Continental Europe

By the beginning of 1918 the British Trade CorporationBritish Trade Corporation had established banking branches in DanzigDanzigBatoum, and BelgradeBelgrade. It had also formed the Portuguese Trade CorporationPortuguese Trade Corporation, and had acquired a small shareholding in the InteralliedInterallied Trade and Banking CorporationInterallied Trade and Banking Corporation, which sought to promote trade between Britain and Belgium, Northern France and elsewhere. While these were its main interests in Continental Europe, it had also been involved in other proposals, such as the River SyndicateRiver Syndicate and the Anglo-DanubianAnglo-Danubian Association. In contrast, the Levant CompanyLevant Company gradually shifted its activities from the Near East to Europe in the early 1920s. Britain’s failure to re-establish its pre-war role as financial hegemon was reflected in the demise of the British Trade Corporation BTC \band the Levant CompanyLevant Company in the harsh post-war economic environment in Europe.