First Advisor

Sean Dobson

Date of Publication

5-7-1997

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (M.A.) in History

Department

History

Language

English

Subjects

Interessengemeinschaft Farbenindustrie Aktiengesellschaft

DOI

10.15760/etd.7175

Physical Description

1 online resource (128 p.)

Abstract

On a massive scale, German business elites linked their professional ambitions to the affairs of the Nazi State. By 1937, the chemical giant, l.G. Farben, became completely "Nazified" and provided Hitler with materials which were essential to conduct war. With its monopoly over the manufacture of critical wartime products and global business interests, LG. Farben became one of the most powerful companies in the world during World War II, and an integral part of the Third Reich power structure. The conglomerate also provoked hostile mergers within the conquered "territories" of the German Reich, and constructed one of the largest privately-owned synthetic oil and rubber factories in the world at Auschwitz, where extensive use was made of slave labor. After World War II, companies like l.G. Farben faced the four-power occupation policies of de-Nazification and decartelization. Yet due in large part to the impending threat of Communism, key policies of the occupation governments were weakened or rendered inoperative. These same industries recovered swiftly and expanded production into foreign and domestic markets; indeed, LG. Farben's three successor companies are now each bigger than their original parent company. Company executives tried at Nuremberg for their crimes and found guilty were given sentences of eight years or less, and many business leaders were able to resurrect their careers. Like many German firms of that era, LG. Farben typifies the way in which Germany's top business leaders exploited the resources available to them and adapted their political allegiances during and after World War II to maintain their power. Many believe that political interests drive business interests, when in fact, the case of LG. Farben suggests a reciprocal influence between these sectors, and greater corporate influence during the Third Reich than is widely known. Particularly under an expansionary dictatorship, the state may be used by elites as an instrument to build and hoard capital, allowing elites to compete effectively on a global scale, and industry serves as the engine which fuels the territorial ambitions of the state.

Rights

In Copyright. URI: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).

Comments

If you are the rightful copyright holder of this dissertation or thesis and wish to have it removed from the Open Access Collection, please submit a request to pdxscholar@pdx.edu and include clear identification of the work, preferably with URL

Persistent Identifier

https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/30554

Download

Included in

History Commons

Share

COinS