Bourses, banks, and Boers: Johannesburg’s French connections and the Paris Krach of 1895

Abstract

ABSTRACT The 1894/5 Paris boom in South African mining securities set forth the ultimate test of financial resilience for the South African Republic’s mining and financial sectors. The financial crash in Paris that halted the international boom in October 1895 exposed the globalized nature of markets for South African mining securities and their impact on colonial politics in southern Africa. This article reconsiders and qualifies the economic, financial, and political connections between South African gold mining and the Parisian capital market for the period 1887 to 1895. The Paris Bourse and its complimentary coulisse became the new loci of the South African mining market that ultimately crashed after the intervention of Johannesburg’s capital elites. Crucially for the future of the South African Republic, the Paris Krach set out the political circumstances for a direct confrontation between Johannesburg’s mining capital, British imperialism and President Kruger’s republicanism. Exposing new primary material gathered at the Archives Diplomatiques in Paris, the Paribas Group in Paris, the Central Archival Repository in Pretoria and the Johannesburg Stock Exchange in Sandton, this article examines the globalization of South African securities, concluding the investigation with an analysis of the financial and political ramifications of the 1895 Paris Krach.