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The Rothschilds did found five banking houses in the era of the Napoleonic Wars. Shrewd enough to guess that Napoleon could not last, they supported the Allies for reasons of good business rather than sentiment. Nathan Rothschild, no bosom friend of Wellington, did bid for a loan to France after Napoleon's first defeat, sent the market down by selling his own government bonds when his bid was refused. Statesmen like Metternich had, as the picture shows, agreed with Baring Brothers, London bankers, to handle some of the bonds privately for their own profit. When Rothschild sent the prices down, Baring Brothers called on the statesmen to put up the cash for their securities. When they failed to do so, the loan fell through entirely.