The Anglo-French Financial Commission was a special delegation to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

from the governments of the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

and

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

in 1915 during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

. The Commission, led by

Lord Reading Marquess of Reading is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1926 for Rufus Isaacs, who had been Member of Parliament for Reading between 1904 and 1913, before serving as Viceroy of India and Lord Chief Justice of Engla ...

, secured the single largest loan from private US banks prior to

American entry into World War I American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

in 1917.

History

In February 1915, France, Britain and Russia held the first joint financial conference of the First World War.

Kathleen Burk Kathleen Mildred Burk (born March 1946) is Professor Emerita of Modern and Contemporary History at University College London. Her field of research is international history, especially politics, diplomacy and finance. Early life and career Burk g ...

''Britain, America and the Sinews of War, 1914-1918''
(G. Allen & Unwin, 1985), p.45. Thereafter, the Allied Powers agreed to cooperate closely in financial matters to help finance the ongoing war with Germany. In September 1915 France and the United Kingdom signed an agreement to establish the Inter-Allied Munitions Bureau, which was to coordinate purchasing in all neutral countries, principally the United States. That same month Lord Reading lead a delegation from the two countries to secure a huge loan from private American banks, the source of the greatest amount of private capital outside Europe. The Commission included Basil Blackett, Sir Edward Holden and Sir Henry Babington Smith from Britain, and Octave Homberg and

Ernest Mallet Ernest Mallet (June 10, 1863 – December 5, 1956) was a regent of the Bank of France and a member of the Anglo-French Financial Commission during World War I. Biography He was born on June 10, 1863, in the 8th arrondissement of Paris. He marri ...

from France. In addition to the financial support, it was hoped that a large investment by Americans in the Allied war effort would encourage

Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was an American politician and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. A member of the Democratic Party, Wilson served as the president of ...

's administration to abandon neutrality.T. Cushing Daniel
''Real Money Versus False Money - Bank Credits''
(The Minerva Group, Inc., 2004), p.272-3 The group arrived in New York on 10 September, and were met by J. P. Morgan Jr., who had been designated as Britain's sole purchasing agent in the United States in January 1915, and Britain's ambassador, Sir Cecil Spring Rice. Over the course of the following weeks, the Commission had meetings with approximately one hundred prominent American financiers and bankers, including

Charles G. Dawes Charles Gates Dawes (August 27, 1865 – April 23, 1951) was an American banker, general, diplomat, composer, and Republican politician who was the 30th vice president of the United States from 1925 to 1929 under Calvin Coolidge. He was a co-rec ...

. Several Jewish financial houses stated they would not participate if Russia, the location of recent

anti-Jewish pogroms Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...

, was included in the agreement.Richard Drake
''The Education of an Anti-Imperialist: Robert La Follette and U.S. Expansion''
(University of Wisconsin Press, 2013), p.149. On 28 September 1915 it was announced that the syndicate, led by J.P. Morgan & Co., had reached a credit agreement with the British and French governments. The loan was for $500,000,000, at that point by far the largest single loan in financial history. The loan was issued on five-year, 5 per cent joint British and French bonds, and was entirely controlled by banking corporations for private gain. Prior to the loan being secured, German agents and sympathisers in the United States endeavoured to prevent an agreement. On 16 September American press reported that the lives of the Commission's delegates had been threatened by German plots, and that pro-Germans were threatening to "cause a run on the banks throughout the United States if any support is accorded to the Allies". On 18 September ''

The Spectator ''The Spectator'' is a weekly British magazine on politics, culture, and current affairs. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving weekly magazine in the world. It is owned by Frederick Barclay, who also owns ''Th ...

'' reported that the Germans were attempting to influence American depositors and the directors of major banks, and were trying to arrange a counter-loan of $100,000,000 to Germany to embarrass the negotiations. The US government, under pressure from Spring Rice and still officially neutral, stated that it regarded the loan as an ordinary financial transaction and that it would not interfere in the process. American press generally supported the loan, and ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' decried opponents of the agreement as "anti-American". Financier James J. Hill hailed the loan as marking the moment that America changed "from being a debtor to a creditor nation". German efforts to influence the proceedings proved to be fruitless. In May 1916 the British had to take over the financing of French purchases in the United States as a result of the weakness of the French wartime economy.Kathleen Burk
''Britain, America and the Sinews of War, 1914-1918''
(G. Allen & Unwin, 1985), p.46.

References

{{Reflist 1915 conferences 1915 in economics Economic history of World War I France–United Kingdom relations France–United States relations United Kingdom–United States relations