The
merger
Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are business transactions in which the ownership of a company, business organization, or one of their operating units is transferred to or consolidated with another entity. They may happen through direct absorpt ...
of four major firms into the German Steel Trust (Vereinigte Stahlwerke) in 1926 was modeled on the
U.S. Steel
The United States Steel Corporation is an American steel company based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It maintains production facilities at several additional locations in the U.S. and Central Europe.
The company produces and sells steel products, ...
corporation in the U.S. The goal was to move beyond the limitations of the old cartel system by incorporating advances simultaneously inside a single corporation. The new company emphasized rationalization of management structures and modernization of the technology; it employed a multi-divisional structure and used return on investment as its measure of success. it represented the "Americanization" of the German steel industry because of its internal structure, management methods, use of technology, and emphasis on
mass production
Mass production, also known as mass production, series production, series manufacture, or continuous production, is the production of substantial amounts of standardized products in a constant flow, including and especially on assembly lines ...
replicated the Steel Trust developed a multi-divisional structure and aimed at return on investment as a measure of success. The chief difference was that
consumer capitalism
Consumer capitalism is a theoretical economic and social political condition in which consumer demand is manipulated in a deliberate and coordinated way on a very large scale through mass-marketing techniques, to the advantage of sellers.
Thi ...
as an industrial strategy did not seem plausible to German steel industrialists.
[Alfred Reckendrees, "Die Vereinigte Stahlwerke A.G. 1926–1933 Und 'Das Glänzende Beispiel Amerika,'" he United Steel Works, 1926–33, and the "Shining Example" of America "Zeitschrift für Unternehmensgeschichte" 1996 41(2): 159-186. ]
USA links
Fritz Thyssen
Friedrich "Fritz" Thyssen (9 November 1873 – 8 February 1951) was a German businessman, born into one of Germany's leading industrial families. He was an early supporter and financial backer of the Nazi Party but later broke with it. He was ar ...
and
Friedrich Flick
Friedrich Flick (10 July 1883 – 20 July 1972) was a German industrialist and convicted Nazi war criminal. After the Second World War, he reconstituted his businesses, becoming the richest person in West Germany
West Germany was the co ...
are co-owners in GST (German Steel Trust or
Vereinigte Stahlwerke AG
The Vereinigte Stahlwerke AG (VSt or Vestag, ''United Steel Works'') was a German industrial conglomerate producing coal, iron, and steel in the interbellum and during World War II.
Founded in 1926, economic pressures (decreasing prices and exces ...
), an arrangement made by Wall Street financier as
Clarence Douglas Dillon through
Dillon Read & Co. Thyssen and Flick both financed Hitler rise's in power. GST is connected to UBC (
Union Banking Corporation
The Union Banking Corporation (UBC) was a New York investment bank incorporated in 1924 in the United States. During World War II, under the U.S. Trading with the Enemy Act, the United States government seized the bank's assets pending investiga ...
) through Harriman Fifteen Corporation holding one-third of Consolidated Silesian Steel Corporation while Flick got two-thirds.
WWII war machine
As IG Farben, GST was the heart of Nazi war machine, like Congress investigation showed.
Membership
*
Fritz Thyssen
Friedrich "Fritz" Thyssen (9 November 1873 – 8 February 1951) was a German businessman, born into one of Germany's leading industrial families. He was an early supporter and financial backer of the Nazi Party but later broke with it. He was ar ...
*
Friedrich Flick
Friedrich Flick (10 July 1883 – 20 July 1972) was a German industrialist and convicted Nazi war criminal. After the Second World War, he reconstituted his businesses, becoming the richest person in West Germany
West Germany was the co ...
*
Albert Voegler
*
Otto Steinbrinck
Otto Steinbrinck (19 December 1888 – 16 August 1949) was a highly decorated World War I naval officer and German industrialist who was later indicted and found guilty in the Nuremberg Flick Trial.
Having had a very successful career as a U-bo ...
See also
*
Union Banking Corporation
The Union Banking Corporation (UBC) was a New York investment bank incorporated in 1924 in the United States. During World War II, under the U.S. Trading with the Enemy Act, the United States government seized the bank's assets pending investiga ...
Notes
Steel companies of Germany
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