the confidence that the whole affair would be ‘over by Christmas’. But the
appearance of a new form of warfare, and Germany’s ruthless ability to
organise and engage her new technology in support of her military machine
was totally unforeseen. The Allies too were fortunate, for if German submarines had dealt as faithfully with Allied nitrate ships as they desired, or if
Chile for any reason had withheld supplies, the Allies would have been forced
to give up the struggle themselves
26
—or maybe with the benefit of prevailing
winds—do as Germany did, resort to chemical warfare.
13.5.4 The Legacy of Oppau and Leuna
In the absence of Chilean nitrate, Germany initially had to rely on fixed
nitrogen contributions from her conventional processes. By-product and
cyanamide production struggled to meet the demands of the army in the first
two years of the war. Although increasing ten-fold, their contribution then
flattened out
27 and there was little to spare for agriculture. Despite the lobbying of these industries to secure the largest share of the fixed nitrogen
business, it was Oppau and Leuna that made the decisive difference, sustaining Germany’s capacity to produce munitions for the remainder of the
war. By 1918 these two plants alone produced 60% more than the cyanamide
process and surpassed the combined production of by-product ammonia by
all of Germany’s numerous coking plants.
28 By delaying the Second Reich’s
inevitable collapse by as much as two years, their existence undoubtedly
ensured that the war would not ‘be over by Christmas’, compounding the
human suffering at the front for both sides. But over the war years, with most
of the fixed nitrogen now ‘feeding’ the arms industry and slaughtering millions, a lesser known tragedy also occurred when German farmers, ‘starved’ of
fertilizer, failed to feed their nation. An estimated three quarters of a million
innocent German civilians subsequently died of hunger.
29
The historical importance of Oppau and Leuna is therefore immense, and
even for us today the reminders are still seen across Europe; at every national
war cemetery, on every roll of honour in every village and town, on every
remembrance Sunday, in the faded photographs of all the families who lost
the flower of their men-folk in the fields of France, in the tears of the old
soldiers who survived the war by as much as 80 years but still sobbed, and
through a generation of women on both sides who were never able to find
love, each one leaving ‘a new page in the book of [their] lives, and a chord of
[their] souls lying prostrate and barren … ’.
30 forever. Oppau and Leuna
contributed hugely to the physical, political, economic, and social devastation
254
D. Sheppard
appearance of a new form of warfare, and Germany’s ruthless ability to
organise and engage her new technology in support of her military machine
was totally unforeseen. The Allies too were fortunate, for if German submarines had dealt as faithfully with Allied nitrate ships as they desired, or if
Chile for any reason had withheld supplies, the Allies would have been forced
to give up the struggle themselves
26
—or maybe with the benefit of prevailing
winds—do as Germany did, resort to chemical warfare.
13.5.4 The Legacy of Oppau and Leuna
In the absence of Chilean nitrate, Germany initially had to rely on fixed
nitrogen contributions from her conventional processes. By-product and
cyanamide production struggled to meet the demands of the army in the first
two years of the war. Although increasing ten-fold, their contribution then
flattened out
27 and there was little to spare for agriculture. Despite the lobbying of these industries to secure the largest share of the fixed nitrogen
business, it was Oppau and Leuna that made the decisive difference, sustaining Germany’s capacity to produce munitions for the remainder of the
war. By 1918 these two plants alone produced 60% more than the cyanamide
process and surpassed the combined production of by-product ammonia by
all of Germany’s numerous coking plants.
28 By delaying the Second Reich’s
inevitable collapse by as much as two years, their existence undoubtedly
ensured that the war would not ‘be over by Christmas’, compounding the
human suffering at the front for both sides. But over the war years, with most
of the fixed nitrogen now ‘feeding’ the arms industry and slaughtering millions, a lesser known tragedy also occurred when German farmers, ‘starved’ of
fertilizer, failed to feed their nation. An estimated three quarters of a million
innocent German civilians subsequently died of hunger.
29
The historical importance of Oppau and Leuna is therefore immense, and
even for us today the reminders are still seen across Europe; at every national
war cemetery, on every roll of honour in every village and town, on every
remembrance Sunday, in the faded photographs of all the families who lost
the flower of their men-folk in the fields of France, in the tears of the old
soldiers who survived the war by as much as 80 years but still sobbed, and
through a generation of women on both sides who were never able to find
love, each one leaving ‘a new page in the book of [their] lives, and a chord of
[their] souls lying prostrate and barren … ’.
30 forever. Oppau and Leuna
contributed hugely to the physical, political, economic, and social devastation
254
D. Sheppard