austria, where Salomon Mayer von Rothschild became a powerful ally of the Austrian prince Klemens von Metternich. In March 1821, in aid of King Ferdinand I, the Austrian army entered the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies and occupied Naples. This event opened the door to the interests of the Rothschilds and Carl von Rothschild was sent to Naples where he founded C M de Rothschild & Figli to operate as a satellite office of the Rothschild banking family headquarters in Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
In 1822, Carl Rothschild and his four brothers were granted the title of Baron, or Freiherr, by Emperor Francis I of Austria. During the winter of 1826, Leopold of Saxe-Coburg, the future King of the Belgians, was a guest of Carl von Rothschild in his villa in Naples. In 1829, Carl was appointed Consul General of Sicily in Frankfurt and in January 1832 the Jewish banker was awarded the ribbon and star of the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of St. George in a ceremony with the new pope, Gregory XVI.
The Involvement of the Family in the Investments and Industry of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies
Carl von Rothschild developed a good working relationship with Luigi de' Medici, the Minister of Finance of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, and with his intervention became the dominant banking house in Naples. As a result of Carl's success, the Rothschilds had a substantial banking presence in England and three other large European capitals, giving the family considerable influence and an advantage over their competitors. The Rothschild & Figli bank made substantial loans to the various Kings of Naples, as well as to the Papal States, the Grand Duchy of Tuscany and the Duchy of Parma [both of which were under Habsburg and Bourbon dominion].
The End of the Naples Branch
The main reason for the end of the Naples branch, undoubtedly the weakest of the five branches opened by the sons of Mayer Amsel, was principally due to the unification of Italy and the expedition of the Thousand under Garibaldi. The year 1855 brought considerable changes for the Rothschild family, with the death of the head of both the Naples branch and the German branch. Of the three sons of Carl von Rothschild, the eldest, Mayer, and the younger, Wilhelm, succeeded their uncle Amschel Mayer von Rothschild (brother of Carl and second son of the founder of the dynasty Mayer Amschel Rothschild, from whom the family takes its name) in Frankfurt, since he had no children, while the middle-aged son Adolf reluctantly agreed to take care of the bank in Naples. The succession negotiations were marked by considerable grievances towards their cousin Anselm von Rothschild, then head of the Rothschild banking family in Austria. The business affairs of the Naples branch at that time were not very good, mainly because of two reasons:
1) in 1831, the Two Sicilies followed Spain with a gradual transition away from the issuance of conventional bonds, which began to affect the growth and profitability of the bank. During the second half of 1840, the business showed no growth and the profit was only marginal;
2) the revolutions of 1848, which, similar to the advent of nationalism throughout Europe in the twentieth century, put the forces of international finance in deep crisis.
The end of the Naples branch began when Giuseppe Garibaldi invaded and occupied Naples on September 7, 1860 and installed a provisional government. Because of the close political connections of the Rothschild family with Austria and France (two powers that were opposed to Italian unification), Adolf von Rothschild found himself in a difficult situation. He chose to take refuge in Gaeta with King Francis II of the Two Sicilies, but the Rothschild families in London, Paris and Vienna were not prepared to financially support the deposed king. With the nationalization of the Rothschild Bank of Naples by Garibaldi, the fortune of the Naples branch of the Rothschilds ended up in the coffers of the newborn Kingdom of Italy. After the unification of the peninsula, and after a growing tension between Adolf and the rest of the family, the Rothschild House of Naples finally closed in 1863 after 42 years of operation.
No comments:
Post a Comment