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Most photographs reproduce acceptably on positive microfilm or microfiche but lack the clarity on xerographic copies made from the microfilm. For an additional charge, 35mm slides of 6”x 9” black and white photographic prints are available for any photographs or illustrations that cannot be reproduced satisfactorily by xerography. 8703618 Stokes, Raymond George RECOVERY AND RESURGENCE IN THE WEST GERMAN CHEMICAL INDUSTRY: ALLIED POLICY AND THE I.G. FARBEN SUCCESSOR COMPANIES, 1945-1951 The Ohio Stale University Ph.D. 1986 University Microfilms International300 N. Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, Ml 48106 Copyright 1986 by Stokes, Raymond George All Rights Reserved RECOVERY AND RESURGENCE IN THE WEST GERMAN CHEMICAL INDUSTRY: ALLIED POLICY AND THE I.G. FARBEN SUCCESSOR COMPANIES, 1945-1951 DISSERTATION Presented In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of the Ohio State University By Raymond George Stokes, B.A., M. A. The Ohio State University 19B6 Dissertation Committee: Approved by A.D. Beyerchen J.R. Bartholomew / Advise M.G. Blackford Department of History Copyright by Raymond George Stokes 1986 To My Parents ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS In the course of several years of research and writing, I have run up a number of debts. Financial support for the project came from the Ohio State University Bnd its department of history, the Institut ftlr EuropMische Geschichte in Mainz, the Deutscher Akademlscher Austausch- dienst, and the German Historical Institutes in Paris and London. Thanks, too, to my parents for occasional loans to fill in the periods between grants. My contacts with archivists in several different archives have frequently been rewarding. Special thanks go to Herrn Dr. Lenz in the Bundesarchiv, to Herren Peter GBb and Michael Pohlenz at the Bayer- werksarchiv, to Frau Becker in the Historlsches Archiv of the Metall- gesellschaft AG, and to Frau Dr. Wolf in the Degussa-Firmenarchiv. Numerous people read and commented upon all or part of the outlines and/or manuscript. They included Werner Abelshauser, James Bartholomew, Volker Berghahn, Alan Beyerchen, David Blackbourn, Hansel Blackford, Knut Borchardt, William Childs, James Diskant, June Fullmer, John Gillingham, Richard Hamilton, Peter Hayes, Gary Herrigel, Jonathan Liebenau, Brian Linn, Ralph Melville, Alan Milward, Eamonn Noonan, Diethelm Prove, Claus Scharf, Anne Marie Stokes, Friedrich Stratmann, Martin Vogt, and Ulrich Wengenroth. Discussions with some of these and other scholars at the Institut ftlr Europfiische Geschichte in Mainz, the ill Ohio State University Department of History, and the Lehrstuhl II fUr Sozial- und Wirtschaftsgeschichte in Bochum improved the manuscript and helped clarify my ideas. The fact that I did not alvays take their good advice absolves them of the responsibility for the faults that 1 remain in the final draft. Finally, I would like to acknowledge special intellectual and personal debts to several persons. I could not imagine a better working relationship than the one I have enjoyed vith my .adviser, Alan Beyerchen. He pointed me in the direction of this thesis, and then let me find my own way. At the same time, he was available throughout the writing process to discuss problems and to provide feedback on my written work. Hy friends and family have suffered my bad moods and depression from near and far, and supported and encouraged me through­ out the research and vriting. Finally, I ove the most to Anne Marie. She has had to live vith me through the entire dissertation process, and her company.and *good advice have made that process much more enjoyable. Thank youl iv VITA April 18, 1956 ................... Born - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 1978 ............................ B.A., New College of the University of South Florida, Sarasota, Florida 1978-1979 ....................... University Fellow, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 1980-1983 ....................... Teaching Associate, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 1 9 8 1 ............................ H. A., History, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 1983-1985 ....................... Fellowships awarded by the West German government: Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst; German Historical Institute, Paris; German Historical Institute, London 1986 ............................ Presidential Fellov, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio PUBLICATIONS ■The Oil Industry in Nazi Germany, 1936-1945.■ Business History Review 59 (Summer 1985>: 254-277. ■German Energy in the U.S. Postwar Economic Order, 1945-1951.* Journal of European Economic History, forthcoming. FIELDS OF STUDY Major Field: Modern European History Studies in History of Science and Technology, Business History, Japanese History TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...................... ill VITA ......................................................... v LIST OF T ABLES................................................. viii LIST OF FIGURES ............................................. ix INTRODUCTION ................................................. 1 CHAPTER PAGE I. THE RISE AND PRECIPITOUS FALL OF GERMAN GROflCHEHIE .... 7 The German Chemical Industry, ca. 1860-1925 8 The I.G. Farbenlndustrle A G ....................... 18 The I.G. in the Nazi P e r i o d ....................... 31 Endnotes.......................... 47 II. RADICAL DECONCENTRATION AND ITS RESULTS: THE AMERICAN OCCUPATION AND THE HOECHST GROUP, 1945-1946 55 U.S. Policy Development, 1944-1945 ..... ........ 57 The Hoechst Group of the I.G. Farbenindustrie AG . 71 U.S. Policy in Action: The Hoechst Group, 1945-1946 . 75 German Impact on U.S. Policy, 1945-1946 82 Concluding Remarks ................................ 88 Endnotes........................ 90 III. BUSINESS AS USUAL: THE BRITISH AND THE I.G. NIEDERRHEIN- GRUPPE, 1945-1946 99 Planning and Initial Implementation of British Occupation Policy ............... 101 The Chemical Industry and the I.G. in the British Zone of Occupation .................. 107 Initial Policy in its Domestic and International C o n t e x t ......... 115 The British Zone's Chemical Industry and Occupation Policy ........................ 125 Endnotes ............. ..... ..... 129 vi IV. THE TECHNICAL LIMITS TO EXPLOITATION: THE FRENCH AND THE BADISCHE (BASF), 1945-1948 ......................... 136 The Chemical Industry in the French Z o n e .............. 137 Initial French Policy toward the I.G. ............ 143 French Control of German Chemistry ..... ........ 147 Concluding Remarks . ........................... 159 Endnotes ............................. ....... 164 V. THE CONTINUING CRISIS, JANUARY 1947-JUNE 1948 170 Chemical Production in the Bizonal Area, mid-1945 to mid—1948 ....................... 172 Allied Policy toward the I.G. at the Superzonal Level 181 German Chemical Authorities in the Bizone and the Politics of Coal ........................... 187 EndnoteB ...................................... 206 VI. CONSOLIDATION OF RECOVERY, MID-1948-1950 ................ 210 The Western German Chemical Industry and the Wlrtschaftswunder ............ ......... 212 Industry-specific Factors in the Maintenance of Recovery in mid-1948 ......... 230 The Long-term Effects of the Events of raid-1948 . 242 Endnotes . ...................... 247 VII. NEW BEGINNINGS AND RESURGENCE, 1950-1951 ................ 253 The Dimensions of Resurgence: Production improvement and the beginnings of resurgence in the early 1950b . 253 The Bases of Resurgence: The role of power politics and the growth in power of the western German stBte . 258 The Bases of Resurgence: The Enflechtuna of the I.G. 266 The Bases of Resurgence: The Personnel Bnd Prospects of the "New Companies"............................... 274 The Bases of Resurgence: Investment and capital during the 1 9 5 0 s ..................................... 281 The Bases of Resurgence: The participation of the I.G. successors in the U.S. postwar economic system . 287 Endnotes ....................... 300 VIII. FROM COLLAPSE TO COMPETITIVENESS.......................... 309 Endnotes ........................ 318 SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY ........................................ 319 vii LIST OF TABLES TABLE PAGE 1. Investment in nev plant by the I.G., 1933-1944 .......... 28 2. Investment in large plant by the I.G., 1925-1944 ..... 29 3. Net Profits of I.G. Farbenindustrie AG, 1926-1944 .... 35 4. War damage to major I.G. Lover Rhine Group factories . 115 5. Production of two key products st Ludvigshafen and Oppau, 1947-1949 ...................................... 149 6. Production of important