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The International Monetary Conference of 1892 was the fourth of a series of
Following the adjournment of the Paris Monetary Conference (1881), concerns kept growing that gold was becoming to scarce while the relative price of silver kept eroding, bringing disturbance to the international monetary system. After several abortive attempts, the fourth and last of the 19th-century International Monetary Conferences was brought together at Brussels in November 1892 on the invitation of U.S. President Benjamin Harrison.
In addition to the United States and Belgium, the participing nations were Austria-Hungary, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, British India, Italy, Mexico, the Netherlands, Norway, the Ottoman Empire, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Spain,
international monetary conferences The international monetary conferences were a series of assemblies held in the second half of the 19th century. They were held with a view to reaching agreement on matters relating to international relationships between national currency systems.
B ...
, held in Brussels in November and December 1892. It was chaired by Belgian Senator Georges Montefiore-Levi
Georges Montefiore-Levi (18 February 1832 – 24 April 1906) was a Belgian politician, industrialist and inventor of Jewish extraction who created the first phosphorus bronze.
Early life
He was born in Streatham, South London. His father, I ...
.
Overview
Following the adjournment of the Paris Monetary Conference (1881), concerns kept growing that gold was becoming to scarce while the relative price of silver kept eroding, bringing disturbance to the international monetary system. After several abortive attempts, the fourth and last of the 19th-century International Monetary Conferences was brought together at Brussels in November 1892 on the invitation of U.S. President Benjamin Harrison.
In addition to the United States and Belgium, the participing nations were Austria-Hungary, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, British India, Italy, Mexico, the Netherlands, Norway, the Ottoman Empire, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Spain, Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
, Switzerland
). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
, and the United Kingdom. Unlike in previous conferences, Norway had a separate delegation from Sweden's, and India had a separate delegation from the UK's. Opening the conference, Belgian Prime Minister Auguste Beernaert
Auguste Marie François Beernaert (26 July 1829 – 6 October 1912) was the prime minister of Belgium from October 1884 to March 1894, and the 1909 Nobel Peace Prize laureate.
Life
Born in Ostend in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands 1829, h ...
referred to the gathering as "the most important conference ever held in Brussels"; it was held in the Marble Hall of the Academy Palace.
Delay arose from the absence of definite proposals by the United States government. These, when they were presented, proved to be only a reaffirmation of the bimetallic policy, with no advance from prior discussions. The U.S. delegates also suggested considerations of reform plans formulated in the recent past by Moritz Levy (at the 1881 conference) and by recently deceased German academic Adolf Soetbeer. At the request of British delegates, the conference also reviewed reforms plans presented by Alfred de Rothschild
Alfred Charles ''Freiherr'' de Rothschild, CVO (20 July 1842 – 31 January 1918), was the second son of Lionel ''Freiherr'' de Rothschild and Charlotte ''Freifrau'' von Rothschild of the Rothschild family.
Education
As a young man, Alfred a ...
.
The conference ended in failure, adjourning on with a call to meet again on that remained eventually unheeded.
At the conference, German academic Julius Wolff submitted a visionary blueprint for an international currency that would be used for emergency lending to national central banks and would be issued by an institution based in a neutral country
A neutral country is a state that is neutral towards belligerents in a specific war or holds itself as permanently neutral in all future conflicts (including avoiding entering into military alliances such as NATO, CSTO or the SCO). As a type of ...
.
See also
*International Monetary and Economic Conferences The international monetary and economic conferences were a series of assemblies held between 1867 (first) and 1933 (last), unless the Bretton Woods Conference of 1944 is included. The first four conferences in the 19th century were held with a view ...
* Brussels Conference (1920)
The International Financial Conference was an international economic conference held in Brussels from September 25 to October 8, 1920.
Background
The Brussels conference was convened in the context of severe economic, social, financial and san ...
Notes
Conference
A conference is a meeting of two or more experts to discuss and exchange opinions or new information about a particular topic.
Conferences can be used as a form of group decision-making, although discussion, not always decisions, are the main p ...
19th-century diplomatic conferences
1892 conferences
1892 in Belgium
Diplomatic conferences in Belgium
Gold standard
Global economic conferences
19th century in Brussels
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