The Forgotten Majority

German Merchants in London, Naturalization, and Global Trade 1660-1815

Margrit Schulte Beerbühl

• Publisher: Berghahn Books
• Year: 2014
• eBook ISBN: 9781782384489
• Edition: 1
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Economic History
• Index: History

The "forgotten majority" of German merchants in London between the end of the Hanseatic League and the end of the Napoleonic Wars became the largest mercantile Christian immigrant group in the eighteenth century. Using previously neglected and little used evidence, this book assesses the causes of their migration, the establishment of their businesses in the capital, and the global reach of the enterprises. As the acquisition of British nationality was the admission ticket to Britain's commercial empire, it investigates the commercial function of British naturalization policy in the early modern period, while also considering the risks of failure and chance for a new beginning in a foreign environment. As more German merchants integrated into British commercial society, they contributed to London becoming the leading place of exchange between the European continent, Russia, and the New World.

Table of contents

• Contents
• Figures and Tables
• Acknowledgments
• Note on the Text
• Introduction
• Chapter 1 — Naturalizing Newcomers for Prosperity, 1660–1818
• Chapter 2 — Promoting Anglo-German Trade in the Seventeenth Century
• Chapter 3 — Eighteenth-Century German Houses and Trade
• Chapter 4 — German Merchants in the Levant and Russia Companies
• Chapter 5 — Boom and Bankruptcy
• Conclusion
• Abbreviations
• Historical Sources
• Bibliography
• Index