How Sweden's 18th-Century Bank Powered Merchant Networks and War
Researchers have overturned assumptions about Sweden's Exchange Bank, revealing it was a central hub for merchant financing and state military operations. The finding reshapes how historians and economists understand the financial networks that sustained early modern warfare and trade.
Originaltitel: The Financial Infrastructure of Warfare: Merchant Bankers, Bills of Exchange, and the Exchange Bank in 18th-Century Sweden
<p>The objective of this study is to demonstrate the reciprocal relationship between merchant bankers active on the European financial markets and the Exchange Bank in the Bank of Sweden in the mideighteenth century. It is done by studying accounts held with the Exchange Bank and the drawing, acceptance and depositing of bills of exchange by merchants and brokers. In contrast to what is claimed by previous research, the results demonstrate that the Exchange Bank was frequently used by both merchants and state representatives, and that it played an important role in the financial infrastructure of early modern Sweden.How to cite this book chapter</p>