5. The Development of Zinzendorf’s Thinking on State Credit

Ibid., fol. 230r.

The earlier text was Zinzendorf’s ‘Essai sur l’Établissement d’une Banque générale’, 26 September 1750, vol. 105, Nachlaß Zinzendorf, HHStA: see above, Chap. 3.

Ludwig Zinzendorf, Finanz-Vorschläge zur Fortsetzung des gegenwärtigen Krieges. Allerhöchst Ihro Röm- Kais.-König. Apostolischen M.M.. Alleruntertänigst übergeben von Ludwig Grafen und Herrn von Zinzendorf und Pottendorf; dero wirklichen geheimen Rathe, Cämmerern und Assessore in denen Directoriis in publicis et cameralibus. Im Monat Jul.1759, B.E. 6.O.46, ÖNB. A copy is held at the National Library of France; see also, Pettenegg (ed.), Selbstbiographien, p. 73. In the title of the document, ‘Directoriis’ in plural, rather than ‘Directorium’, might indicate that Zinzendorf wrote the document for a wider audience in several departments within the ‘Directorium in publicis et cameralibus’. In particular, Zinzendorf might have intended it for the bureau of trade where he had worked and which operated from within the ‘Directorium’. See also Chap. 6, particularly ‘The Institutions for Commercial Affairs’.

Ludwig Zinzendorf, ‘Projet de Finance pour la continuation de la Guerre’, 1758, vol. 18, unfoliated, Nachlaß Zinzendorf, HHStA.

For summaries of Finanz-vorschläge, see P.G.M. Dickson, Finance and Government under Maria Theresia 1740–1780 (2 vols, Oxford, 1987) vol. 2, p. 133; Johann Schasching, Staatsbildung und Finanzentwicklung: Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte des österreichischen Staatskredites in der 2. Hälfte des 18. Jahrhunderts (Innsbruck, 1954), pp. 12–16; Hans Gross, ‘Die ständische Kredit-Deputation und der Plan eines erbländischen Nationalkredites (Ein Beitrag zur Finanzpolitik unter Maria Theresia)’ (PhD dissertation, University of Vienna, 1935), pp. 12–19; Adolf Beer, ‘Die Staatschulden und die Ordnung des Staatshaushaltes unter Maria Theresia’, AÖG 82 (1894), pp. 1–135, at pp. 7–9. To ensure a large take-up of the operation, Zinzendorf sought to overcome linguistic barriers by printing the banknotes in German, Hungarian and Czech: Gross, ‘Die ständische Kredit-Deputation’, p. 16.

Ibid., pp. 120–21.

Between 1757 and 1761, Kaunitz made no less than four forceful attempts to rally support for Zinzendorf’s scheme: ibid., pp. 120–26.

This credit operation, in which the amount of paper issued was trebled again to 18m. fl., is well covered in the literature: Schasching, Staatsbildung, pp. 18–24; Dickson, Finance and Government, vol. 2, pp. 134–38; Szabo, Kaunitz, pp. 127–30; and William D. Godsey, The Sinews of Habsburg Power: Lower Austria in a Fiscal-Military State, 1650–1820 (Oxford, 2018), pp. 240–45. Maria Theresa’s letter appointing Zinzendorf is printed in Beer, ‘Die Staatsschulden’, p. 11, and in Friedrich Walter (ed.), Vom Sturz des Directoriums in Publicis et Cameralibus (1760/61) bis zum Ausgang der Regierung Maria Theresias: Aktenstücke, II. Abteilung, vol. 3 (Vienna: ÖZV, 1934), p. 165.

Ludwig Zinzendorf, ‘Geschichte und Beschreibung der Wiener Stadt Banco’, undated, unfoliated, vol. 101, Nachlaß Zinzendorf, HHStA. Based on references in the text, the date of the manuscript is probably 1758.

Ludwig Zinzendorf, ‘Beschreibung der vornehmsten Europäischen Bancken von Ludwig Friedrich Julius Grafen und Herrn von Zinzendorf und Pottendorf, Ihrer kaiserl. König. Apostol. Majestät wirklichen geheimen Rat, Kämmerern und Assesore des Directoriums in publicis et cameralibus’, Vienna 1758, Nachlaß Zinzendorf, vols 103 and 104, HHStA.

Ludwig Zinzendorf, ‘Allergnädigst, abgeforderter Vorschlag, die Einrichtung einer Börse zur Verhandlung der öffentlichen Papiere und eines Banco di Credito betreffend, Februar 1767’, Nachlaß Zinzendorf, vol. 20, HHStA.

Ludwig Zinzendorf, ‘Finanzvorschläge’, 1 June 1763, vol. 19, fols 179r–237r, Nachlaß Zinzendorf, HHStA. For a summary, see Dickson, Finance and Government, vol. 2, pp. 43–4. It is also covered in Szabo, Kaunitz, pp. 132–33.

Entwurf eines allergnädigsten Hof-Decretes welches von Ihro Majestät an die R.D. drey oberen Heren Stände wegen des von denenselben anzubegehrenden Darlehens von 2,200,000 Gulden abzulassen, in Zinzendorf, Pro Memoria, fols 232r–238r; Entwurf eines von den oberen dreyen Herren Ständen Patent an das Publicum zu erlassenden Patentes, in ibid., fols 238v–251v.

Ibid., fols 182r–183r.

Ibid., fols 191r–195v.

Ibid., fols 196v–198r.

About 110,000 fl. would cover the yearly interest expense of 5 per cent. And 44,000 fl., or 2 per cent of the value of issued debt, was earmarked for the repayment of the principal. The bond issue was split into 73,333 bonds of 30 fl., and the repayment period was set from 1759 to 1784: fol. 199r. Zinzendorf provided a detailed repayment plan: ibid., fol. 252r.

Ibid., fols 195v–203v.

Ibid., fols 202r–203v.

Antoine Deparcieux, Essai sur les probabilités de la durée de la vie humaine (Paris, 1746). For a recent edition, see Antoine Deparcieux, Essai sur les probabilités de la durée de la vie humaine (1746). Addition à l’Essai (1760). Réédition en fac-similé avec une introduction et des notes de C. Behar, accompagnée de contributions de G. Gallais-Hamonno, C. Tietsch, J. Berthon (Institut National D’Études Demographiques, Paris, 2003).

Ibid., fol. 223r.

Ibid., fols 207v–208r.

Ibid., fols 206v, 210v–211r.

Ibid., fols 206v–211v, 229v–230r.

Ibid., fols 211v–225v.

Ibid., fols 225r–225v.

Zinzendorf estimated that, over 30 years, as part of the monarchy’s credit arrangements, 20–30m. fl. had been paid out to foreigners in interest: ibid., fols 225r–225v.

Ibid., fols 223r–230v.

Other proposals included: [Anonymous], undated, ‘Das bei Abgang des baren Geldes in Vorschlag gebrachte Münz-Surrogatum betreffend’. It was a plan to issue bonds without interest payments and to offer repayment after 16 years. The small denominations of the bonds would enable a good circulation in the economy. The plan followed a French model: Gross, ‘Die ständische Kredit-Deputation’, p. 19.

Karl Zinzendorf closely read his brother’s memoir and transcribed a long passage: Diary of Karl Zinzendorf, 22 November 1761, in Maria Breunlich and Marieluise Mader (eds.), Karl Graf von Zinzendorf, Aus den Jugendtagebüchern 1747, 1752–1763. Nach Vorarbeiten von Hans Wagner, Veröffentlichung der Kommission für Neuere Geschichte Österreichs 84 (Vienna, 1997), pp. 246–47.

Zinzendorf, ‘Wiener Stadt Banco’, pp. 2–12. Various documents on the Vienna City bank are in ‘Miscellenia den Banco betreffend von 1704–1755’, vol. 100, Nachlaß Zinzendorf, HHStA.

Zinzendorf, ‘Wiener Stadt Banco’, pp. 15–21.

Ibid., pp. 21, 24.

Ibid., pp. 34–9. In a reply to Chotek’s first objection to the creation of the Estates Credit Deputation, Zinzendorf summarised how the Vienna City Bank was transformed into a more dependent institution of the state: Zinzendorf, ‘Projet de Finance’, pp. 65–71. See also Chap. 6, particularly ‘Debates Within Government’.

Zinzendorf, ‘Wiener Stadt Banco’, pp. 39–41. On the Hofdeputation, see Dickson, Finance and Government, vol. 1, pp. 223–25.

Zinzendorf, ‘Wiener Stadt Banco’, pp. 44–6.

Ibid., pp. 46–51.

Ibid., pp. 56–9, 62–4, 67. The reduction to 4 per cent did not amount to very much. It only yielded a very small annual saving. So, during the war, the bank swiftly offered a rate of 5 per cent again: ibid., pp. 68–9.

Ibid., pp. 69–71.

Ibid., pp. 76–7.

Ibid., p. 77.

Ibid., pp. 79–80.

Ibid., pp. 85–96.

Ibid., pp. 96–7.

Zinzendorf did not name them. He specified, however, that they were proficient in credit and financial affairs: ibid., p. 96.

The Hôtel de Ville in Paris, Zinzendorf argued, a comparable institution to the Vienna City Bank, would not take on new debt without issuing a royal patent and making it available to the public. The patent would include the size of the new credit facility and identify the fund which would be used as collateral: ibid., pp. 105–6.

Ibid., pp. 102–5.

Ibid., pp. 106–7.

Ibid., pp. 107–9.

Ibid., pp. 110–15. Zinzendorf probably was referring to Count Heinrich von Brühl, the chief minister of Saxony. Brühl was accused of financial mismanagement and corruption, and after his death in 1763 tried in court.

Ibid., pp. 121–24, 127–28.

Ibid., pp. 132–34.

Ibid., pp. 137–43. On Zinzendorf’s proposal for tobacco farming, see Chap. 6, particularly ‘Projectors’.

Ibid., pp. 143–44.

Ibid., pp. 357–58.

From 1721 to 1748, debts carried by the bank were 78m. fl. versus 3m. fl. in income: Rudolf Fuchs, Die Wiener Stadtbank: ein Beitrag zur österreichischen Finanzgeschichte des 18. Jahrhunderts (Frankfurt-am-Main: Peter Lang, 1997), pp. 90–91. On the level and structure of the bank’s debts and its cash balances, deposits and advances to the state between 1740 and 1756, see Dickson, Finance and Government, vol. 2, table 1.3, p. 32.

Set up in 1714 by the Treasury as a rival to the Vienna City Bank, the Universal-Bancalität failed because it could not attract enough deposits: Dickson, Finance and Government, vol. 1, p. 220; see also ibid., vol. 2, pp. 80–1.

Ibid., vol. 2, pp. 54, 137–38, table 4.7, p. 140. On Banco Zettel, see also Fuchs, Die Wiener Stadtbank, pp. 129–31.

Ibid., p. 30.

Bidermann, ‘Die Wiener Stadt-Bank’, pp. 444–45, note 102.

For example, see Letters of Anton von Zöhrern, an Austrian diplomat at the embassy in London, to Ludwig Zinzendorf: 20 January 1753, 30 August 1754, 23 November 1754, 2 December 1754, 20 January 1755, Karton 38, NÖLA.

Zinzendorf, ‘Allergnädigst, abgeforderter Vorschlag, die Einrichtung einer Börse zur Verhandlung der öffentlichen Papiere und eines Banco di Credito betreffend, Februar 1767’, fol. 174v, Nachlaß Zinzendorf, HHStA. For Zinzendorf’s working relationship with Caratto, see Chap. 6, particularly the section on ‘Projectors’.

The order of the chapters is as follows: Amsterdam, Hamburg, Genoa, Mantua, Venice, Rome, Naples, Scotland, Sweden, Copenhagen, England, France: Zinzendorf, ‘Beschreibung’, fol. 3r.

Ibid., fol. 4r.

Ibid., fols 22v–23r.

For concise summaries of Zinzendorf’s bank groups, see Schasching, Staatsbildung, pp. 63–65; and Christine Lebeau, Aristocrates et grands commis à la Cour de Vienne, 1748–1791. Le modèle français (Paris, 1996), pp. 170–73.

Zinzendorf, ‘Beschreibung’, fols 4r–6r.

Ibid., fols 6v–8r.

Ibid., fols 54v–55r.

Zinzendorf listed the banks: Monte e Banco dei Poveri (est. 1660); Monte e Banco della Pieta (est. 1539); Banco di Santa Maria del Popolo (est. 1623); Banco del Santissimo Salvado (est. 1640); Banco del Spirito Santo (est. 1591); Banco di San Giacomo (est. 1593); and Banco di San Eligio (est. 1592): ibid., fol. 55r.

Ibid., fols 58r–59v.

Ibid., fos 59v. Instructions of the owner to the bank on various payments were noted on a separate piece of paper, the Zahlungs Polize, and then transferred by the bank to its books. The billet was kept by the owner. The Zahlungs Polize was given to the recipient who, before receiving the money, had to prove to an official notary that all conditions for payment had been met: ibid., fols 59v–60r.

Ibid., fols 61r–62r.

Ibid.

Ibid., fol. 63v.

The current difference between the two values, Zinzendorf added, was 5 per cent: ibid., fol. 24r.

Ibid., fols 23r–25v. In a footnote, Zinzendorf provided an example of the text of a receipt. The receipt was dated 20 May 1759 and recorded a deposit of French louis d’or: ibid., fol. 25r. For a discussion of the Bank of Amsterdam and its role in the economy, see Lucien Gillard, La Banque d’Amsterdam et le Florins Européen au temps de la République néerlandaise (1610–1820) (Paris, 2004).

Zinzendorf, ‘Beschreibung’, fols 25v–26v.

A careful reader of Zinzendorf’s manuscript, who had underlined the passage of the use of the bank’s Folios, had added in the margin of the text a sentence of Cornelius Oudermeulen’s book: Recherches sur le Commerce ou Idées relatives aux intérets des différents peoples de l’Europe (2 vols, Amsterdam, 1778), vol. 2, part i, Chap. 3, p. 52. There, Oudermeulen indicated that letters of exchange above a value of 600 fl. had to be settled through the bank’s books, and that this practice had been changed on 16 Dec. 1643. The reader had added the exact reference from Oudermeulen’s book to his remark: Zinzendorf, ‘Beschreibung’, fol. 28r.

Ibid., fols 28r–29r.

Ibid., fols 29r–29v.

Ibid., fols 29v–31v.

Ibid., fols 31v–32r.

Jean-François Melon, Essai politique sur le commerce (2nd edn, 1736), ed. Eugène Daire, Économistes-Financiers du XVIIIe siècle (Paris, 1843), Chap. 23: ‘Du Crédit public’, p. 805.

Zinzendorf, ‘Beschreibung’, fols 8r–9v.

Ibid., fols 10r–12r.

Ibid., fols 12v–13r.

Ibid., fols 13r–14r.

Ibid., fols 14r–16r.

Ibid., fols 15v–18v.

Ibid., two footnotes: fols 17v–20v.

Ibid., fols 19r–20v.

Ibid., fols 118r–118v.

Ibid., fols 118v–119r. Law’s original Mémoire sur la Banque générale is included in John Law: Oeuvres complètes, ed. Paul Harsin (3 vols, Paris, 1934), vol. 3, pp. 11–20. Harsin states that the authorship might seem unclear. He nevertheless attributes the memoir unequivocally to Law due to its content and to Law’s habit to refer to himself in the third person. Harsin suggested a publication date of mid to end 1717 because the most recent text reference was 10 April 1717 and the transformation to Banque Royale was not mentioned. See ibid., vol. 1, pp. liii–liv.

Ibid., vol. 3, p. 11. In the French original these banking services are referred to as ‘banques particulières’. Zinzendorf’s translation was ‘Privat Wechsler’: Zinzendorf, ‘Beschreibung’, fol. 119v.

Ibid., fols 119r–119v.

Credit à terme is limited to one year and inferior to credit à vue, John Law, ed. Paul Harsin. vol. 3, p. 14. According to Harsin, this passage was probably later added by Law and is missing from one edition of the Mémoire: ibid., footnote 1, p. 14.

Zinzendorf, ‘Beschreibung’, fols 120r–120v.

Zinzendorf, ‘Beschreibung’, fols 122r–128v.

Ibid., fols 128v–136v.

In the text, Zinzendorf emphasised ‘sustained’ and ‘short-term’: ibid., fol. 21r.

Ibid., fols 20v–21r.

Ibid., fols 21v–22v.

Zinzendorf, ‘Beschreibung’, fols 90r–91r. On the establishment of the Bank of England and its immediate important cash contributions to the state, see P.G.M. Dickson, The Financial Revolution in England. A Study in the Development of Public Credit, 1688–1756 (London: Macmillan, 1967), pp. 48–9, 54–7.

Zinzendorf, ‘Beschreibung’, fols 91r–91v.

Ibid., fols 92r–93r.

Ibid., fols 93r–95v. Unlike foreign coins, the export of English specie was not permitted. Thus, the bank bought bullion cheaply when it was imported and sold it at a profit when it was required for payments to foreign trading nations and domestic demand was high: ibid., fols 95r–95v.

On volumes of less than £1m., the rate of interest was reduced to 1 per cent. The denominations of the bills had been steadily increased, and by 1750, the only denomination was for £1000: see Dickson, Financial Revolution, pp. 383, 384. For the system of short-term borrowing by Exchequer Bills, see ibid., pp. 365–92.

In contrast, Zinzendorf added, the Estates Credit Deputation of 1761, which he devised, operated with a simpler payment mechanism and ensured a good circulation of the paper money: Zinzendorf, ‘Beschreibung’, fol. 97r.

Ibid., fols 97r–99v.

For the plan of Henry Pelham, First Lord of the Treasury, to reduce rate of interest in two stages, see ibid., p. 233.

Zinzendorf, ‘Beschreibung’, fols 101r–105r.

Ibid., fols 105r–105v.

Zinzendorf, ‘Beschreibung’, fols 105v–109r.

Ibid., fols 108v–110r.

See footnote 132 above.

Véron de Forbonnais, Le Négociant Anglois, ou Traduction libre du livre intitulé: The British Merchant, Contenant divers Mémoires sur le Commerce de l’Angleterre avec la France, le Portugal et l’Espagne. Publié pour la premiere fois en 1713 (2 vols, Paris and Dresden, 1753), vol. 1, discours préliminaire du traducteur, p. clxix. The revenues for 1752 included: £4.5m. from income taxes, from papier timbre and other taxes from before the war, £0.9m. from new taxes, £1.5m. from land taxes and £0.75m. from taxes on corn threshing. Then, after setting out of the expenses of the state (pp. cl–cliii), he concluded (p. cliii) that in 1752 there was a small surplus for the government. For a discussion of Forbonnais translation, see Antonella Alimento, ‘Beyond the Treaty of Utrecht: Véron de Forbonnais’s French Translation of the British Merchant (1753)’, History of European Ideas, 40:8 (2014), pp. 1044–66. Forbonnais, Alimento argued, refused to tie the French economy to England. Instead, he wanted France to emulate the economic success of England and use statistics to establish a national trade balance. He also examined the role of the Bank of England and its paper money operations.

The basis for Zinzendorf’s actual calculation was the year 1752 when the dividend had fallen to 4.5 per cent.

Zinzendorf, ‘Beschreibung’, fols 111v–113v.

Ibid., fols 113v–115v. Zinzendorf’s statement on the role of Parliament contradicted his previous observation on the influence of the king upon Parliament.

Zinzendorf, ‘Allergnädigst, abgeforderter Vorschlag’, fol. 176r.

Ibid., fols 6r–7r.

Ibid., fols 7v–9r.

Ibid., fols 8r–8v.

Ibid., fols 9v–10r.

Ibid., fol. 10r.

Ibid., fol. 10v.

Ibid., fol. 11v. As evidence, Zinzendorf included a memoria by Brabbé, a trader at the stock exchange, who had described the arbitrary buying and selling methods of middle men who were transacting for their own financial gain, ‘Pro Memoria des Sensalen Brabbé’, in ibid., fols 364r–370v. On the unsuccessful bourse which was created in August 1761, see Dickson, Finance and Government, vol. 2, p. 136.

‘Extrait de l’arrêt du Conseil du Roy du 24 Septembre 1724 qui ordonne l’établissement d’une Bourse dans la ville de Paris’ in Zinzendorf, ‘Allergnädigst, abgeforderter Vorschlag’, fols 180r–187v. The first 16 articles of the appendix were listed in the Dictionnaire under the entry ‘Bourse’ and described the operations of the bourse. The subsequent 25 articles appeared under the entry ‘Agens de Change’ and described the work of the stockbrokers, fol. 180r, ibid. See Jacques Savary des Brûlons’, Dictionnaire Universel de Commerce (3 vols, Geneva, 1742), vol. 1, lettres A–C, Agens de Change, pp. 49–51; Bourse, pp. 520–22.

I follow largely the interpretation of Schasching, Staatsbildung, pp. 68–76. For a summary of Zinzendorf’s bank project of Feb. 1767, see also Dickson, Finance and Government, vol. 2, pp. 66–7 and Pettenegg (ed.), Selbstbiographien, pp. 113–18.

Foreign coins should be deposited for six months for a fee of a one-quarter per cent of the value deposited: Zinzendorf, ‘Finanzvorschläge’, 1 June 1763, vol. 19, fol. 198r.

Ibid., fols 198r–198v.

Ludwig Zinzendorf, ‘Vorschlag um die Unzulänglichkeit der bisherigen Finanzmittel auf einen künftigen Krieg zu ersetzen’, 18 January 1769, fols 341v–342r, vol. 21, Nachlaß Zinzendorf, HHStA.

‘Sicherheiten der Bank’, fols 80v–83r in Zinzendorf, ‘Allergnädigst, abgeforderter Vorschlag’.

Zinzendorf assumed that, during peacetime, out of the 10m. fl. worth of billets, 6m. fl. were in regular circulation. Therefore, the bank had to keep a reserve of 4m. fl. to cover potential redemptions. With additional 3m.–6m. fl. already in circulation, the state would have a total money reserve of 9m. fl. Given that the loan periods were limited to a maximum of six months, the total fund circulated twice a year. Hence, the amount available for war finance was equivalent to a value of 18m. fl., circulating once a year. See Schasching, Staatsbildung, p. 73.

For a list of war taxes used in the monarchy in the late 1750s and early 1760s, see Dickson, Finance and Government, vol. 2, pp. 128–30. The taxes, Dickson argued, were ‘partly interchangeable with forced loans’, ibid., p. 128.

‘Sicherheiten der Bank’, fol. 81r in Zinzendorf, ‘Allergnädigst, abgeforderter Vorschlag’.

Ibid., fols 83r–83v.

Ibid., fol. 85v. During wartime, Zinzendorf acknowledged, when the bank would be heavily involved in trading paper, it was potentially dangerous to give business people full information on the institution’s cash reserves. A compromise, Zinzendorf thought, would be for the bank itself to be involved in selecting the two representatives. The trading company and the wholesalers would nominate three candidates each and the bank would choose one from each group. The representatives would be elected for a period of five years and, like the deputies of the Estates, would take the oath on the bank. See ibid., fols 85v–86r.

Ibid., fols 86v.

Ibid., fols 79r–79v.

‘Schluss’, fols 173r–177v in Zinzendorf, ‘Allergnädigst, abgeforderter Vorschlag’.

Ibid., fols 173r–173v.

Ibid., fols 175r–175v.

Zinzendorf, ‘Allergnädigst, abgeforderter Vorschlag’, fol. 176v.

Zinzendorf, ‘Allergnädigst, abgeforderter Vorschlag’, fols 116v–140v. On Hatzfeld’s counter-proposals of 1768, all based on Zinzendorf’s work, and the ensuing discussions in government, see Dickson, Finance and Government, vol. 2, pp. 68–72; Schasching, Staatsbildung, pp. 80–3.

Zinzendorf, ‘Allergnädigst, abgeforderter Vorschlag’, fols 119r–127v. Zinzendorf encouraged ministers to get familiar with the operations of the stock exchange during peacetime when the political situation was not so challenging. Delaying the creation of the stock exchange to more turbulent times to help with war finance, he cautioned, would fail: ibid., fols 126v–127r.

Ibid., fols 128r–129v.

Ibid., fols 131r–136v. Only with great effort did the government succeed in reducing the rate of interest on its bonds to 4 per cent. Zinzendorf feared that after a large paper issue, investor would again demand 5 per cent interest payments to compensate for financial risk: see ibid., fols 136r–136v.

Ibid., fols 141r–142v.

Ibid., fols 144r.

Letter of Ludwig Zinzendorf to Karl Zinzendorf, Vienna, 28 February 1767, vol. 64, DOZA.

Ludwig Zinzendorf, undated, ‘Maximes sur L’État des Finances’, Karton 39, NÖLA.

Dickson, Finance and Government, vol. 2, p. 58; see also Schasching, Staatsbildung, pp. 42–51.

‘Le dirai-je enfin c’est moi qui le premier ai fait sentir la nécessité d’un plan général de crédit, préparant des resources pour la guerre. Les projets qui ont été présentés depuis ne sont que des combinaisons différentes des parties qui composaient mon sistème.’ Ludwig Zinzendorf, ‘Sur l’utilité de la Chambre des Comptes et la nécessité de la conserver’, October 1771, fol. 615r, vol. 4, Nachlaß Zinzendorf, HHStA.