Blood War 100 years ago. Part of 1
The motorization of the armed forces inevitably led to an increase in oil consumption and the significance of the last century in the 20 war.
Back in 1886, the great Russian chemist DI Mendeleev suggested the military significance of oil: “In relation to the remnants (i.e. oil), we must bear in mind our navy, because for him this type of fuel must give irreplaceable the benefits of long voyages and strong steam engines with low maintenance [Mendeleev. Baku Oil Business in 1886, St. Petersburg, 1886.]. The thoughts of DI Mendeleev were taken into account by the admiralties of many states.
By the beginning of World War I, half of the ships of the English Navy fleet Already switched to oil heating - which opened up great prospects in improving the tactical and technical data.
During the First World War, it became clear that liquid fuel was necessary not only for naval forces, but also for land armies. In a letter to US President W. Wilson, French Prime Minister J. Clemenceau emphasized that in the upcoming battles petrol is needed like blood. The effectiveness of the use of combat resources, and in some cases the outcome of individual operations, largely depended on providing troops with fuel. Thus, the timely transfer of French reinforcements in 1914 to the Marne and in 1916 near Verdun would have been impossible without motor transport.
The growth of motorization of all armies demanded increasing volumes of liquid fuel. In 1917, the need of the Entente armed forces for this type of fuel reached 9 million tons (including 1 million tons of gasoline for land armies and 8 million tons of fuel oil for the fleet). In 1918, the Allied armies spent on the Western Front monthly up to half a million tons of liquid fuel.
The situation was different in the supply of petroleum products to the armed forces of Germany. Towards the end of the war, the shortage of petroleum products in Germany limited the use of military equipment - in particular, the number of German flights was minimized. aviation.
The issues of providing liquid fuel played a certain role in the conduct of individual major operations of the First World War (operations in Galicia and Romania).
Galician oil fields after the withdrawal of Russian troops, 1915
So, in 1915 - 1916. German naval circles have repeatedly raised the issue of the seizure of Romanian oil sources - after all, the German navy lacked fuel. And the attack on Romania was one of the priorities mastering oil resources. Romanian oil became the main source of supply for the German armed forces until the end of the war.
In World War II, the importance of oil increased significantly. Thus, aviation gasoline production in the USA in 1945 amounted to 20 mln. Tons, i.e., approximately 20 times more than in peacetime. The development of aviation required an increase in the release of high-octane gasoline. The Second World War influenced the development of petrochemistry.
In World War II, the capture of important economic areas in the territory of the enemy, and especially of oil sources, was assigned an incomparably larger place in the operational plans than in the First World War. For example, long before the outbreak of hostilities on the Soviet-German front, the secret directives of G. Goering stated: “To get as much food and oil as possible for Germany is the economic goal of the campaign.” The seizure of the Grozny and Baku oil fields was to provide the German army with liquid fuel - to conquer England. The occupation of the Caucasus, according to the plans of the German General Staff, would provide an opportunity to seize Iran and Iraq with their largest oil sources. The Red Army, disrupting the attempts of the Nazis to seize the oil sources of the USSR, also prevented the threat of seizing oil from Iran, Iraq and other countries of the Middle East. And this was extremely important in the provision of fuel for the armed forces of England.
Germany at the time of the attack on the Soviet Union had at its disposal large oil fields in Romania, Hungary, Austria, the oil refining industry of almost all of Europe and over two dozen artificial liquid fuel plants located both in Germany and in the occupied states. In addition, in these states the Germans seized oil reserves of several million tons.
During the first two years of the war on the Soviet-German front, the supply of fuel to the German army was complicated by the large stretch of communications and the enormous length of the front. However, disruptions in the supply of liquid fuel have not yet had a serious impact - in contrast to the final stage of the war. The expulsion of the Germans from Romania, Hungary, Poland and Czechoslovakia sharply narrowed the base of the oil resources of the Axis countries. Particularly perceptible for the Germans was the loss of Romania, from where they received over half of all natural oil produced both in Germany and in the occupied states.
The capacity of the Romanian refineries was almost three times the power of the German ones. In the oil balance of Germany, the share of fuel reserves in Hungary, Austria and Poland was very significant. In addition, in Poland and Czechoslovakia, large artificial liquid fuel plants were also located. By the beginning of 1945, the Germans had lost sources of natural oil, which produced about two thirds of the total production, and a significant part of the artificial liquid fuel plants.
During the Second World War, the United States established military bases in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, India, Burma, China, Australia, and the Atlantic and Pacific theaters around 450. The value of these bases largely depended on the presence of liquid fuels. Therefore, the US government sought to establish control over nearby sources of oil.
In the fuel balance of the leading countries, the share of oil has increased systematically due to the increasing use of internal combustion engines. So, of the new ships of the merchant fleet 1946% released in 92, they had liquid fuel engines. Significantly increased the use of oil as a chemical raw material. The synthetic rubber industry, which received a tangible impetus to development during the Second World War, was based on oil resources for three quarters.
Most of the most important explosives of trinitrotoluene were also produced not from coal, but from oil. A variety of plastics, organic acids, solvents, synthetic fats, detergents, and a number of other materials were also produced from oil.
It is not surprising that oil production continued to grow steadily after the end of World War II, while the production of most types of raw materials and fuel declined after the end of the war.
Table No. 1. Oil production (in million tons). According to the Statistical Yearbook of the League of Nations, 1942 - 1944. C. 147; Petroleum Press Service, July 1947.
On the world stage, the largest oil monopolies, which controlled the lion's share of the production of black gold, announced themselves. They appear at the beginning of the 20 century.
In 1907, the Dutch company Royal Detch merged with the English company Shell Transport and Trading. The new monopoly association, in which Rothschild took part, was called "Royal Detch Shell". He owned oil fields and factories in Dutch India, Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador and other countries in Latin America, the Middle East and even in the USA.
It is characteristic that on the eve of the First World War, Royal Detch Shell together with Deutsche Bank organized a company to develop a concession received from the Turkish government in the Mosul vilayet of the Ottoman Empire. After the end of the war, this company was reorganized into Iraqi, in whose activities, along with the British, the Americans and French took part.
An Anglo-Iranian company was established at 1909, which received a monopoly concession to develop oil fields in southern Iran. A few years later, half of the shares were acquired by the British government. Geographically, the activities of the Anglo-Iranian company far beyond the borders of Iran. Together with American companies, it controlled oil production in a number of countries in the Near and Middle East.
In 1911, the giant Standard Oil Company (New Jersey) appears in the US and international markets, which over the next decades has become the most powerful company, both in terms of capital and the number of enterprises in the United States and in the number of concessions abroad .
In the period between the First and Second World Wars, the rest, the largest American oil companies, were also formed: Soconey Vacuum Oil, Golf Oil Corporation, Texas Oil Company and Standard Oil of California. The listed companies were controlled by the largest US financial groups - Rockefeller, Mellon, Morgan.
The struggle between the oil companies was ongoing. Moreover, the latter sought from the ruling circles of some states to hold events that contradict the national interests of these states and are detrimental to their economies. One of the most striking examples is the refusal of the Iranian Majlis to approve the 22 of October 1947 in the Soviet-Iranian oil agreement. As is known, the Soviet Union, refusing unequal treaties and recognizing the principle of equality and respect for Iran’s sovereign rights, under the 1921 agreement, voluntarily and free of charge transferred to Iran the former Russian concessions in the territory of this country. But the USSR stipulated in art. 13 of the above contract that the Iranian government undertakes not to transfer these territories to foreign states and their citizens. This reservation was dictated by security considerations - since the northern regions of Iran, in which the former Russian concessions were located, for a considerable distance bordered the territory of the Soviet Union and could be used for military purposes - by forces hostile to the USSR.
The Iranian government, by repeatedly violating the indicated clause of the treaty, for example, in 1921, granted the American company Standard Oil an oil concession in the five northern provinces where Russian concessions were previously located. In connection with the violation by the company of the concession agreement, the latter was canceled. In 1923, the Iranian government granted an oil concession to the American company Sinclair. Four years later, the Iranian Majlis approved a concession agreement with the American company Delawar, according to which the latter was granted part of the territories of the former Russian concessions. In March, 1939 was granted a concession to the Dutch Algemeine Explorace Society to explore and exploit oil in the northern provinces. The boundary of the northern section of this concession was 10 km from the Caspian Sea. Up to 1944, despite the legitimate protests of the USSR, the Iranian government refused to terminate the concession agreement with a Dutch company.
It is necessary to emphasize that, willingly giving oil concessions to foreign states, the Iranian government in every way hampered the activities of the Kevir Khurian Soviet-Iranian joint stock company, organized for oil production in the Semnan region.
In September 1944, the Soviet government came up with a proposal to organize the development of oil fields in the northern provinces of Iran - on favorable terms for the latter. This proposal was rejected by Prime Minister Sayed in October 1944 - under the pretext that the Iranian government allegedly refrains from granting concessions until the end of the war.
After the capitulation of Hitler's Germany, negotiations on the conclusion of an oil agreement were resumed with Prime Minister Kawam-as-Saltan.
4 April 1946 in Tehran signed an agreement on the organization of a mixed Soviet-Iranian society for the exploration and exploitation of oil fields in Northern Iran. 8 April 1946 This agreement was approved by the Shah of Iran. The life of the company is defined in 50 years. The first 25 years 49% of the company's shares must belong to the Iranian side and 51% of the shares to the Soviet side; during the second 25 years, both parties should own on 50% of the shares. The company's profit should be divided according to the size of the shares of each party. The capital of the Iranian side was supposed to consist of oil-bearing lands, while the capital of the Soviet side was made up of various costs, equipment, and salaries for specialists and workers. The economic conditions of the Soviet-Iranian agreement were far more beneficial for Iran than the British concession, which allows the concessionaire to create a "state within a state."
But the Majlis refused to endorse the Soviet-Iranian oil agreement, citing the refusal by saying that the agreement allegedly contradicts the law of 2 in October of 1944, prohibiting the government from concluding agreements on granting concessions. But the Soviet-Iranian society was not a concession - after all, both sides enjoyed equal rights to manage and receive the company's income.
In fact, the decision of the Majlis was made under foreign pressure. In April, 1946, Prime Minister Kavam-as-Saltan, confirmed in writing that the Soviet-Iranian oil society was organized on the above conditions. In October, the same Qavam and his supporters in the Mejlis opposed the approval of the agreement. The Iranians were seduced by the promises of a US loan - shortly before considering the approval of the Soviet-Iranian agreement, the US State Department sent a letter to the Iranian government with a promise of support if it refused to implement the agreement.
The Iranian press noted with alarm the growing interference of Americans in the internal affairs of the country - and the refusal to approve the Soviet-Iranian oil agreement became more than proof of this circumstance.
The ending should ...
Back in 1886, the great Russian chemist DI Mendeleev suggested the military significance of oil: “In relation to the remnants (i.e. oil), we must bear in mind our navy, because for him this type of fuel must give irreplaceable the benefits of long voyages and strong steam engines with low maintenance [Mendeleev. Baku Oil Business in 1886, St. Petersburg, 1886.]. The thoughts of DI Mendeleev were taken into account by the admiralties of many states.
By the beginning of World War I, half of the ships of the English Navy fleet Already switched to oil heating - which opened up great prospects in improving the tactical and technical data.
During the First World War, it became clear that liquid fuel was necessary not only for naval forces, but also for land armies. In a letter to US President W. Wilson, French Prime Minister J. Clemenceau emphasized that in the upcoming battles petrol is needed like blood. The effectiveness of the use of combat resources, and in some cases the outcome of individual operations, largely depended on providing troops with fuel. Thus, the timely transfer of French reinforcements in 1914 to the Marne and in 1916 near Verdun would have been impossible without motor transport.
The growth of motorization of all armies demanded increasing volumes of liquid fuel. In 1917, the need of the Entente armed forces for this type of fuel reached 9 million tons (including 1 million tons of gasoline for land armies and 8 million tons of fuel oil for the fleet). In 1918, the Allied armies spent on the Western Front monthly up to half a million tons of liquid fuel.
The situation was different in the supply of petroleum products to the armed forces of Germany. Towards the end of the war, the shortage of petroleum products in Germany limited the use of military equipment - in particular, the number of German flights was minimized. aviation.
The issues of providing liquid fuel played a certain role in the conduct of individual major operations of the First World War (operations in Galicia and Romania).
Galician oil fields after the withdrawal of Russian troops, 1915
So, in 1915 - 1916. German naval circles have repeatedly raised the issue of the seizure of Romanian oil sources - after all, the German navy lacked fuel. And the attack on Romania was one of the priorities mastering oil resources. Romanian oil became the main source of supply for the German armed forces until the end of the war.
In World War II, the importance of oil increased significantly. Thus, aviation gasoline production in the USA in 1945 amounted to 20 mln. Tons, i.e., approximately 20 times more than in peacetime. The development of aviation required an increase in the release of high-octane gasoline. The Second World War influenced the development of petrochemistry.
In World War II, the capture of important economic areas in the territory of the enemy, and especially of oil sources, was assigned an incomparably larger place in the operational plans than in the First World War. For example, long before the outbreak of hostilities on the Soviet-German front, the secret directives of G. Goering stated: “To get as much food and oil as possible for Germany is the economic goal of the campaign.” The seizure of the Grozny and Baku oil fields was to provide the German army with liquid fuel - to conquer England. The occupation of the Caucasus, according to the plans of the German General Staff, would provide an opportunity to seize Iran and Iraq with their largest oil sources. The Red Army, disrupting the attempts of the Nazis to seize the oil sources of the USSR, also prevented the threat of seizing oil from Iran, Iraq and other countries of the Middle East. And this was extremely important in the provision of fuel for the armed forces of England.
Germany at the time of the attack on the Soviet Union had at its disposal large oil fields in Romania, Hungary, Austria, the oil refining industry of almost all of Europe and over two dozen artificial liquid fuel plants located both in Germany and in the occupied states. In addition, in these states the Germans seized oil reserves of several million tons.
During the first two years of the war on the Soviet-German front, the supply of fuel to the German army was complicated by the large stretch of communications and the enormous length of the front. However, disruptions in the supply of liquid fuel have not yet had a serious impact - in contrast to the final stage of the war. The expulsion of the Germans from Romania, Hungary, Poland and Czechoslovakia sharply narrowed the base of the oil resources of the Axis countries. Particularly perceptible for the Germans was the loss of Romania, from where they received over half of all natural oil produced both in Germany and in the occupied states.
The capacity of the Romanian refineries was almost three times the power of the German ones. In the oil balance of Germany, the share of fuel reserves in Hungary, Austria and Poland was very significant. In addition, in Poland and Czechoslovakia, large artificial liquid fuel plants were also located. By the beginning of 1945, the Germans had lost sources of natural oil, which produced about two thirds of the total production, and a significant part of the artificial liquid fuel plants.
During the Second World War, the United States established military bases in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, India, Burma, China, Australia, and the Atlantic and Pacific theaters around 450. The value of these bases largely depended on the presence of liquid fuels. Therefore, the US government sought to establish control over nearby sources of oil.
In the fuel balance of the leading countries, the share of oil has increased systematically due to the increasing use of internal combustion engines. So, of the new ships of the merchant fleet 1946% released in 92, they had liquid fuel engines. Significantly increased the use of oil as a chemical raw material. The synthetic rubber industry, which received a tangible impetus to development during the Second World War, was based on oil resources for three quarters.
Most of the most important explosives of trinitrotoluene were also produced not from coal, but from oil. A variety of plastics, organic acids, solvents, synthetic fats, detergents, and a number of other materials were also produced from oil.
It is not surprising that oil production continued to grow steadily after the end of World War II, while the production of most types of raw materials and fuel declined after the end of the war.
Table No. 1. Oil production (in million tons). According to the Statistical Yearbook of the League of Nations, 1942 - 1944. C. 147; Petroleum Press Service, July 1947.
On the world stage, the largest oil monopolies, which controlled the lion's share of the production of black gold, announced themselves. They appear at the beginning of the 20 century.
In 1907, the Dutch company Royal Detch merged with the English company Shell Transport and Trading. The new monopoly association, in which Rothschild took part, was called "Royal Detch Shell". He owned oil fields and factories in Dutch India, Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador and other countries in Latin America, the Middle East and even in the USA.
It is characteristic that on the eve of the First World War, Royal Detch Shell together with Deutsche Bank organized a company to develop a concession received from the Turkish government in the Mosul vilayet of the Ottoman Empire. After the end of the war, this company was reorganized into Iraqi, in whose activities, along with the British, the Americans and French took part.
An Anglo-Iranian company was established at 1909, which received a monopoly concession to develop oil fields in southern Iran. A few years later, half of the shares were acquired by the British government. Geographically, the activities of the Anglo-Iranian company far beyond the borders of Iran. Together with American companies, it controlled oil production in a number of countries in the Near and Middle East.
In 1911, the giant Standard Oil Company (New Jersey) appears in the US and international markets, which over the next decades has become the most powerful company, both in terms of capital and the number of enterprises in the United States and in the number of concessions abroad .
In the period between the First and Second World Wars, the rest, the largest American oil companies, were also formed: Soconey Vacuum Oil, Golf Oil Corporation, Texas Oil Company and Standard Oil of California. The listed companies were controlled by the largest US financial groups - Rockefeller, Mellon, Morgan.
The struggle between the oil companies was ongoing. Moreover, the latter sought from the ruling circles of some states to hold events that contradict the national interests of these states and are detrimental to their economies. One of the most striking examples is the refusal of the Iranian Majlis to approve the 22 of October 1947 in the Soviet-Iranian oil agreement. As is known, the Soviet Union, refusing unequal treaties and recognizing the principle of equality and respect for Iran’s sovereign rights, under the 1921 agreement, voluntarily and free of charge transferred to Iran the former Russian concessions in the territory of this country. But the USSR stipulated in art. 13 of the above contract that the Iranian government undertakes not to transfer these territories to foreign states and their citizens. This reservation was dictated by security considerations - since the northern regions of Iran, in which the former Russian concessions were located, for a considerable distance bordered the territory of the Soviet Union and could be used for military purposes - by forces hostile to the USSR.
The Iranian government, by repeatedly violating the indicated clause of the treaty, for example, in 1921, granted the American company Standard Oil an oil concession in the five northern provinces where Russian concessions were previously located. In connection with the violation by the company of the concession agreement, the latter was canceled. In 1923, the Iranian government granted an oil concession to the American company Sinclair. Four years later, the Iranian Majlis approved a concession agreement with the American company Delawar, according to which the latter was granted part of the territories of the former Russian concessions. In March, 1939 was granted a concession to the Dutch Algemeine Explorace Society to explore and exploit oil in the northern provinces. The boundary of the northern section of this concession was 10 km from the Caspian Sea. Up to 1944, despite the legitimate protests of the USSR, the Iranian government refused to terminate the concession agreement with a Dutch company.
It is necessary to emphasize that, willingly giving oil concessions to foreign states, the Iranian government in every way hampered the activities of the Kevir Khurian Soviet-Iranian joint stock company, organized for oil production in the Semnan region.
In September 1944, the Soviet government came up with a proposal to organize the development of oil fields in the northern provinces of Iran - on favorable terms for the latter. This proposal was rejected by Prime Minister Sayed in October 1944 - under the pretext that the Iranian government allegedly refrains from granting concessions until the end of the war.
After the capitulation of Hitler's Germany, negotiations on the conclusion of an oil agreement were resumed with Prime Minister Kawam-as-Saltan.
4 April 1946 in Tehran signed an agreement on the organization of a mixed Soviet-Iranian society for the exploration and exploitation of oil fields in Northern Iran. 8 April 1946 This agreement was approved by the Shah of Iran. The life of the company is defined in 50 years. The first 25 years 49% of the company's shares must belong to the Iranian side and 51% of the shares to the Soviet side; during the second 25 years, both parties should own on 50% of the shares. The company's profit should be divided according to the size of the shares of each party. The capital of the Iranian side was supposed to consist of oil-bearing lands, while the capital of the Soviet side was made up of various costs, equipment, and salaries for specialists and workers. The economic conditions of the Soviet-Iranian agreement were far more beneficial for Iran than the British concession, which allows the concessionaire to create a "state within a state."
But the Majlis refused to endorse the Soviet-Iranian oil agreement, citing the refusal by saying that the agreement allegedly contradicts the law of 2 in October of 1944, prohibiting the government from concluding agreements on granting concessions. But the Soviet-Iranian society was not a concession - after all, both sides enjoyed equal rights to manage and receive the company's income.
In fact, the decision of the Majlis was made under foreign pressure. In April, 1946, Prime Minister Kavam-as-Saltan, confirmed in writing that the Soviet-Iranian oil society was organized on the above conditions. In October, the same Qavam and his supporters in the Mejlis opposed the approval of the agreement. The Iranians were seduced by the promises of a US loan - shortly before considering the approval of the Soviet-Iranian agreement, the US State Department sent a letter to the Iranian government with a promise of support if it refused to implement the agreement.
The Iranian press noted with alarm the growing interference of Americans in the internal affairs of the country - and the refusal to approve the Soviet-Iranian oil agreement became more than proof of this circumstance.
The ending should ...
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