Background
The conferences were a manifestation of a decided tendency towards securing reforms by concerted international action. The disorganized state of the European currencies, which became more serious in consequence of the great expansion in trade and industry, came into notice through the great gold discoveries and their effect on the relative price of the two precious metals gold and silver. Both by its situation and its currency system, France was the country that was first led to aim at the establishment of a currency union, in which French ideas and influences would be predominant. A preliminary step was the formation of the Latin Monetary Union, whereby the currencies of France, Italy, Belgium and Switzerland were — in respect to their gold and silver coins — unified.
Read more about this topic: International Monetary Conferences
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