Comité des Forges
The Comité des Forges (more precisely: Comité des Forges de France (CFF) , German: Hüttenkomitee ) was an influential interest group of the French coal and steel industry founded in 1864 by Eugène Schneider (1805-1875) and Charles de Wendel . Until its dissolution in 1940, it was lobbying for the common interests of its members.
history
The Comité des Forges emerged from several predecessor organizations. It was founded around the same time as the First International . In 1887/88 the CdF was reorganized. It represented about three quarters of the French steel industry. In 1914 it had 252 members, representing a capital of 1.1 billion francs and employing 200,000 people. At times it ran 14 daily newspapers and had a great influence.
In 1940 it was dissolved by the Vichy regime and replaced by the Comité d'organisation de la sidérurgie . In 1945 this committee was followed by the Chambre syndicale de la sidérurgie française . The CdF is also considered the "ancestor" of the UIMM (Union des industries et métiers de la métallurgie)
President from 1918 to 1940 was François de Wendel (1874–1949), a grandson of Charles de Wendel. François De Wendel was also a member of the right-wing extremist group Croix de Feu , with membership number 13. Robert Pinot (1862-1926) was Vice President until 1924.
An investigation by the Reich Chancellery in 1932, which researched the funding of the NSDAP , found that the NSDAP was also funded by the Comité des Forges.
The former Chancellor Heinrich Brüning wrote in his memoir about a meeting with the director of the International Labor Organization of the League of Nations, Albert Thomas, that Thomas had gathered the material to prove that the NSDAP was financed by the arms industry, especially the French arms industry. Thomas died shortly afterwards on May 8, 1932; Brüning initially suspected (because of the conversation) an unnatural death.
The ambassador of France to the Third Reich , André François-Poncet , was close to the CdF and was supported by it.
The CdF and the "Comité des Houillères" (Committee of Coal Mines) were closely linked.
Others
At that time there were similar interest groups in other industrialized countries too. B. in Germany the association of German iron and steel industrialists .
Note
This entry is based on a translation (2009) from the French Wikipedia.
Footnotes
- ↑ PDF (French)
- ↑ www.france-metallurgie.com ( Memento of the original dated July 2, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ homepage ; see also French Wikipedia
- ^ Lev Besymenski : Generals without a mask . Deutscher Militärverlag, Berlin (East) 1963, p. 168.
- ^ Memorandum from Hermann Pünder from April 16, 1932; Federal Archives, files of the Reich Chancellery, Pünder estate, No. 154, pages 48–49; on-line
- ^ Heinrich Brüning : Memoirs 1918 - 1934 . Stuttgart 1970, p. 563 f.
- ↑ on the circumstances of his death see also French Wikipedia
- ↑ The door to freedom . In: Der Spiegel . No. 47 , 1948 ( online ).
- ↑ Comité des forges . fr.wikipedia.org. January 8, 2009.
