The Merchants of Death

CHAPTER VI KRUPP—THE CANNON KING

Alfred Krupp’s life was Longfellow’s noblest poem, lived— not written—and of him can it surely be said that he has, in dying, left behind him “footprints on the sands of time” that will comfort many a “shipwrecked brother” yet unborn.—Captain O. E. Michaelis, U. S. Army.

THE War of 1870 between Prussia and France was a triumph for Krupp cannons. It was more; it was a successful climax to over a score of years of effort on the part of the greatest German arms maker. Krupp had to struggle against military conservatism. In Prussia he faced a century-old military caste beside which the American War College, which did so much to discourage Colt, was relatively progressive. He had to perfect his products—a lesser task since he had all the ingrained German mechanical talent and dogged persistence. And lastly he had to solve in his own way the problem of markets, which had caused little difficulty to Du Pont. In doing this he forged more than steel cannon barrels—he introduced a new code of arms dealing.

The Krupp family through four generations possessed all the qualities that make for success. It knew business and sales psychology and adapted these to the peculiar problems of the armament trade. It was scientific and inventive and developed many new processes invaluable in its field. It was thoroughly convinced of its patriotism and took occasion repeatedly to impress this fact upon the authorities. It believed in religion and advocated prayer as an element of industrial success. It was “paternal” to all its workers, provided many opportunities for recreation and various welfare measures for its employees, and hated all Socialists venomously. In a political campaign it issued a powerful appeal to all its workers to avoid this vicious doctrine and its agitators, and it suffered great paternal disappointment when the workers elected Socialists in spite of this.

The Krupp company had its modest beginnings in the early nineteenth century. When Friedrich Krupp died in 1826, his steel works were left to ten year old Alfred. Before Alfred Krupp died in 1887, the name Krupp was famous throughout the world. Alfred began this accomplishment in a most conservative way. He devoted himself at first only to the manufacture of materials useful in peace—machines, railroad tracks, etc. Through incessant experimentation he had perfected a crucible steel which was tough and durable. In 1842 he finally managed to produce a cannon of crucible steel, and he was now on the road to success in the armament industry.

Progress, however, was still exasperatingly slow. The military refused to be budged from their conservative ideas. Not until 1849 did the Prussian Artillery Testing Committee agree to test his gun, and even then no orders were forthcoming. But Krupp was doggedly persistent. He exhibited his gun at all industrial exhibitions, together with his other crucible steel products. He went to London in 1851 and received the award of the highest distinction. He exhibited at Munich in 1854 and in Paris in 1855. He presented his gun to the Prussian king, Frederick William IV, in spite of the open opposition of military circles. Results were completely lacking.

Finally in 1856 there was a rift in the clouds. The khedive of Egypt, Said Pasha, decided that the Krupp cannons were all that their manufacturer claimed for them and he placed the first substantial order for the guns. This was immediately followed by a French order for 300 cannons, but the order was canceled due to lack of funds. The French were to regret later this lack of funds and indifference to Krupp products.

The tide was now definitely turning. An indication of this was given when the Prussian Regent, Prince William, visited the Krupp factories. The Prince had heard of Krupp and of his persistent efforts to have his gun adopted by Prussia; also of the scorn with which the military spoke of Krupp guns. Alfred Krupp now revealed his first flash of genius as a salesman. He had just installed a 30-ton hammer, named by his men “Fritz.” Like all hammers of this kind, “Fritz” was versatile with an able man in charge. So Krupp decided to show off “Fritz.” Would His Majesty like to see “Fritz” do his tricks? Yes? Very well. Would His Majesty be gracious enough to let his humble servant have his watch for a minute? Thanks a thousand times, Gracious Majesty. Now if His August Majesty will watch closely, he will see one of the marvels of modern science. We will put the watch on the “anvil.” Now—see that hammer descend with lightning speed and with terrific force? Look out for that watch! But already the hammer has stopped. Just the fraction of an inch above the royal watch it has come to rest. Such is the perfection of modern science.

The tide had turned now, as statistics show. From 1853 to 1861 the Krupp plants at Essen grew from 2½ to 13 ½ acres; by 1873 they had expanded to 86 acres and in 1914 they covered 250 acres. As to workers employed, they rose from a mere handful to the population of a good-sized city. In 1849, as he was vainly seeking to market his cannon, he had 107 employees. By 1860 this number had increased to 1,057. By 1914 he had 80,000. These figures cover only the Essen plant, for long the center of the world’s cannon technique and manufacture. Krupp’s other enterprises employed many more workers.

In 1860 he wrote that he considered the supply of guns to the Royal Prussian Army “less as a piece of business than as a matter of honor.” At the same time there are already strong indications that his strict interpretation of patriotism was not good business. He had made application for the renewal of one of his patents and the Minister of Commerce delayed granting the request. Krupp wrote to his friend, Prince Regent William, pointing out what his patriotism was costing him. Other governments had given him “dazzling promises and assurances of protection” if he would establish branches in their countries, but hitherto he had resisted these temptations.

The Prince Regent took the hint and ordered the renewal of the patent, “in recognition of the patriotic sentiments which Commercial Counsellor Alfred Krupp of Essen has frequently displayed, particularly in declining foreign orders offered to him for guns, orders which promised him substantial profit.”

In 1863 Russian orders arrived. Krupp was also asked to coöperate in the work of design, and for years the best of the Czar’s gun designers were in and out of his workshops and his house. The Danish War (1864) and the beginnings of the navy of the North German Confederation helped to keep the ball rolling. Krupp’s name acquired an international reputation, and that reacted on his native land. It was another case of a prophet having no honor in his own country until his foreign disciples singled him out.

The rôles were now reversed. No more was Krupp appealing to the government’s patriotism to get orders; the government was appealing to him to be patriotic and not to sell guns to an almost certain enemy. To be sure, Krupp had already sold cannons to Austria’s allies, the South German states, so the damage was done. Von Roon was referring to another order which Austria had recently placed. Krupp’s reply to Von Roon shows the change which had occurred. He assured the Minister that the work on the new order had not yet begun, hence there was no reason for anxiety. At the same time, he was obviously put out by this government “interference” and this little lecture on patriotism, and he told it to the Minister in unmistakable terms: “Of political conditions I know very little; I go on working quietly, and if I cannot do that without disturbing the harmony between love of my country and honorable conduct, I shall give up the work entirely, sell my works, and shall be a rich and independent man.”

But this was too good an opportunity to let pass without again calling attention to the shameful neglect which he had experienced at the hand of Prussia. He continues: “I may remind Your Excellency that I accepted the order from Austria at a time when the relationships between the two countries were of the most friendly nature, and with all the more thankfulness just then since the Prussian navy disapproved my crucible steel as gun material, and the leading expert was working for the introduction of bronze instead of crucible steel.” From this time onward, with profitable foreign business available in increasing volume, Krupp had no further trouble with “patriotism.”

In 1866, in the Austro-Prussian War, came the first test of Krupp’s cannon in war. To be sure, Austria’s allies also were equipped with Krupp’s guns, but even so the test was not conclusive. The Prussians won decisive victories and the war was over in seven weeks, but the Prussian artillery had been handled so badly that it was impossible to say what rôle Krupp’s cannon had played in the Austrian debacle.

Krupp was still eagerly looking for markets and the French looked to him like promising customers. Had not Napoleon III decorated him on the occasion of the Paris World’s Fair? Did not this French emperor know good guns when he saw them? Krupp decided that France was a good prospect. Twice he sent letters to Napoleon III accompanied by a catalogue. Twice he was rebuffed. Here is one of the letters:

April 29, 1868

Sir:

Encouraged by the interest which Your Majesty has shown to a simple industrialist and the fortunate results of his efforts and of his great sacrifices, I dare to approach you again with the humble prayer to accept the enclosed catalogue which represents a collection of illustrations of the various objects manufactured in my factories. I dare to hope that the four last pages above all will attract the attention of Your Majesty for a moment. You will find there the crucible cannons which I have manufactured for various great powers of Europe. These will, I hope, persuade Your Majesty to pardon my audacity.

With the deepest respect and the greatest admiration, I am,

Your Majesty’s most humble and devoted servant

KRUPP.

The reply to this was:

Shortly before the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War, Krupp achieved another triumph. Hitherto British guns had been supreme. Now in 1868 Krupp arranged for competitive trials between his cannons and the Woolwich guns of the British. The test took place at the Tegel Proving Grounds near Berlin. The British as a matter of fact now were living on their reputation and had fallen a bit behind in artillery construction. They still adhered to muzzle loaders, while Krupp had definitely gone over to breechloaders. All of this was conclusively proved by the tests. The English were, of course, slow to admit this, but the Belgian, Nicaise, proclaimed Krupp’s guns superior to those of the British, and both Belgium and Russia adopted them.

In 1870 the long anticipated Franco-Prussian War finally broke over Europe. It was an important occasion for Krupp. Again his cannons were to be tested by war. This time there dare be no doubt as to their effectiveness and superiority. Fortunately for Krupp, the French had not bought his much advertised artillery and hence it was a clean-cut issue between Krupp and non-Krupp guns. The Germans marched into France taking their Krupp guns along. It was marvelous. One of those Krupp cannons would be aimed at the enemy positions, and in no time at all opposition had died. The Krupp cannons fired accurately, their aim was precise, they stood up under the hardest usage. Everybody was agreed that Krupp cannons had won the war.

If Napoleon III had any doubts as to the soundness of this analysis, he was soon convinced of his error. Passing through Belgium on his departure from France, the Belgian and French military men discussed the late war with him and pointed out to him regretfully and reproachfully that the Krupp guns had done the work. Now Belgium had been smart and had placed its orders with Krupp, but Napoleon III had resisted Krupp’s salesmanship. Thus the war had been lost.

Sometimes these sales were attended by curious circumstances. The guns sold to China were later turned on the Germans in the Boxer Rebellion. Spain ordered huge Krupp guns, ostensibly for the purpose of turning them secretly against the British at Gibraltar, but they were so large that they could not be concealed and they served to heighten the British suspicions of Germany. Andorra, the tiny republic in the Pyrenees, bought a gun from Krupp which it could not fire without sending the projectile beyond its frontiers.

In the 1890’s a new development occurred at Krupp’s. The great navies were about to make their appearance. Krupp could not, of course, foresee that one of the super-dreadnaughts would cost more money than most university endowments, but he understood that there would be profitable business. In anticipation of this, he had experimented with armor plate for warships.

Steel-armored vessels were already in use by the French in the Crimean War, but these “iron-clads” were not seagoing. They were merely wooden vessels plated with iron. This armor plate covering for wooden vessels was increased to the point where some plates were 24 inches thick. Further development along this line was impossible, because the limit of floating power had been reached. Then steel ships were introduced. At first a French process prevailed. Then Harveyized plate came in, that is, steel mixed with nickel for hardening.

At this point Krupp began his experiments. By 1893 he had evolved armor plate of such excellence that there could be no doubt as to its superiority to all other. Tests were made in which all other armor plate was shattered to pieces, but Krupp’s plate was not even cracked. Having demonstrated this to all the world, Krupp at once announced the conditions under which his armor plate was for sale. Any country might buy it from him, or it might manufacture it in its own factories—on payment of a heavy license fee and of a royalty of about $45 per ton. No great power in the world was in a position to refuse Krupp’s terms. Krupp’s armor plate was the best, and all navies had to have it. One after the other the naval powers built with Krupp armor plate, so that in 1914 the navies of Great Britain, France, Italy, Japan, Germany, and the United States were built of Kruppized steel.

From this beginning Krupp expanded into shipbuilding. In 1896 he acquired the Germania shipyards in plenty of time for the naval bill of 1900. Of course, this shipyard took orders also from other countries and many a foreign warship was built here by Krupp.

The German government then grew interested in submarines. By this time, Krupp and the government were almost partners. The company was reorganized in 1903 and Emperor William II became one of its largest stockholders. Government loans were always available for Krupp. Special yearly grants were made for experiments. Hence when submarines began to interest the German navy, it is not surprising that Krupp in 1906 was granted almost $1,000,000 for submarine experiments. The hold which the German arms makers, and especially Krupp, had on the German government may be seen from the fact that for ten years before the World War the German authorities bought virtually no armaments abroad but had all their orders filled at home. In this it was unique among all nations of the world.

After the disastrous defeat by the Japanese in 1904–05, the Russians set to work in earnest to reconstruct their military machine. Elaborate plans were drawn for a modern army with the best and most up-to-date equipment, an efficient navy, and modern arms factories. There was an almost indecent rush by the armament makers of the entire world to secure orders in this rehabilitation scheme. The arms merchants of England, France, Belgium, Germany, Austria, and the United States all gladly enlisted in this task. When the World War broke out in 1914 this reconstruction work was not yet fully completed, but the allied and rival forces of the arms international achieved marvels in the time available. Krupp took a prominent part in rearming Russia, not only in the construction of artillery factories but also in the building of the Baltic fleet. And this in spite of the fact that Russia was a fast friend and close ally of France, Germany’s “hereditary enemy.”

No modern business methods were unknown to Krupp. The power of the press was understood and appreciated. Krupp owned or controlled three great newspapers, the Rheinisch-Westphaelische Zeitung, the Berlin Taegliche Rundschau, and the Neueste Nachrichten. It was a simple matter to rouse public opinion to a patriotic frenzy at any time by war scares or by giving prominent space to the armament activities of other countries, especially during the feverish years before the War.

Krupp also remained in close touch with the War and Navy Departments of Germany. Officers of all ranks, especially the high officials of the army and the admiralty, were on his pay rolls and could be counted on to favor Krupp when contracts were let by the government.

Even then Krupp was taking no chances. One of his men, Brandt, was an old army man with many friends in the War Office. It was this man’s business to keep closely in touch with his old comrades and to discover in advance what orders were to be placed, what the specifications would be, and what his competitors had bid. In this business, money frequently changed hands between Brandt and his old comrades-in-arms. When this “scandal” was aired in the Reichstag, it was shown that on the financial side there had been merely petty bribes, tips; the secret information of the War Office had been made available to Krupp’s agent largely because he was an old friend and a former soldier.

In 1912 the statistics of Krupp’s business showed that he had manufactured 53,000 cannons since his advent as arms maker. Of these, 26,000 had been sold to Germany and 27,000 to 52 foreign countries.

Krupp’s story reveals definitely the problem of the modern arms maker. Inventiveness produced a superior product and the development in technology made possible the mass production of arms. Immediately the problem of markets arose and tied to that were the further problems of patriotism and business methods. After some hesitation, Krupp decided that a strict interpretation of patriotism was injurious to business and he embarked on a program of world-wide sales. Moreover, Germany needed Krupp just as much as Krupp needed German orders and this cooperation grew to a virtual partnership. At the same time the German government was encouraging and establishing an alien kingdom in the heart of Germany, a power which it could not control, yet could not do without. It was a situation which was becoming common—ominously common—in the Western world.

From this story Krupp emerges as typically merchant and typically German. He was efficient, persevering, industrious, capable of perfecting inventions, and logical to the extent of following his business through to its ultimate markets wherever they were. But there is little color, little audacity in his make-up, and none of the Yankee propensity for extracting novel death-dealing knickknacks from his peddler’s pack. It was reserved for an American to exploit in an ingenious way the now productive field of European and Asiatic arms customers.