From "The Story of Money": How a stock market crash gave birth to modern antisemitism

The 1873 financial crash in Germany and Austria, known as the *Gründerkrach*, transformed from a speculative bubble into a catalyst for modern, virulent antisemitism. Following a period of rapid economic expansion fueled by French war reparations, the collapse of fraudulent companies left the middle class devastated and desperate for scapegoats. Opportunistic journalists exploited this social fracture by propagating conspiracy theories that blamed Jewish financiers for the economic calamity, explicitly coining the term "antisemitism" to provide a pseudo-scientific veneer to their hatred. Although Otto von Bismarck, the German Chancellor, relied on his Jewish banker Gershon von Bleichroeder, he prioritized political expediency over challenging these rising prejudices. This era established a toxic narrative of a secret financial cabal controlling global affairs, a trope that persisted in German society and was later weaponized during the 20th century with catastrophic consequences.