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Reichswerke Hermann Göring was an industrial conglomerate of Nazi Germany. It was established in July 1937 to extract and process domestic iron ores from Salzgitter that were deemed uneconomical by the privately held steel mills. The state-owned Reichswerke was seen as a vehicle of hastening growth in ore mining and steel output regardless of private capitalists' plans and opinions, which ran contrary to Adolf Hitler's strategic vision. In November 1937 Hermann Göring obtained unchecked access to state financing and launched a chain of mergers, diversifying into military industries with the absorption of Rheinmetall. Göring himself supervised the Reichswerke but did not own it in any sense and did not make personal profit from it directly, although at times he withdrew cash for personal expenses.〔Overy, p. 145.〕 After the Anschluss the Reichswerke absorbed Austrian heavy industries, including those owned by private German investors. The cluster of steel mills and supporting companies in Linz became its most important asset. Nazi leadership regarded captured assets as the property of the state and were not willing to share the spoils with German businesses.〔Overy, p. 108.〕 After the German occupation of Czechoslovakia the Reichswerke absorbed between 50 and 60 per cent of Czech heavy industries.〔Overy, p. 155.〕 The pattern was repeated in occupied Poland, France and the Soviet Union. The Reichswerke operated captured assets as far from its base as Liepāja in Latvia and Donetsk in Eastern Ukraine.〔 It provided one-eighth of German steel output during World War II〔Overy, p. 113.〕 and created a Nazi-controlled military complex that was independent of private interests.〔Overy, p. 151.〕 By the end of 1941 the Reichswerke became the largest company in Europe〔 and probably in the whole world, with a capital of 2.4 billion reichsmarks and about half a million workers.〔Neumann, pp. 20-21.〕 In 1942 the inefficient structure was reduced in size. Its weapons and munitions assets were integrated into the Ministry of Armaments; the mining and steel core of the Reichswerke continued operation under Göring's supervision until the end of the war, albeit at a loss. The conglomerate was dismembered by the Allies in 1944–1945, but the Salzgitter plant continued operations as ''Reichswerke'' until 1953.〔Neumann, p. 30.〕 The Reichswerke logo, which resembled Göring's coat of arms, remained in use by Peine+Salzgitter until the middle of the 1980s.〔 ==Salzgitter== In 1935–1936 German steel industry, concentrated in the Ruhr area, recovered from the Great Depression and reached nearly full utilization of its mills.〔 It was dominated by privately held VS, Krupp, Gutehoffnungshütte and Mannesmann. Three quarters of iron ore processed in Germany was imported; domestic ore reserves in the Salzgitter area were deemed to be of too poor quality to be economical.〔Overy, p. 97.〕〔Salzgitter ores contained high levels of silicic acid and could not be smelted in conventional furnaces - Neumann, p. 19.〕 Demand for iron and steel rose in line with the rise in military spending, further increasing dependence on imports.〔 Influential people inside the Nazi Party, including Hitler's economic advisor Willhelm Keppler, rallied to increase domestic iron ore mining.〔 Iron ore became the principal problem of the Four Year Plan (1936–1940).〔 In October 1936 Göring learned that Stewarts & Lloyds foundry in Corby had successfully smelted low-grade ores; the new technology removed the barriers for Göring's plans.〔 In December 1936 Göring announced that domestic ore, iron and steel program had become a national priority and that he would not tolerate hesitation or obstruction by private owners of the resources.〔 Private capital raised their objections against rapid growth, and Göring settled to take ore mining under state control.〔Overy, p. 98.〕 Throughout the first half of 1937 Göring rallied for self-sufficient steel industry, and against the steel barons.〔 His radical calls improved his own political weight and silenced the opposition. Göring's aim of bringing the economy in line with Hitler's strategic plans was fully supported by the Nazi press.〔Overy, p. 99.〕 The danger of relying on ore imports was proven by the strikes and anti-Nazi mood in Sweden and by the success of the Popular Front in France.〔 In July 1937 the steel barons were stunned by a decree which instituted the ''Reichswerke'', an integrated state company tasked with surpassing the Ruhr in finished steel output.〔Overy, p. 100.〕 Fearing creation of excessive industrial capacity and cutthroat competition with the state, they cautiously discussed the ways of curbing Göring's ambitions.〔 They joined arms with Göring's adversary Hjalmar Schacht, who denied state financing to Göring's project.〔Overy, p. 104.〕 July 23, 1937 Göring announced that the Reichswerke would begin mining and processing Salzgitter ores and that the government would take over privately held ore deposits in exchange for minority shares in the new enterprises.〔 Paul Pleiger became the managing director. Critics argued that the Salzgitter project would consume more steel than it could produce in three years.〔Overy, p. 114.〕 The Ruhr attempted a coordinated response, but wire-tapping and surveillance gave Göring advance knowledge of the steel barons' moves, and he preempted their organized action through personal threats and promises.〔Overy, p. 105.〕 The steel barons escaped an open confrontation with the regime〔 but the trust between Nazi leadership and the big business was lost forever.〔 Schacht was compelled to resign in November 1937, his function passed to Göring.〔Overy, p. 106.〕 The Salzgitter project recruited workforce from all over Germany,〔Neumann, p. 19.〕 Austria, Italy, the Netherlands and other countries.〔 It produced its first pig iron in October 1939 and its first steel in August 1940.〔 A large metalworking plant, Stahlwerke Braunschweig, was built nearby, starting in March 1940; eventually it became one of the largest plants in the country, employing ten thousand workers.〔Neumann, p. 20.〕 The majority of Salzgitter area staff, 47,000 workers, were non-Germans.〔 In five years, 1937 to 1942, population increased fivefold.〔 Housing was not sufficient even for native Germans; foreign workers had to live in seventy makeshift camps.〔Neumann, p. 21.〕 The Gestapo ran an on-site correctional camp for the delinquent workers.〔 Forced labor of concentration camp prisoners was not employed until May 1944; the three camps that supplied slaves to Salzgitter contained up to 6,500 prisoners.〔 Another local camp, Drutte, supplied slave workers for the Reichswerke's ammunition plants since 1942 (see List of subcamps of Neuengamme, Celler Hasenjagd).〔 Salzgitter was the target of Allied bombings several times but damage to the plant was insignificant. Its blast furnaces operated until captured by the Americans in April 1945.〔Neumann, p. 2.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Reichswerke Hermann Göring」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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