Financiers took a very grave view of the European situation in July 1914, and the dislocation of normal conditions was felt at once in the banking and stockbroking quarters of the City.The European crisis plunged the stock and share market into the deepest gloom, and forced liquidation was everywhere apparent. Many stockbroking firms failed on 29th and 30th July 1914, and business was practically suspended, not only in London, but almost every financial centre throughout the world.