Feeding Occupied France during World War I by Clotilde Druelle

Author:Clotilde Druelle
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9783030055639
Publisher: Springer International Publishing

The bank, leader of the Dutch group was an obvious choice. The Nederlandsche Handel-Maatschappij (Dutch Trading Society), founded in 1824, related in business with MM. Hope & Co and MM. Lippman Rosenthal & Co—other members of the consortium—was considered one of the most important in the country and the only one that did not deal solely with banking matters. Its industrial engagements were numerous and its commercial activities extended. Considering its interests overseas, it can be hypothesized that the deposit in Switzerland of the guarantees requested of France was in keeping with the intention of the international affairs conducted by the bank during the Great War.130

The Dutch group thus granted the French consortium a credit of up to 12 million guilders. The Banque de Paris et des Pays-Bas, Crédit Lyonnais and the Comptoir National d’Escompte de Paris—each having a one-third stake—were jointly and severally involved. As security and guarantee, the French group pledged French bond securities dated before August 1, 1914. The deposit was to be made with the Banque Nationale Suisse (Swiss National Bank), the securities placed under a special file of the Nederlandsche Bank, custodian on behalf of the Dutch group. The latter reserved the right in turn to use the said securities, without moving them, as pledges with the Dutch Bank of issue in order to obtain credits itself. French coupons maturing were handed over to the Banque de Paris et des Pays-Bas, which handed them over to the Mouvement général des Fonds, a point that of course was not specified.

As an ancillary guarantee, the French group handed over to the Dutch group, as and when the credit was used, drafts equivalent to the use of the credits. It was expressly stipulated that the said drafts should not be negotiated or pledged by the Dutch group who had to keep them in its possession. These drafts were not to appear in the accounts of the banks of the Dutch group. Mandated by the three French banks, Couture signed the loan agreement. Schulthess, with securities provided by Finance, went to Switzerland in early August to deposit them. As we can see, the business, without much risk for the Dutch group, was very profitable for them. On the French side, several large banks were associated with an operation deemed patriotic and with limited risks. From the aforementioned French banks, a second-line agreement was concluded in Paris on 21 July.131

The assured financing settled, the purchases by the northern cities could theoretically resume. As demanded by the government following Louis Guérin ‘s warning, a certain solidarity was demanded between the main cities of the department and the others, less able to engage in “municipal loans.”132 The Northern Representatives asked the Minister of Finance to accredit a delegate chosen by them to oversee the Dutch buyers. Their choice was Henri Rozendaal , an industrialist of Dutch nationality, known both in Lille and by the French legation in The Hague. Rozendaal, then in Paris, agreed to leave the capital and go there personally

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