This is a question about war and finance.

Lately I learned that the national banks were found in the 17th and 18th centuries. They were used to fund wars in a time when armies became larger and more expansive. I think the Dutch and the English were the first to use national banks to get the money for their wars.

Now, what I do not understand is the way they paid the money back.

If memory serves, Wellington's armyat Waterloo (or Belle Alliance) was paid that way. He won the battle and the war. Then how could the English government pay the bills? Did the French pay?