Industry and Ideology
I. G. Farben in the Nazi Era

This book examines IG Farben Chemicals and the power of big business in the Third Reich economy.

Peter Hayes (Author)

9780521781107, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 13 November 2000

450 pages, 7 b/w illus. 2 maps
22.9 x 15.2 x 2.9 cm, 0.83 kg

'Professor Hayes had produced a pioneering study. Lucidly argued, well-written, it is an admirable re-assessment of the role of German capitalism under Hitler. He has brought this important historical debate back to life again.' R. J. Overy, King's College London

The power of big business in the economy of the Third Reich remains one of the most important issues of that era. Drawing upon research, much of it in German corporate and government archives, Peter Hayes argues that IG Farben Chemicals, the largest corporation in Nazi Germany, proved consistently unable to influence national policy outside the narrow sphere of the firm's expertise. Indeed, as Hayes shows, the most infamous aspects of Nazi policy - the Third Reich's armaments and autarky drives during the 1930s, Germany's advance toward war, the pillaging of Europe, the exploitation of slave and conscript labor, and the persecution of the Jews - occurred despite IG Farben's advocacy of alternative courses of action. Nonetheless, Farben grew rich under the Nazi regime and was directly involved in some of its greatest crimes.

Part I. The Nascent Concern, 1860–1933: 1. Origins and organization
2. The search for stability
Part II. The National Revival, 1933–6: 3. Revolution and reflation
4. From Schacht to Göring
Part III. The Nervous Years, 1936–9: 5. Autarky and atomization
Part IV. The Nazi Empire, 1938–44: 6. Greater Germany
7. The New Order
Part V. The Nature of War, 1939–45: 8. Commerce and complicity
Epilogue.

Subject Areas: 20th century history: c 1900 to c 2000 [HBLW], European history [HBJD]