Frontline and Factory: Comparative Perspectives on the Chemical Industry at War, 1914-1924 (Archimedes (16))

The First World War is often called the ‘chemists’ war’. But few realise precisely how, or the extent to which modern chemistry became a significant factor in the struggle, and would be in turn deeply shaped by it. Gathering momentum at first, by 1916, success in applying scientific knowledge to ‘frontline and factory’ became a measure of a nation’s capacity to win an industrial war. In the end, the titanic contest was won in large part through the command of raw materials and industrial output. This book represents a first considered attempt to study the factors that conditioned industrial chemistry for war in1914-18. Taking a comparative perspective, it reflects on the experience of France, Germany, Austria, Russia, Britain, Italy and Russia, and points to significant similarities and differences. It looks at changing patterns in the organisation of industry, and at the emerging symbiosis between science, industry and the military, which contributed to the first ‘academic-military-industrial’ complex of the 20^th^ century. At the same time, it reflects on the world’s first, and ultimately unsuccessful attempt to monitor ‘dual-use’ chemical technologies, and so restrict the proliferation of an important category of weapons of mass destruction. Frontline and Factory (2006) ......Page 1 Archimedes - Volume 16......Page 3 ISBN-13: 9781402054891......Page 6 --> Contents ......Page 8 Preface ......Page 10 Illustrations ......Page 12 Introduction......Page 14 Notes ......Page 19 INTRODUCTION......Page 21 GERMANY AND AUSTRIA ON THE EVE OF WAR......Page 22 THE PRE-WAR GERMAN DYE INDUSTRY AND EXPLOSIVES PRODUCTION......Page 23 THE MUNITIONS CRISIS AND ‘MAKESHIFT MOBILIZATION’, 1914 – 1915......Page 25 DUAL-USE TECHNOLOGIES AND MOBILIZATION......Page 26 THE AUSTRIAN CASE: COMPARATIVE ASPECTS......Page 28 EXPANDING EXPLOSIVES PRODUCTION, 1914 – 15: PLANTS AND MATERIALS......Page 30 COMPLETING THE FIRST MOBILIZATION, 1916......Page 32 THE HINDENBURG PROGRAMME AS A ‘SECOND MOBILIZATION’......Page 34 CONCLUSION......Page 35 NOTES......Page 36 CHEMISTRY IN WARTIME......Page 41 THE CHEMICALS AND PHARMACEUTICALS OFFICE......Page 43 CHEMICAL FIRMS DURING THE WAR......Page 45 NOTES......Page 49 PROPELLANTS......Page 51 HIGH EXPLOSIVES......Page 54 THE FILLING FACTORIES......Page 56 CONTINENTAL AND EMPIRE CONNECTIONS......Page 57 ALTERNATIVE PERSPECTIVES......Page 59 LEGACY......Page 64 NOTES......Page 65 GERMANY’S MUNITIONS INDUSTRY ON THE EVE OF THE FIRST WORLD WAR......Page 67 THE NEED FOR NEW POWDER PLANTS......Page 68 FINDING A SUITABLE LOCATION......Page 70 PLANNING AND BUILDING OF THE KIRCHMÖSER POWDER PLANT......Page 72 THE POSTWAR STORY: KIRCHMÖSER AS A CENTRE OF GERMAN RAIL WORKS......Page 76 CONCLUSION......Page 77 NOTES......Page 78 INTRODUCTION......Page 81 MUNITIONS AND THE MOBILIZATION OF ITALIAN INDUSTRY, 1915 – 1918......Page 82 HOW WERE THESE RESULTS OBTAINED?......Page 83 WARTIME CHEMISTS......Page 85 WARTIME ACADEMIA......Page 87 CONCLUSION......Page 90 NOTES......Page 91 INTRODUCTION......Page 95 PRE-WAR PLANNING FOR MUNITIONS AND MILITARY SUPPLIES......Page 96 MUNITIONS AND CHEMICALS DURING THE EARLY MONTHS OF THE WAR......Page 98 POISON GASES AND GAS MASKS......Page 105 THE CHEMICAL COMMITTEE......Page 110 PLANNING FOR THE FUTURE......Page 114 CONCLUSION......Page 115 NOTES......Page 116 INTRODUCTION......Page 123 THE EXPLOSIVES INDUSTRY MOBILIZES......Page 124 THE STATE MOBILIZES EXPLOSIVES......Page 126 EXPLOSIVES, TECHNICAL EXPERTISE, AND THE ORDNANCE DEPARTMENT......Page 128 MOBILIZING FOR WAR GAS PRODUCTION: AN ALTERNATIVE MODEL......Page 131 CONCLUSION......Page 137 NOTES......Page 138 INTRODUCTION......Page 143 DIVERSIFICATION INTO PETROCHEMICALS......Page 145 THE PROBLEM OF BORNEO OIL......Page 146 THE REISHOLZ NITRATION PLANT......Page 148 ROYAL DUTCH/SHELL IN FRANCE AND BRITAIN......Page 151 ROYAL DUTCH/SHELL AND EXPLOSIVES IN THE NETHERLANDS......Page 152 ANGLO-DUTCH DYESTUFFS......Page 154 CONCLUSION......Page 158 ACKNOWLEDGMENT......Page 159 NOTES......Page 160 INTRODUCTION......Page 165 FRÉDERIC KUHLMANN’S INHERITANCE......Page 166 WARTIME PRODUCTION OF ACID AND CHLORINE......Page 168 OLEUM......Page 169 KUHLMANN AND THE MANUFACTURE OF POISON GASES......Page 170 ÉTABLISSEMENTS KUHLMANN AND THE COMPAGNIE NATIONALE DES MATIÈRES COLORANTES......Page 171 THE SYNDICAT NATIONAL DES MATIÈRES COLORANTES (SNMC)......Page 173 CONCLUSION......Page 179 NOTES......Page 182 INTRODUCTION......Page 187 THE AMERICAN MUNITIONS MACHINE......Page 188 CONCLUSION......Page 196 NOTES......Page 197 INTRODUCTION......Page 199 ORIGIN OF THE KAISER WILHELM STIFTUNG FÜR KRIEGSTECHNISCHE WISSENSCHAFT (KAISER WILHELM FOUNDATION FOR MILITARY-TECHNICAL SCIENCE)......Page 201 THE WAR WORK OF THE KWKW......Page 209 POSTWAR DEVELOPMENTS AND THE DISSOLUTION OF THE KWKW......Page 210 NOTES......Page 213 FRENCH MILITARY LABORATORIES BEFORE THE WAR......Page 223 FROM RIVALRY TO COOPERATION: THE ‘POUDRE B ’ DISPUTE......Page 225 POWDER AND EXPLOSIVES RESEARCH: COOPERATION BETWEEN THE SERVICES......Page 226 MOBILIZATION AND MANPOWER SHORTAGES......Page 228 CHEMICAL WARFARE: THE USE OF ACADEMIC EXPERTISE......Page 229 DIVISION OF LABOUR: STUDIES OF GERMAN ARTILLERY MATERIALS......Page 230 THE LABORATOIRE DE LA SECTION TECHNIQUE DE L’ARTILLERIE......Page 232 NOTES......Page 236 INTRODUCTION......Page 241 THE GERMAN CHEMICAL INDUSTRY IN 1918......Page 242 THE ARMISTICE AND ALLIED OCCUPATION......Page 243 THE TREATY OF VERSAILLES AND THE DISARMAMENT DILEMMA......Page 247 THE MILITARY INTER-ALLIED CONTROL COMMISSION AND THE GERMAN RESPONSE......Page 249 CONCLUSION......Page 258 NOTES......Page 260 MUNITIONS SUPPLY IN THE SEVEN YEARS’ WAR, 1 7 5 6 – 1 7 6 3......Page 267 THE PROBLEMATIC ROLE OF CHEMISTRY IN 19TH-CENTURY MUNITIONS......Page 269 TRANSITION: NOBEL AND THE NOBEL CARTEL......Page 270 THE FIRST WORLD WAR: PLUS ÇA CHANGE.........Page 271 NOTES......Page 274 BIBLIOGRAPHY......Page 277 NOTES ON CONTRIBUTORS......Page 289 INDEX......Page 291 This Book Represents A First Considered Attempt To Study The Factors That Conditioned Industrial Chemistry For War In 1914-18. Taking A Comparative Perspective, It Reflects On The Experience Of France, Germany, Austria, Britain, Italy, And Russia, And Points To Significant Similarities And Differences. It Looks At Changing Patterns In The Organisation Of Industry, And At The Emerging Symbiosis Between Science, Industry And The Military, Which Contributed To The First 'academic-military-industrial' Complex Of The 20th Century. At The Same Time, It Reflects On The World's First, And Ultimately Unsuccessful Attempt To Monitor 'dual-use' Chemical Technologies, And So Restrict The Proliferation Of An Important Category Of Weapons Of Mass Destruction.--book Jacket. Technological Mobilization And Munitions Production : Comparative Perspectives On Germany And Austria / Jeffrey Allan Johnson -- Mobilization And Industrial Policy : Chemicals And Pharmaceuticals In The French War Effort / Sophie Chauveau -- First World War Explosives Manufacture : The British Experience / Wayne D. Cocroft -- Transforming A Village Into An Industrial Town : The Royal Prussian Powder Plant In Kirchmöser (brandenburg) / Sebastian Kinder -- Wartime Chemistry In Italy : Industry, The Military, And The Professors / Giuliano Pancaldi -- Munitions, The Military, And Chemistry In Russia / Nathan M. Brooks -- Technical Expertise And U.s. Mobilization, 1917-18 : High Explosives And War Gases / Kathryn Steen -- Operating On Several Fronts : The Trans-national Activities Of Royal Dutch/shell, 1914-1918 / Ernst Homburg -- Kuhlmann At War, 1914-1924 / Erik Langlinay -- Organizing For Total War : Dupont And Smokeless Powder In World War I / John Kenly Smith, Jr. -- Science And The Military : The Kaiser Wilhelm Foundation For Military-technical Science / Manfred Rasch -- Managing Chemical Expertise : The Laboratories Of The French Artillery And The Service Des Poudres / Patrice Bret -- The War The Victors Lost : The Dilemmas Of Chemical Disarmament, 1919-1926 / Jeffrey Allan Johnson And Roy Macleod. Edited By Roy Macleod And Jeffrey Allan Johnson. Papers Presented At A Workshop At The Institute Of Advanced Studies Of The University Of Bologna In June 2002. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. It has been said that history is a debate between the present and the past about the future. Nowhere are these lines drawn more significantly than in the study of science and war. And nowhere is the discourse more relevant, than in the study of science and technology as foundations and multipliers of military power. This book is concerned with one particularly seminal aspect of this development — the history of chemical munitions during and immediately after the First World War. The Great War, as it came to be known, was not the first industrial war, but it was the first to involve all the major industrial nations of the world. Within four years, the world witnessed unprecedented feats of industrial development, many of which drew upon and extended pre-war reservoirs of scientific and technological knowledge. The experience comes down to us as a conjuncture of scientific, economic, political and, ultimately, military departures, which by their nature involved new ways of meeting crises, and eventually new forms of critical thinking. That these new forms emerged only gradually and unexpectedly is not to underestimate their capacity to endure, or to minimize their relevance. From the Great War came patterns, assumptions, and practices which were to make an indelible mark on science and technology for the rest of the twentieth century and beyond. This book represents a first considered attempt to study the factors that conditioned industrial chemistry for war in 1914-18. Taking a comparative perspective, it reflects on the experience of France, Germany, Austria, Russia, Britain, Italy and Russia, and points to significant similarities and differences. It looks at changing patterns in the organisation of industry, and at the emerging symbiosis between science, industry and the military.