Commercial expansion in the steel industry of World War II: The case of Henry J. Kaiser and Friedrich Flick

Research on the history of the steel industry in Nazi Germany saw an unprecedented boom in the 2000s, focusing on key players like Vereinigte Stahlwerke, Krupp, Gutehoffnungshütte and Friedrich Flick. However, the topic remains controversial and researchers are still debating the scope of corporate freedom of action available to German wartime steel producers. On the one hand, numerous constraints existed under the Nazi dictatorship so that, especially during the war and particularly in occupied Europe, manufacturers had significantly less room to manoeuvre and their options continuously decreased throughout the course of the armed conflict. On the other hand, a variety of recent studies have demonstrated that the Nazi regime did not launch a widespread attack on property rights or freedom of contract and imposed less coercion and force upon business than is widely assumed. This article makes two points: First, by comparing and contrasting government regulation and the growth models of big business, it argues that there were significant similarities on both sides of the Atlantic, citing examples from the German and American steel industries. Second, by taking a closer look at labour shortages as a crucial bottleneck, it demonstrates that such a comparison needs to determine the fundamental difference between a democracy and a dictatorship at war and advocates a view that incorporates economic logic of action and its historical context.