Robber+Barons


 * The Robber Barons of Europe: A Deeper Look into Krupp Company of Essen, Germany**

__Robber Barons__

A //Robber Baron// is a term used in the United States to describe businessmen who dominate their industries and become very wealthy at the expense of the employees. Many people from all classes disliked the robber barons: from journalists, to factory workers, to the bourgeoisie.

__Krupp Company History__

The first record of the Krupp family was in 1587, when Arndt Krupe (later changed to Krupp) registered for a merchants guild. He was a grocer, but accumulated wealth by buying out land from people escaping from an outbreak of the Black Plague. His son married a daughter of a prominent gunsmith and learned the trade for himself. He also accumulated more wealth during the Thirty Years War when his skill was greatly demanded. This was the first time that the Krupp family became involved in metalwork.

In 1811, Friedrich Krupp founded the Krupp Company in Essen, Germany. It began as a small steel manufacturer. His son Alfred Krupp inheireted the company and by that time, the company was one of the largest manufacturers of steel role presses. Although Alfred offered employee benefits to his workers, he tried to control them by making them sign an oath to the company. He set up colonies for them to live in and required special writen permission from the managers to let an employee use the restroom. He also discouraged his workers from paying attention to the polotics of the time. Alfred Krupp was an active conservative who often would talk about a need for a movement against liberals, Jews, and socialists. Many people saw this as a premonition of the coming of Adolf Hitler.

Alfred's son, Friedrich Alfred Krupp was considered to be generally more nonchalant than his father, but still a good businessman. He led the company into further sucess, but was accused to have had erotic relationships with young boys. Because Friedrich Alfred did not have any sons, the business passed on to his son in law, Gustav von Bohlen und Halbach. He changed his name to Gustav Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach so that the company could stay within the family. After the Treaty of Versailles, Gustav assisted the Nazi party in illegal arms manufacturing. After the war, he was indicted at Nuremberg. Due to his dementia and inability to recall the past events, he was never actually held in trial.

Gustav's son, Alfried, also was a member of the Nazi party and inheireted the business. Hitler appointed him the //Minister of the War Economy//. Alfried along with other Krupp executives would actually visit the consentration camps to hand select women to work in the factories. They would "lease" them from the SS officers for 4 Marks a day per person. Approximately 165,000 Russian and Jewish slaves forced into labor in the Krupp Company during the war and Alfried Krupp served 12 years in prison after his conviction at the Nurenberg trials.

__Krupp Monopoly__

In 1928, Krupp Company, General Electric, and Carboloy Company combined their patents on tungsten-carbide to form a monopoly. The main uses of tungsten-carbide were armor piercing ammunition and in the production of tanks. The three companies refused licenses to produce tungsten-carbide from companies like Chrysler Corporation, Crucible Steel Company, Triplett Electrical Instrument Company, and General Cable Company. This monopoly forced the prices from $50 per lb. in 1920 to $458 per lb. in 1928.

__Robber Barons of America__

One of the best examples of a Robber Baron of America is JD Rockefeller and his company Standard Oil. Standard Oil created a monopoly by owning a majority of oil flows in the United States and fixing the prices. In 1911, Standard Oil was deemed a monopoly by the Supreme Court. It was forced to divide into many separate companies.

//The Lords of Industry// is a newspaper article from the late 19th century about monopolies. It talked about the coal monopoly between Vanderbilt, Sloan, and a few other coal companies. This shows that monopolies can be between any kind of company in any country.

__Legislation__

//Lex Krupp// (or Krupp Law) was the major piece of legislation concerning Krupp Company. Hilter signed this law to ensure that the Krupp Company would stay in the family after the death of Friedrich Alfred. Because Friedrich Alfred had no sons to inherit the business, this law would allow Gustav von Bohlen und Halbach to occicially become part of the Krupp family. Gustav changed his last name to Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach as a result of this law.

__Impact on 19th Century__

The Krupp Company had an major effect of the 19th century. The tungsten-carbide monopoly raised prices tungsten-carbide 9 times in 8 years in the 1920's. The early feelings of anti-Semitism from Alfred Krupp were passed on to later generations of the Krupp family. The Krupp Company is still today known as the major supplier of arms to the Nazi party in World War II and they contributed to the unjust treatment of prisoners in the concentration camps and in their factories.

__Images__

(Word Document)

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