The Bankers Who Secretly Started WWI | The Hidden History

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In November 1910, seven of the most powerful men in America gathered on a private island off the coast of Georgia. They told everyone they were going duck hunting. They were lying. What they were actually doing would create the Federal Reserve, establish the financial machinery that funneled billions into World War One, and set a template for the merger of banking power and government policy that persists to this day. This is the untold story of how J.P. Morgan became the exclusive purchasing agent for the British war effort, earning commissions on over $3 billion in weapons and supplies. How the Warburg brothers financed both sides of the conflict simultaneously. How arms manufacturers Vickers and Krupp maintained patent agreements even as their weapons killed soldiers on opposing sides. And how the 1934 Nye Committee investigation exposed a system where war was immensely profitable for a small group of well-connected financiers—a system where the costs were socialized while the profits were privatized. By 1917, American bankers had loaned the Allies nearly $3 billion. When Britain's collateral ran dry, America's entry into the war guaranteed those loans would be repaid. As historian Niall Ferguson noted, "It was Morgan as much as Britain which was bailed out in 1917." World War One created 21,000 new American millionaires and billionaires. The Rockefellers alone made over $200 million. For every soldier who died, international bankers profited $10,000. The bankers didn't pull the triggers. But they manufactured the guns, financed the ammunition, and had a vested interest in the war's continuation. The merchants of death never went away. They just got better at hiding. Sources and further reading: Ron Chernow, "The House of Morgan: An American Banking Dynasty" Niall Ferguson, "The Pity of War" U.S. Senate Nye Committee Reports (1934-1936) Federal Reserve History: "The Meeting at Jekyll Island" 1914-1918 Online Encyclopedia of the First World War #WWI #History #Banking #FederalReserve #JekyllIsland #JPMorgan #Rothschild #MerchantsOfDeath #WarFinance #Documentary