This important new volume addresses the many aspects of banking in European market economies in the twentieth century, making innovative and authoritative research available to historians, economists, financiers and business analysts. The distinguished group of authors examines the historic role of banks in utilizing domestic and foreign financial resources. Their contributions show that from the 1880s onwards banks became an integral part of the capital market in continental Europe. In the course of this development the banks played a crucial part in financing industry in North and Central Europe. This symbiotic relationship between banks and industry is analysed and is shown to have had a decisive impact on the inflation and crisis-prone interwar period. The comparative and quantitative methods applied in these papers reveal differences between the countries of North and Central Europe, especially with regard to the degree of state intervention in individual economies. Other topics discussed include the networks of interlocking directorships, the effectiveness of banking legislation and the impact of the national question on banking in central and Southeast Europe. Universal Banking in the Twentieth Century illustrates both striking similarities and marked differences in the role of universal banking across Europe in terms of the level of industrialization and the pace of economic growth.

Originally published in 1988, this book assesses social and economic change against the background of the international economy and the dramatic political events of the twentieth century - the break up of the Habsburg Monarchy, the Peace Treaty of Versailles, the Munich Agreement of 1938 and the dismemberment of Czechoslovakia, the occupation by Nazi Germany, the attempt to reconstruct a democratic Republic, the period of Stalinism and the 'Prague Spring' of 1968. Thus the book produces a balanced historical outline of the economy of Czechoslovakia between 1918 and 1980.

Originally published in 1988, this book assesses social and economic change against the background of the international economy and the dramatic political events of the twentieth century - the break up of the Habsburg Monarchy, the Peace Treaty of Versailles, the Munich Agreement of 1938 and the dismemberment of Czechoslovakia, the occupation by Nazi Germany, the attempt to reconstruct a democratic Republic, the period of Stalinism and the 'Prague Spring' of 1968. Thus the book produces a balanced historical outline of the economy of Czechoslovakia between 1918 and 1980.

First published in 1997, this book has been produced by the leading scholars of the economic history of the region in the belief that the events of 1989/90, and the subsequent turmoil in every country affected, can only be accurately interpreted from an informed historical perspective. The chapters are accessible and authoritative; each is from a first-rank and highly experienced economic historian of the nation under discussion. The necessarily differing treatments of the social, economic and national problems correct the widespread misapprehension that the countries of the region are essentially alike.

Originally published in 2003, this book addresses the rarely explored subject of the reciprocal relationships between nationalism, nation and state-building, and economic change. Analysis of the economic element in the building of nations and states cannot be confined to Europe, and therefore these diverse yet interlinked case-studies cover all continents. Authors come to contrasting conclusions, some regarding the economic factor as central, while others show that nation-states came into being before the constitution of a national market. The essays leave no doubt that the nation-state is an historical phenonemon and as such is liable to 'expiry' both through the process of globalisation and through the development of a 'cyber-society' which evades state control. By contrast, developments in southeastern Europe, the former USSR, and parts of Africa and the Far East show that building the nation-state has not run its course.

The theme of this volume is challenging both in its scale and in its scope. Its purpose is to take account of the state of research and writing on the symbiotic relationship between banking, trade and industry and the state during the rise and expansion of capitalism, and to compare and assess the results in order to widen current perspectives. Topics covered range from the origins of banking in the Middle Ages, through the influence of banks in leading industrial economies and the influence of banks on "latecomer" economies, to the expansion of banking in the American and Asian economies.

The economic background to the dismemberment of Czechoslovakia at Munich in 1938 has not received the attention it deserves. This book helps to redress this imbalance by analysing in depth the web of foreign interests - direct foreign investment, foreign long-term loans and the activities of international cartels in Czechoslovakia in the interwar period. After the First World War Central and Southeast Europe became one of the major regions of the world to which capital from France, Great Britain and the United States was exported. Czechoslovakia played a central part in this development: foreign capital sought to invest in Czechoslovak industrial enterprises and banks, to make loans to the state, public institutions and private economic organizations and to influence production, prices and the market through cartel agreements. Dr Teichova discusses in detail the influence of foreign capital and business organizations in mining, the metallurgical industries, engineering, electrical industries, chemical industries and banking in the greater part of the modernized sector of the economy.

At a time of persistent national strife on a worldwide scale, this book addresses the inadequately covered subject of the reciprocal relationships between nationalism, nation and state-building, and economic change. The exploration of the economic element in the building of nations and states cannot be confined to Europe; therefore, the diverse yet interlinked case studies in this volume cover all continents.

Although international finance and banking has been the subject of research and writing, the economic impact of banks on industrial structures and the relations between banking and industry in the twentieth century have remained relatively unexplored areas. This volume examines and interprets the economic effect of the financing of industry by banks and of the banks' credit intermediation in industrialized economies. Particular attention is given to the interplay of economics and politics, to the connections between bankers and industrialists, and to the significance of interlocking directorships. A special section is devoted to a hitherto wholly neglected problem in economic history: the vital influence of universal banking in small but highly industrialized countries in central Europe and Scandinavia.

In this sequel to Multinational Enterprise in Historical Perspective (1986) the same editorial team continues the historical explanation of a vital but often misconstrued commercial phenomenon. The contributory essays, each written by an authority in the field and based on original historical research, raise further theoretical questions on the idea of the firm, on periodization, and on research and development, and examine the international financial operations of worldwide corporate business. The discussion is extended to include the production of mass consumer goods and the regions of China, Japan, and Latin America.

There can be no doubt about the enduring significance and the immense historical impact of the national question, yet its economic dimension has been little examined. This volume deals with the national question in the light of economic change in the twentieth-century, and contains twenty studies by a team of distinguished authors on nations and nationalities spanning Europe from Ireland to Russia and from Greece to Estonia. The volume will aid our understanding of the modern national question against the changing economic, social and political background.

The theme of this volume is challenging both in its scale and in its scope. Its purpose is to take account of the state of research and writing on the symbiotic relationship between banking, trade and industry and the state during the rise and expansion of capitalism, and to compare and assess the results in order to widen current perspectives. Topics covered range from the origins of banking in the Middle Ages, through the influence of banks in leading industrial economies and the influence of banks on "latecomer" economies, to the expansion of banking in the American and Asian economies.

Although international finance and banking has been the subject of much research and writing, the economic impact of banks on industrial structures and the relations between banking and industry in the twentieth century have remained a relatively unexplored area. This 1991 volume examines and interprets the economic effect of the financing of industry by banks and of the banks' credit intermediation in industrialised economies. Particular attention is given to the interplay of economics and politics, to the connections between bankers and industrialists, and to the significance of interlocking directorships. A special section is devoted to a hitherto wholly neglected problem in economic history: the vital influence of universal banking in small but highly industrialised countries in central Europe and Scandinavia.

This 1989 book is the sequel to Multinational Enterprise in Historical Perspective (1986), in which the same editorial team continues the historical exploration of a vital but often misconstrued commercial phenomenon. The contributory essays, each written by an authority in the field, raise further questions on the idea of the firm, on periodisation and on research and development, and examine the international financial operations of worldwide corporate business. With the aid of trans-industrial and transnational comparisons, the range of policies pursued by business and government is fully discussed. Above all, this discussion is extended to include the production of mass-consumer goods and the areas of China, Japan and Latin America. All the contributions are based on original historical research undertaken in national and private bank and business archives in Europe, the USA and Japan. In their critical assessments and interpretations the authors are also able to combine economic theory with history.

The authors in this collection of essays address the largely neglected but significant economic aspects of the national question in its historical context during the course of the twentieth century. There exists a large gap in our understanding of the historical relationship between the 'national question' and economic change. Above all, there is insufficient knowledge about the economic dimension of the historical experience with regard to the former multi-national states, such as the Soviet Union, Yugoslavia or Czechoslovakia; and equally too little is known about the economic component of national tensions and conflicts in bilingual Belgium or Finland, or the multilingual Spain or Switzerland. At the same time as emphasis is placed on the complex relationships between the economy and society in individual European countries, questions of state, identity, language, religion and racism as instruments of economic furtherance are at the centre of the contributors' attention.

This volume explores relations between socialist planned economies of Central and East European countries and capitalist market economies of neutral states in Europe during the Cold War. It focuses on the significant role of neutral countries as path-breakers in building East-West contacts.