Blackwell Reference Online

Extract

Family dynasty of steel and arms manufacturers, whose rise mirrored Germany's industrial takeoff (see industrialization ). The business was started by Friedrich Krupp (1787–1826), a wealthy merchant, who founded a factory in his home town of Essen in 1811. It was, however, his son Alfried (1812–87) who transformed the business, taking advantage of the opportunities offered by the zollverein , the growth in railways, and new techniques of steel processing. Significant involvement in munitions manufacture started only after the franco-prussian war when the business benefited from the arms race that preceded world war i . It has been argued that the firm – now under the control of Friedrich Alfred Krupp (1854–1902), and then of his daughter Bertha who married Gustav von Bohlen (who was allowed to change his name to Krupp) – strongly influenced the belligerent course of German foreign policy in the pre-1914 period. After the war, Krupps refocused its energies on railways, though hitler's rise to power led to renewed demand for military material. During world war ii , the business employed a large slave-labor force from eastern Europe. In 1945 family members were arrested; Alfried Krupp (1907–67) was sentenced to a 12-year imprisonment, though Gustav was deemed too senile to stand trial; and the Allies took over the firm, much of which lay in ruins. In 1953 the business was partially ... log in or subscribe to read full text