ABSTRACT
The political and economic situation after the war was full of contrasts. Most striking was the huge chasm between a state and its institutions that teetered on the brink of bankruptcy and the opulence of the new elite traders and bankers that had arisen during the conflict. Some had come from the old traders in exile but most were a small group of opportunists who had seen a quick way of getting rich through contracts to supply the army and loans to the government, and for whom the only market and argument had been ready capital and proximity to power.
