The Rothschild family is arguably the most famous European banking dynasty in modern history. In the late 18th century, Mayer Amschel Rothschild, the family patriarch, founded his first banking house in the German town of Frankfurt. His sons expanded the bank into a multinational enterprise, and, with their newfound wealth, the Rothschilds were able to influence their local economies. One Rothschild loan paid off French war indemnities in the 1870s, while another allowed the British government to become the powerful Suez Canal Company’s primary shareholder. However, the Rothschild family’s rapid accumulation of wealth and power was met with one odious reaction: rampant anti-Semitism. As a Jewish family, the Rothschilds have been targeted by conspiracy theorists as a prime example of Jews allegedly using their money to control global financial institutions. These claims have been roundly condemned and proven false, but they continue to persist. What are the origins of the anti-Semitism directed at the Rothschild family, and how have these conspiracy theories resurfaced in the 21st century?
In 2015 the British newspaper The Independent published an investigation of anti-Semitic claims against the Rothschilds. Journalism professor Brian Cathcart traced the first widespread conspiracy theory to a political pamphlet called Histoire édifante et curieuse de Rothschild Ier, roi des juifs, which began rolling off European printing presses in 1846. Written by Georges Dairnvaell under the pseudonym “Satan,” this pamphlet narrates the history of the Rothschild family and its influence in Europe. According to Cathcart, its most famous passage details Nathan Rothschild’s involvement in the Battle of Waterloo on June 18, 1815. Immediately after the battle, according to the pamphlet, Rothschild was rushed to the Belgian coast and paid a fortune to cross the English Channel in the middle of a thunderstorm. He arrived in London 24 hours before news of Napoleon’s defeat was officially announced, “Satan” claims, and, as a result, he “suddenly won 20 million [francs], while his other brothers seconded him; the total profit made in this fatal year amounted to 135 MILLION!”
Although this account became instantly popular across Europe, it was both false and dangerous. Cathcart’s research found that on June 18, 1815, Nathan Rothschild was nowhere near Waterloo. There were no reports of a storm over the English Channel at that time. And while the Rothschilds did profit immensely off the war effort against Napoleon, they did not make millions from announcing the Allied victory at Waterloo. The fact that these claims were so readily believed draws on the pernicious history of European anti-Semitism.
https://www.britannica.com/story/where-do-anti-semitic-conspiracy-theories-about-the-rothschild-family-come-from