Dates That Made History
Historian Patrick Boucheron revisits the most important dates in history through the prisms of memory and collective imagination.
6. 1720 - Europe's First Financial Crisis
0.0Nov 16, 2025 · 27 min
The collapse of the financial system designed by the Scotsman John Law to pay off Louis XIV's enormous debts is considered the first major stock market crash in European history. But what makes this moment so significant? Is it the failure of the paper money bank – or the deeper insight it provides into the power and debt regime of the French monarchy?