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when Friedrich Krupp died in 1826, he was succeeded by his eldest
son, Alfred. Alfred Krupp was the sole owner and manager of the firm for over
60 years, until his death in 1887, and it was under his management that the
firm grew from an obscure foundry into the largest and most notorious armament
enterprise of all time. Krupp cannon construction dates from just over a
century ago, from 1844, when the Prussian military authorities ordered an
experimental one-ton gun of cast steel, and the first complete shop for the
manufacture of guns was built in 1861. Krupp fame and fortune were derived
basically from the unification of Germany, the German wars against Denmark and
Austria, and the Franco-Prussian War of 1870. The victorious German armies were
extensively armed with Krupp guns, and after the Franco-Prussian War, Alfred
Krupp was commonly referred to as the “cannon king.”
But if
it was as a gunsmith that Alfred Krupp attained worldwide fame, nevertheless,
he did not allow his enterprises to remain limited to armament manufacture
alone. The Krupp iron and steel mills participated extensively in the early
construction of German railroads. With the development of the Bessemer process,
steelmaking became a big business. In order to give his enterprises their own
source of raw materials, Krupp acquired extensive coal mines and iron ore beds.
Later on, in furtherance of his export interests, Krupp acquired transport
ships and docking interests in the Netherlands. After the Franco-Prussian War,
Krupp became a large supplier of railroad equipment and other items used to
build the railroad nets in the United States.
In 1887, the Krupp
inheritance passed to Friedrich Alfred Krupp. The rapid development and
expansion of the enterprises continued. New factories were built, and new
resources of coal and iron were purchased in Lorraine and in Germany proper.
Krupp’s principal German competitor in the field of armor plate — the
Gruson Works — was bought out and absorbed, and with the acquisition of
the Germania shipyards at Kiel, Krupp entered the shipbuilding business on a
large scale.
Although these were years of peace, Krupp continued to
devote great emphasis to the armament business. Questions of design and
scientific research were given great attention and fostered by capital
investment. Krupp’s own firing ranges for the testing of its guns and
projectiles were greatly expanded. And, through the Germania shipyards, Krupp
became a vital figure in the German Government’s policy of naval
expansion, which came into full flower after the dismissal of Bismarck by
Wilhelm II shortly before the turn of the century.
Upon the death of
Friedrich Alfred Krupp, the last of the male |
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