Over two centuries,[1][2] the Rothschild family has frequently been the target of conspiracy theories.[3][4][5] These theories take differing forms, such as claiming that the family belongs to the Illuminati,[6] or controls the world's wealth and financial institutions.[7][8] The theories have taken differing forms, and been propagated for different reasons, most famously by the Nazi Party, who used a variant in anti-semitic propaganda, alleging that the Rothschild family encouraged wars between governments. Discussing this and similar conspiracy theories, the historian Niall Ferguson wrote: "As we have seen, however, wars tended to hit the price of existing bonds by increasing the risk that a debtor state would fail to meet its interest payments in the event of defeat and losses of territory. By the middle of the 19th century, the Rothschilds had evolved from traders into fund managers, carefully tending to their own vast portfolio of government bonds. Now having made their money, they stood to lose more than they gained from conflict. The Rothschilds had decided the outcome of the Napoleonic Wars by putting their financial weight behind Britain. Now they would.. sit on the sidelines."[9]
1. Victor Rothschild - "The Shadow of a Great Man" in Random Variables, Collins, 1984.
2. Ferguson, Niall. The World's Banker: The History of the House of Rothschild. Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1998, ISBN 0-297-81539-3
3. The Rough Guide to Conspiracy Theories, James McConnachie, Robin Tudge Edition: 2 - 2008
4. Levy, Richard S. (2005). Antisemitism: A Historical Encyclopedia of Prejudice. ABC-CLIO. p. 624. ISBN 1851094393.
5. Poliakov, Leon (2003). The History of Anti-semitism: From Voltaire to Wagner. University of Pennsylvania Press. p. 343. ISBN 0812218655.
6. Makow Ph.D, H: Illuminati: The Cult that Hijacked the World, BookSurge Publishing, 2008, ISBN 1439211485
7. Brustein, William (2003). Roots of hate. Cambridge University Press. p. 147. ISBN 0521774780.
8. Perry, Marvin (2002). Antisemitism: Myth and Hate from Antiquity to the Present. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 117. ISBN 0312165617.
9. The Ascent of Money: A Financial History of the World, (London 2008), page 91.