Reich grain office
The Reichsgetreidstelle (RG), which emerged from the predecessor organizations Kriegsgetreidegesellschaft (KG) and Reichsverteilungsstelle , was responsible for the collection and distribution of grain and flour in the war economy since 1915 during the First World War in the German Reich . As a mixed organization, it was, on the one hand, a supreme Reich authority for the administration of the entire grain and bread industry, and, on the other hand, a GmbH that ran the grain and flour business according to commercial law principles.
Foundation of the War Grain Society
Through various measures, such as increasing the degree of grinding of grain immediately after the beginning of the war, those responsible hoped to have sufficient grain stocks. An inventory at the end of 1914, however, showed a considerable shortfall.
Even before the results became known, various quarters had demanded state measures to secure the grain supply, for example through the establishment of considerable stocks, from social democrats, local politicians, industrialists such as Hugo Stinnes and Alfred Hugenberg to the Undersecretary in the Prussian Ministry of Commerce, Heinrich Göppert . These demands were hardly met by the Reich State Secretary for the Interior, Clemens von Delbrück . On the other hand, they were heard by the Prussian Ministry of Finance, in particular by Undersecretary Georg Michaelis .
In November 1914, the War Grain Society (KG) was founded with a share capital of 50 million marks. In addition to Prussia , other federal states, some large cities and large companies also participated financially . Michaelis acted as chairman of the supervisory board. The practical management of the business was carried out by employees of Hapag-Lloyd . Some grain wholesalers acted as commission agents for the company and took over the purchases in the agricultural areas. In December 1914 the KG received the right to enforce expropriations and to carry out compulsory purchases from reluctant farmers. The company's success fell short of expectations, among other things because of the particular interests of agriculture, the milling industry and the grain trade. The demands for significantly stricter measures by the Reich grew louder and louder.
State grain monopoly
Last but not least, Chief of Staff Helmuth von Moltke pointed out the central importance of an adequate supply of grain for the success of the war. In view of the negative stocktaking, Reich Interior Secretary von Delbrück was now ready to take measures at the Reich level. The Federal Council adopted on 25 January 1915 order regulating the marketing of bread grain and flour. The empire thus assumed responsibility for supplying the population with grain.
The objective changed. Instead of keeping a grain reserve, production and consumption were subjected to a system of rationing. Consumers could only get bread on stamps . Due to the grain monopoly, trade and mills could only operate according to state guidelines. At the beginning of February 1915, 60% of the grain still in other ownership was confiscated by the state. After that, the entire harvest was under state control from the start.
Tasks and organization of the Reich grain office
Together with the War Grain Society, a newly established Reichsverteilungsstelle ensured that the grain was distributed. However, the cooperation between the two organizations proved to be problematic and led to disputes over competence. The Prussian preponderance in the KG also proved to be of little help compared to the other federal states. Therefore, in June 1915, the Reichsgetreidestelle (RG) was founded as the successor organization to the KG. The initial share capital of 20 million marks was increased to 70 million marks. In this way, the Reich side secured equal participation in the decision-making processes.
The RG now had the position of a supreme Reich authority . The mixed character of the new facility is evident from the fact that the business department, like the KG previously, had the legal form of a GmbH. Michaelis became head of the RG. He had the rank of Reich Commissioner, authorized by the Federal Council . He was also director of the administrative department and, after the incorporation of the KG, chairman of the supervisory board of the business department. With that he took a central position in public food management.
The authority was divided into the administrative department, which emerged from the Reichsverteilungsstelle, and the business department, which emerged from the KG. The tasks of the administrative department were: Determination of the daily maximum per capita consumption, the size of the grain supply, the amount of grain to which the municipal associations are entitled and the grain quantities to be delivered by the municipal associations. It also stipulated the amount of grain for feeding and the milling quota for the mills.
The business department was responsible for purchasing, storing and managing the grain. In 1917 jurisdiction was extended to barley , oats , legumes , buckwheat and millet . In addition, she had to supply the army, municipal associations and large companies with grain and flour.
Like the war grain office, it worked from an economic point of view, but on a non-profit level. The dividend was capped at 5%. Surpluses should go to the supply of war survivors.
Meaning and further history
The RG had monopolized the entire grain sector. After a difficult start, the volume of business had already increased almost fivefold in the 1915/16 financial year. At the beginning of 1915, the organization was positively recognized by consumer representatives as a successful “state communist experiment”. However, the pattern was not initially extended to other areas. This only took place in the context of the food crisis of the turnip winter of 1916/17 in the second half of the war.
The Reich grain office continued to exist at least in the first years of the Weimar Republic . Such an organization also existed during the Third Reich . It was located in a building designed by Ludwig Moshamer on Fehrbelliner Platz (No. 3) in Berlin.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Ute Daniel: Working women in war society. Göttingen, 1989 p. 189.
- ↑ Ute Daniel: Working women in war society. Göttingen, 1989 p. 189.
literature
- Anna Roehrkohl: Hunger Blockade and Home Front. The communal food supply in Westphalia during the First World War. Stuttgart, 1991