Crisis and Renewal in Twentieth Century Banking: Exploring the History and Archives of Banking at Times of Political and Social Stress(Studies in Banking and Financial History)

Crisis and Renewal in Twentieth Century Banking explores the behaviour of banks at times of war, revolution, civil war, social turmoil, and reconstruction. Analysing the history and archives of banks, it discovers examples of how banking is affected by political and social upheavals; how banks may influence the outcome of such events; how banking has recovered from periods of intense political and social stress; and how the archives of banks provide remarkable testimony to events in the wider world. By examining the setting of different banking markets in the last century, up to and including the transformation of Eastern and South Eastern Europe in the 1990s, this book marks a new direction for international discussion and research. Contributors include senior historians and archivists from Europe and the United States. Contributions include papers on Russia and foreign banks, 1917-30; depression and crisis in Central Europe in the 1930s; Civil War in Spain; post-war reconstruction in banking in Germany and the Far East; and crisis and renewal in South East Europe. The papers published in this collection were first presented at the twelfth Annual Conference of the European Association for Banking History, held in Ljubljana, Slovenia, in May 2001, and hosted by the Bank of Slovenia and the Nova Ljubljanska Banka.

Table of Contents:
Contents: Introduction; Part I War and Revolution: Russian and Foreign Banks, 1917-30: A private banking house at war: Barings and Russia, 1914-17, John Orbell; Russian banks during the First World War and the Revolution, Sergej Lebedev; Witnesses to revolution: the archives of foreign banks in Russia, Catherine Potier. Part II Depression and Political Turmoil in Central Europe: Under western eyes: foreign banks' archives relating to Central and Eastern Europe between the wars, Edwin Green; Croatian banking during the 1926-36 depression, Ivo Bicanic and Zeljko Ivankovic. Part III Banking in Civil War and its Aftermath: The Republic besieged? British banks and the Spanish Civil War 1936-39, Tom Buchanan; Spanish banking after the Civil War: a halting reconstruction under Fascism, Gabriel Tortella and José L. García-Ruiz; The transition after the civil war in Greece, Konstantinos Kostis. Part IV Post-war reconstruction: The German and Far Eastern Experience: The transformation and reconstruction of banking in Germany, 1945-57, Martin L. Müller; New political realities and the post-war re-establishment of foreign banks in East and South-East Asia, Frank H.H. King. Part V Crisis and Renewal in 20th-century Banking: the Slovenian Experience: A comparison of banking crises in Slovenia in the 1930s and 1990s, Franjo Å tiblar; Slovenian banking in transition, Ivan Ribnikar. Part VI Rupture and Reconnections: South-East European banks and Western banking: 20th-century connections and crises, John R. Lampe; Reconstructing national identities: the banknotes of Central and Eastern Europe in the 1990s, Virginia Hewitt and Tim Unwin; Index.

About the Author :
Edwin Green, HSBC Holdings, UK, John Lampe, University of Maryland, USA and Franjo Stiblar, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia John Orbell, Sergej Lebedev, Catherine Potier, Edwin Green, Ivo Bicanic, A1/2eljko Ivankovic, Tom Buchanan, Gabriel Tortella, Jose L. Garcia-Ruiz, Konstantinos Kostis, Martin L. Muller, Frank H.H. King, Franjo Stiblar, Ivan Ribnikar, John R. Lampe, Virginia Hewitt, Tim Unwin.

Review :
’As an analysis of the development of European banks in their economic and political context, this book makes an important contribution to financial historiography. Moreover, its relevance to important problems recommends it to anyone interested in the ramifications of European history as a whole.’ Financial History Review