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In 1911, a cartel of Western banks lent the dying Qing dynasty £6 million to nationalise China's railways and hand the proceeds to foreign creditors. The protests that followed toppled the empire. The bonds were still worthless in 1983.
On 20 March 1602, the Dutch Republic chartered a trading company with the power to wage war, mint coins, and execute criminals. It became the wealthiest corporation in history, and spent the next two centuries proving what happens when you give private actors sovereign force.