Rothschild

Rothschild family invested heavily in Russia, particularly in the oil industry and banking during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The French branch financed the Caspian and Black Sea Petroleum Company (BNITO) in Baku, transforming Russian oil into a global competitor. They also engaged in significant Russian government loans.

Key Historical Investments

• Oil Industry (Baku): In the 1880s, the French Rothschilds invested in the Caspian and Black Sea Petroleum Company (BNITO) to challenge American domination in the oil market. They built infrastructure, including pipelines and a railway to connect the Caspian and Black Seas.

• Export Monopoly: The Rothschilds, along with the Nobel brothers, formed a powerful cartel that controlled around 90% of Russian oil exports by 1909.

• Banking & Loans: The London branch (notably Nathan Mayer Rothschild) helped finance Imperial Russian government loans starting as early as 1822.

• The "Russian Rothschilds": While not direct members of the European banking family, bankers like the Poliakovs and Ginzburgs were known as "Russian Rothschilds" for their roles in Russian banking and railway development, as described by Brandeis University and Tablet Magazine. [

Key Historical Turning Points

• Divestment (1911-1912): The Rothschilds sold their Baku holdings to the Royal Dutch Shell company just prior to the volatility of the Russian Revolution.

• Post-Revolution: The Rothschild family lost their interests in Russia during the nationalization of industries by the Soviet government

Rothschild family built their financial empire by financing governments and military operations, particularly during the Napoleonic Wars, where they provided crucial gold to the British army. Their business model thrived on sovereign loans, war bonds, and creating efficient international payment networks.

• Napoleonic Wars (1792–1815): Nathan Mayer Rothschild in London established his dominance by organizing funding for Britain, including delivering gold to the Duke of Wellington’s army. Their ability to transfer large sums across a continent disrupted by war was critical to their success.

• The Waterloo Myth: While often rumored to have gained immense wealth by receiving early news of the victory, the family's profit came from financing the overall Allied war effort and capturing the market in government bonds in the following years.

• 19th Century Conflict: The bank became a leader in sovereign lending, funding state debts and strengthening their influence across Europe through government loans.

• World War I & II: Family branches in London and Paris supported their respective nations. During World War II, the French business was managed by the government (later returned), while the family and its business sustained massive disruptions. 

Key Factors in Historical Success:

• Information Velocity: A private courier network provided faster news of political and military events, essential for bond trading.

• Family Structure: Five brothers operating in different European hubs (London, Paris, Frankfurt, Vienna, Naples) ensured a vast, coordinated network.

• Sovereign Lending: Their business revolved around purchasing, underwriting, and selling government bonds. 

The Rothschild family (as detailed on Wikipedia) generally saw war as a threat to their business, but utilized it to establish themselves as dominant bankers to European states. However, some accounts, like those in the Heritage History review of Henry Ford, focus on their, or their agents' (like August Belmont), role in, for example, the US Civil War. It is important to note that many narratives about the family's war activities, as analyzed in Britannica, are often rooted in antisemitic tropes.

Rothschild family, specifically through their American agent August Belmont, maintained a significant financial presence in the U.S. during the Civil War influencing international finance, trading, and financing government bonds. 

• August Belmont: Acting as the primary Rothschild representative in America, Belmont (a politician and financier) worked to protect European investments and facilitated government loans for the Union. August Belmont, a representative for the Rothschilds, lived in New York and became a prominent banker and political figure. Critics argue he served as the primary agent of British Rothschild interests in the U.S. during the war. 

• The Belmont Stakes is named after August Belmont Sr., a leading banker and racing man of the 19th century. His son, August Jr. inherited his father's vast banking fortune and an avid interest in racing. 

• War Financing: The London and Paris branches of the family were involved in the immense financial undertakings of the 19th-century, including handling government bonds.

• Historical Controversy: Some theories (often detailed in alternative history literature) argue that international banking families, including the Rothschilds, sought to influence the US government regarding central banking. There are also claims they favored a divided America to prevent it from becoming a dominant independent competitor.

1864, Belmont was buying up Southern bonds on behalf of the Rothschilds as their agent in New York because he backed the Southern cause. Seeking to capitalize on divisions in the Republican Party at the War's end, Belmont organized new party gatherings and promoted Salmon Chase (the former United States Secretary of the Treasury since 1861, and later Chief Justice of the United States in 1864) for president in 1868, the candidate he viewed least vulnerable to charges of disloyalty to the Party during the Republican/Unionists Lincoln-Johnson Administrations, (1861–69) 

August Belmont (1816–1890), a prominent financier and New York agent for the Rothschilds, was intimately connected to slavery through the financialization of the slave-driven cotton economy. While personally opposing the institution, his banking business thrived on financing southern plantations, and he heavily invested in the commodities produced by enslaved labor. 

As the primary representative of the Rothschild banking house in America, Belmont managed investments in plantation agriculture and the cotton trade, which were reliant on enslaved labor.

Economic Strategy: Belmont understood the Southern economy was based on slavery and recognized its importance to Anglo-American finance, even noting how the American Civil War was fueled by Southern agricultural commodities like cotton, tobacco, and sugar, which were produced with slave labor, as discussed in (this Rothschild Archive report).

Political Stance: Although he was not a proponent of slavery and supported Stephen A. Douglas, he favored the Union over immediate abolition, primarily to maintain business stability and prevent the collapse of the union.

Civil War Efforts: After initially opposing Lincoln, Belmont, as chairman of the National Democratic Committee, used his influence to prevent foreign support for the Confederacy and to support Union financial interests, according to (this House Divided article

He was married in an Episcopal ceremony, and he henceforth no longer acknowledged his Jewish upbringing, though he did not convert, being ambivalent toward religion. 

August Belmont Sr. (1813–1890) was a prominent German-American financier, diplomat, and Democratic party leader who established a significant presence in Newport, Rhode Island, during the Gilded Age. 

He was born as Aron Belmont on December 8, 1813, to a Jewish family in the village of Alzey, which was shortly annexed to the Grand Duchy of Hesse after the Napoleonic Wars. 

His father, Simon Belmont was the owner of a freehold estate and leading citizen of Alzey, serving as president of the local synagogue for many years 

He married Caroline Slidell Perry, daughter of Commodore Matthew Calbraith Perry. He maintained a summer home, "By-the-Sea," in Newport and built the notable Belmont Chapel at the Island Cemetery, where he is buried.

• Marriage: In 1849, he married Caroline Slidell Perry, a member of a prominent Newport family Family, linking himself to local history which includes connection in slave trade triangle.

• Summer Estate: He owned "By-the-Sea," a mansion on the Newport oceanfront that was a prominent social center.

• Belmont Chapel: In 1888, he built the Belmont Memorial Chapel at Island Cemetery to honor his daughter, Jane Pauline.

• Burial: August Belmont, along with his wife Caroline and son August Jr., is buried at the Island Cemetery in Newport.

• Statue: A bronze statue of August Belmont was presented to the city of Newport in 1941 by his son, Perry Belmont.

• Belcourt Castle: While not built by August Sr., his son Oliver Hazard Perry Belmont built the famous Belcourt Castle (now known as Belcourt of Newport) in Newport, demonstrating the family's continued influence

Belmont, acting for the Rothschilds, became involved in speculative ventures regarding commodities such as sugar, tobacco, and cotton.

Context of Investments: While specific mentions of "molasses" (a byproduct of sugar production) are less common than "sugar" or "cotton" in his records, his heavy investment in the sugar trade suggests involvement in the broader sugar/molasses market.

He operated August Belmont & Company, which used Rothschild credit to buy up commodities, securities, and property at depressed rates, particularly after the Panic of 1837.

His investments were largely in finance and infrastructure for shipping and trade- focusing on foreign exchange, railroads, canals, and government bonds . 

He was sent to Cuba by the Rothschilds to look after sugar interests in 1837. 

August Belmont Jr. (1853–1924), was an American financier who levied the construction of the original New York subway (1900–1904) and for many years headed the Interborough Rapid Transit Co., which ran the transit system. He financed and led the construction of the Cape Cod Canal in Massachusetts, which opened in 1914. 

Belmont bought the land for and built New York's Belmont Park racetrack—named for his father—and was a major owner/breeder of thoroughbred racehorses.

He served as chairman of the board of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad. 

He served as a director of the Southern Pacific Co., parent of the railroad, and National Park Bank. He and his brother, Perry Belmont, were also founding members of The Jockey Club. 

(social media post about him -Treated his first wife, Sara Swan Whiting, horribly. He was an alcoholic and ne’er do well. Left her in Paris, pregnant, to go off with a dancer. Awful person. He deserved Alva Vanderbilt. 

Belmont family of Newport, Rhode Island, associated with the Gilded Age mansion Belcourt Castle, did use a family crest and coat of arms. Oliver Hazard Perry Belmont prominently displayed a family crest, featuring the motto "Sans Crainte" (French for "Without Fear"), on stained-glass windows and throughout his home, adopting it from his mother's family.