Figure 1.--This is aphotograp by fame Soviet photographer .Boris Ignatovich. It shows the first tractor coming out of the American Fird (Fordson) tractor plant (1926). Stalin was sure that mechanization and cp\ollectivization would boost agricultural productionm as oart of the Girst bFive Year Plan would boost bagricultural production. Instead production plimmeted.

Quite a number of important American corporations made investments in Europe after World War I. This included the the countries that would be major World War II beligerants, especially Britain, Germany, the Soviet Union, and other nations. These companies thus at the time of World War II had investments and subsidiasries in Axis countries (Fascist Italy and NAZI Germany) and the Soviet Union. The invests were not made during the NAZI era. Rather American companies had investments in Germany at the time that Hitler and the NAZIs seized power and thus gaianed control over them. The companies had no choice, but to follow the national legal system. Of course we now know how evil the NAZIs were. Company officials did not have our benefit of hindsight. Of course after Ktistallnavhr (Nobember 1938), the nature of the NAZI regime was increasingly clear and the comapnies involved can be ctiticized for continuing to conduct business in what was an inceasinglu lawless regime. The major compaies included Ford, General Electric, General Motors, International Business Machine, and others. The investments of Ford and General Motors were especially important because they significantly expanded Germany's capacity to build motor vehicles.

Germany

Ford

Ford was involved in both Germany and the Soviet Union. Ford's German subsiduary Ford-Werke had truck manufactiring plants in Germany. The principal reason for American overseas investments was business and profit. With Henry Ford there seems to have been other motives. Ford while a key figure in the American automobile business, was also a notorious anti-Semite and an ardent isolsationist. He developed at a very early stage, an admiration for Adolf Hitler, even before the NAZI dictator sized power. He was an early financial backer of the NAZIs. [New York Times, December 20, 1922.] Testimony at Hitler's 1924 trial after the Beer Hall Putch revealed, "Herr Hitler openly boasts of Mr. Ford's support and praises Mr. Ford as a great individualist and a great anti-Semite. A photograph of Mr. Ford hangs in Herr Hitler's quarters, which is the center of monarchist movement." [U.S. State Department] Hitler for his part was impressed with the American mass-production techniques pioneered by Ford. He was reprted as saying, "I regard Henry Ford as my inspiration." The NAZIs awarded Ford the Grand Cross of the German Eagle--a NAZI medal given to distinguished foreigners (August 1938). [New York Times, August l, 1938.] He was the first American to receive the honor. The occassion was Ford's 75th birthday. Ford was shaken by the storm of criticism and met with a Detroit Rabbi to say he was sympathetic toward the suffering of German Jew and to deny he suppors the NAZIs. [New York Times, December 1, 1938.] Secretary of Interior Harold Ickes. Ickes criticized both Ford and fellow isolatinist Charles A. Lindbergh for accepting NAZI awards. [New York Times , December 19, 1938.] Congress after World War II investigating charges of American support for the NAZI war effort. They found that the NAZIs obtained coinsiderable U.S. technical and financial assistance. One of the areas of support were provided by Ford-Werke A.G. The company assisted the NAZIs obtain rubber and other critical war materials during 1938 and 1939. [Congressional subcommittee.] Ford was directly involved in the NAZI military build up. The corporatiion financed a truck assembly plant in Berlin (1938). A U.S. Army Intelligence reported that the "real purpose" of as to produce "troop transport-type vehicles for the Wehrmacht". [Gilmore] Ford-Werke when war broke out placed itself at the disposal of the Wehrmacht for arms contracts. One report suggested that Ford officials in Germany quareled over who would control Ford operatins in England after the NAZI invasion. Ford-Werke was the second largest producer of trucks for the Wehrmacht. Ford representative argue that the NAZIs took over their German plants and that they "lost control" of operations. This is not all together clear. Some historians that some of the American managers cooperated with the conversion of those plants to military uses. American GIs reached the Ford plants in Cologne and Berlin. They found foreign workers confined im barbed wire encampments and it terrible conditions. They also found company documents reportedly recognizing the genius of the Führer. [Dobbs]

General Electric

General Electric (GE) began working in Europe before most American industrial corporations. GE was a world leader in electrial and other technologies. Many of those technolgies involved goods and commodities, including metals that had previouly been of only limited use. The compsany began approaching European competitors to control the supply or price of some of these importasnt goods and commodities. GE negotiated an agreement with the German company Allgemeine Elektricit�ts Gesellschaft--AEG) (1904). Another agreement was signed with Tokyo Electric (1905). GE cooperation with German companies was temporarily interupted by World War I. After the War, GE expanded its operations in Germany. GE acquired an interest in AEG (16 percent). Four GE executives sat on the AEG board. GE also obtained an important interest in Siemens, another major Germany electrical manufacturing company. GE had a variety of reasons for these investments in the major ndustrial powers in both Europe and Asia. It facilitated joint actions to control supplies and prices of critical materials. They also served to protect patents while helpinggain access to important foreign markets. One of the most important commodities was tungsten carbide made from wolfram. This was critical for the production of high grade steel needed for military purposes (artillery and armour). Tungsten is an exceedingly hard metal which is especially useful in cutting dies and machining metal. Both GE and the Krupp industrial complex had patents for tungsten carbide. The patents could establish a momopoly in their respective countries. Cooperating with each other, the two companies could dominate the world market. GE and Krupp began to discuss possible cooperation (April 1928). A GE representative indicated that the company�s willingness to launch new business oiperations, but this was affected by the "the extent to which they can discourage competition." After 8 months of negotisation, GE and Krupp had an agreement (December 1928). GE now had the capbility to set tungsten carbide prices and a subsidiary was establish to handle the tungsten business--Carboloy. The price of tungsten carbide immeditely increased astonishingly, from $48 to $453 a pound.

General Motors

General Motors (GM) had truck manufactiring plants in Germany. Opel was an entirely GM-owned subsiduary. Opel not only built trucks, but aircraft as well. A GM executive received a medal from Hitler for unspecfied services. GM�s involvement in Germany began with the consdtruction of an Opel truck factory near Berlin (1935). This would become a major source of Wehrmact trucks during the War. GM Chairman Alfred P. Sloan commented in repose to press reports following the German invasion of Cezecoslovakia (March 1939) that Nazi actions "should not be considered the business of the management of General Motors." The GM plant in Germany was reportedly highly profitable. "We have no right to shut down that plant." GM did not just build trucks for the Wehrmacht. GM was deeply involved in the German jet program. GMplants built thousands of jet fighter engines for the Luftwaffe. One resesarcher writes, "General Motors was far more important to the Nazi war machine than Switzerland," says researcher "Switzerland was just a repository of looted funds, while GM was an integral part of the German war effort. The Nazis could have invaded Poland and Russia without Switzerland. They could not have done so without GM." [Snell] After the war both GM and Ford filed claims for compensation. Their plants were heavily damageed in the Allied strategic bombing campsaign. GM received $33 million in compensation from the U.S. Government for the Army Air Corps bombing of its Russelsheim plant (1967). The final chapter in the GM story came after GM declared bankruptsy (2009). As part of its effort to recover GM sold its Adam Opel GmbH unit. GM sold a controlling stake in Opel to Austrian-Canadian car parts maker Magna International Inc. (MGA). Magna teamed up with Russian savings bank OAO Sberbank (SBER.RS) and automaker OAZ Gaz (GAZA.RS) Chancellor Angela Merkel confirmed that the sale had the support of the German Government.

Hollywood

No industry appeased the NAZIs more widely or more slavishly than Hollywood. This is not so well known because Hillywood made so many anti-NAZI films like the aclaimed Humprey Bogart classic, 'Casablanca' (1942) that is on virtually everyone's all time best film list. But these anti-NAZI films only began after Hitler launched World War II. All the major studios, except Warner Briothers, were involved in apeasing Hitler. It was a box office matter. Once the NAZIs seized power, the German film indutry was under the control of Propaganda Minister Josef Goebbels. To be shown in Germany, American studios needed Government approval, meaning Goebbels approval. Germany was the largest market for American films in Europe and American studios wanted a piece of that lucrative market. And it wasn't a matter of just not depicting the NAZIs in a negative way. Films could be rejected if there were Jewish actors or directors or even music scores by Jews. The studios hired NAZI Party members to manage their German operations. [Urwand]

International Business Machine (IBM)

International Telephone and Telegraph (ITT)

Soviet Union

Ford

Unlike Hitler, Ford had no admiration for Stalin. He did see, howevr a business opportunity in the Soviet Union. The Ford Motior Company which would become a target of American workers began exploratory visits and negotiations in the Soviet Union (1927). An agreement to produce cars, trucks, and factories was signed (1929). The Soviet Unionhad only 20,000 cars and a single truck factory at the time. The Soviets were eager to expand motor vehiche production, not so much cars, but trucks and tractors were high on heir agenda. Stalin at the time was just bginning his brutal collectivization process and assumed that along with imprived techhnology such as tractors, production from the collectives would substsntilly increase the output of peasant agriculture. In fact Soviet agriculture never recovered. Ford with its engineering and manufacturing capabilities was an obvious choice. Ford would oversee construction of a plant at Nizhni Novgorod, along the Volga River, to manufacture Model A cars. An assembly plant would be opened in Moscow.

Internatiional Harvester

Standard Oil

Universal Oil Products Corporation

Various American companies were actuve in the Soviet Union before World War II. Oil was one area of involvement. The Universal Oil Products Corporation (UOP) no longer exists as a separate entity (it is now part of Honeywell), but after World War I it became the target of major legal action among American oil giants as it developed important refinery products and technologies that proved of immense importance during World War II. One of these was solid phosphoric acid as a catalyst to stimulate even higher yields of gasoline from crude oil. This was followed by work in hydrofluoric alkylation, polymerization and isomerization. These developments led to the development of high-octane fuels that could be produced on a large scale, as well as for the production of synthetic rubber.

Created: 7:16 AM 8/7/20199
Last updated: 7:16 AM 8/7/2019