France experienced the Mississippi Company crash in 1720, one of the earliest major modern stock-market collapses.
The scheme was organized by Scottish financier John Law, whose Mississippi Company held a monopoly over French trade claims in the Mississippi region. Law also helped control France's banking and currency arrangements. Investors bought shares in Paris as expectations of American wealth pushed prices dramatically higher.
The company's supposed riches did not match its actual trading results. When confidence weakened, shareholders rushed to sell, and the share price collapsed in 1720. The episode damaged public trust in paper money and speculative finance in France.
The Mississippi crash occurred in the same year as Britain's South Sea Bubble, but the schemes were separate. John Law is the defining figure in the French episode; he later fled France, while the French financial system suffered a long-lasting reputational setback.