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This article examines the relationship between J.P. Morgan & Co. and France during the First World War. It argues that the dealings between the French government and the partners of J.P. Morgan & Co. from 1914 to 1918 were characterized by personal difficulties between successive French representatives and the partners of J.P. Morgan & Co. Contributing to a strained relationship was the place of Morgan, Hales, the French affiliate of J.P. Morgan & Co., within the House of Morgan. Herman Hales, the senior partner in Morgan, Harjes, though a proponent of Franco-American amity, became disenchanted with his New York partners as the war continued. The feeling was shared by those in New York, who reevaluated the role of Morgan, Hales within the House of Morgan-until the French affiliate's eventual disappearance in 1926. While sympathetic to France, and instrumental in sustaining French credit during the war, the partners of J.P. Morgan & Co. conceived of the Allied cause as the British cause, a perspective that led them to rebuff calls for greater Franco-American financial cooperation.
The role played by the House of Morgan-consisting of J.P. Morgan & Co. in New York, Morgan Grenfell & Co. in London, Drexel & Co. in Philadelphia, and Morgan, Harjes in Paris-during World War I is well known. From August 1914 to April 1917, while the United States was neutral, the Morgan banks worked assiduously to further the Allied cause. Once it was apparent that the war was not going to end imminently, a formal relationship was established linking the House of Morgan and two of the principal Allies. In January 1915, J.P. Morgan & Co. was appointed the British government's purchasing agent in the U.S.; some months later, in May 1915, they assumed the same position for the French government. Acting through its Export Department, J.P. Morgan & Co. coordinated the purchasing requirements of the Allies in the United States, a task that became progressively larger as the scope of Allied buying increased.1
While J.P. Morgan & Co. was never designated Allied financial agent in the United States, the bank floated loans for Britain and France, handled foreign exchange operations, and advised British and French officials. J.P. Morgan & Co. developed a cordial relationship with Britain, but its dealings...