Imperial Iron Association

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The Reichsvereinigung Eisen ( Reichsvereinigung Eisen) (abbreviation RVE) was a steering association of the iron and steel industry in the Third Reich founded in May 1942 .

management

The following people led the RVE:

goals and tasks

The aim was a massive increase in iron and steel production while at the same time rationalizing it. Two weeks after taking office, Röchling gave a speech to the Southwest District Group about the future tasks of the RVE, in which he stated that the “future of the private sector depends on the increase in iron and steel production”, which is a “battle of the systems” the Eastern Front had to prove itself. He stated:

“Up until the beginning of the Russian war, people in Germany were of the opinion that our economic management was good. But when one saw in the vast areas of Russia the enormous amounts of weapons and ammunition with which the Russians approached us, one began to be puzzled. Doubts arose as to whether the previous method was correct, that everyone wrangled with each other and constantly quarreled, sometimes quarreling about ridiculous things that are completely insignificant for the outcome of the war [...] When we destroyed 20,000 aircraft or more we were surprised that the Russians kept using new aircraft. Where do all the engines come from? Everything seemed to go on in Russia. With such a realization, the idea suddenly prevailed that significantly more achievements can be made from our economy and from our national body, including the occupied territories. "

In the same speech, Röchling said he had to “give orders” and had “had his authority to command established”. He could not consider "any private interests". He demanded that all employees sign a declaration of commitment, "selflessly and self-sacrificingly, regardless of their private interests and also without regard to the interests of your company" to do everything to avoid unnecessary losses by the Wehrmacht .

With a crude steel production of 1.8–2 million tons per month, the capacity of 3.5 million tons could not be used due to a lack of coal. However, it was estimated that an increase in production by 3-5 percent would be possible by concentrating the available coal on fewer plants.

The RVE regulated the entire iron industry in Germany and the occupied territories and drew up production plans, raw material supply and transport plans, introduced technical and rationalization processes and measures, regulated sales and prices and concluded market-regulating agreements.

According to Hans Kehrl , Röchling, Krupp and Rohland usually appeared together in important meetings and was called the “Three Kings”.

assessment

The Marxist historian Dietrich Eichholtz interprets the RVE within the framework of the theory of state monopoly capitalism . For him, the RVE and the Reichsvereinigung coal were “a kind of middle thing between the specialist ministry and the supertrust”, with which the German monopolies have created an instrument of regulatory power.

For Rolf-Dieter Müller , on the other hand, the industry in the RVE protected “its interests and its ability to survive against the boundless claims of the political leadership”. A “fusion of state and monopoly power” can therefore hardly be spoken of in this context.

Gerhard Mollin, on the other hand, speaks of a "totalitarian, semi-state super cartel" with which the mining corporations would also have been firmly integrated into the Nazi command system.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Dietrich Eichholtz : History of the German war economy . Berlin 1985, Volume 2, p. 89.
  2. ^ According to Eichholtz, p. 89. Albert Vögler's "right hand"
  3. ↑ Wolfgang von Hippel : Hermann Röchling . Göttingen 2018, p. 678.
  4. ↑ Hippel, p. 679 f.
  5. ↑ Hippel, p. 679.
  6. ↑ Hippel, p. 666 ff.
  7. ↑ Eichholtz, p. 90.
  8. ^ Hans Kehrl : Crisis Manager in the Third Reich . Düsseldorf 1973, p. 263.
  9. ↑ Eichholtz, p. 91.
  10. ↑ MGFA (ed.): The German Reich and the Second World War . Stuttgart 1990, Volume 5/2, p. 325.
  11. ^ Gerhard Mollin: Mining companies and "Third Reich" . Göttingen 1988, p. 136.