In the 20th century the Rothschilds turned towards raising money for industrial and commercial ventures. But the Second World War brought growth in the family businesses to a sudden end. The Italian, Austrian and German branches were wounded down. Most of the family's assets were frozen and houses and art collections confiscated. Despite these considerable difficulties, the Rothschilds in the post war period managed to relaunch their financial businesses around the firms based in Paris and London. And they recovered a leading place in the European banking and financial sphere. |