Zeitschrift für Unternehmensgeschichte (ZUG) 60 (2015), 1

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Zeitschrift für Unternehmensgeschichte (ZUG) 60 (2015), 1
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München 2015: C.H. Beck Verlag
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Hoppe, Julia

Gerade erschienen ist die Ausgabe 1/2015 der Zeitschrift für Unternehmensgeschichte

Just released is issue 1/2015 of Journal of Business History

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Aufsätze (Articles)

Christian Marx, Der zerplatzte Traum vom industriellen Atomzeitalter. Der misslungene Einstieg westdeutscher Chemiekonzerne in die Kernenergie während der 1960er und 70er Jahre, S. 3–28

C. Edoardo Altamura, A New Dawn for European Banking: The Euromarket, the
Oil Crisis and the Rise of International Banking, S. 29–51

Robrecht Declercq, Transnational Entrepreneurs? German Entrepreneurs in the Belgian Fur Industry (1880 to 1913), S. 52–74

Martijn Lak, «The Rhine in Ruins». The consequences of World War II for the
Rhine shipping between the Netherlands and Germany, 1945 to 1957, S. 75–96

ABSTRACTS:

Christian Marx
Der zerplatzte Traum vom industriellen Atomzeitalter. Der misslungene Einstieg westdeutscher Chemiekonzerne in die Kernenergie während der 1960er und 70er Jahr
The short dream of an industrial nuclear age. The failed entry of the West German chemical industry into nuclear power during the 1960s and 70s.
With the increase in energy consumption during the boom years the composition of energy sources in West Germany changed fundamentally. West German chemical companies followed the international trend towards petrochemicals and converted their production and energy generation systems to oil. But the un – restricted use of fossil fuels soon provoked concerns . As a consequence, nuclear power appeared as an attractive alternative to power generation by coal and oil. The examples of the large West German companies Hoechst, Bayer and BASF show the connections between the chemical and nuclear industry under the conditions of increasing international competition. The Hoechst management discussed not only the question of own nuclear power stations, but also considered nuclear chemistry as a potential business. In the case of BASF, the plans for an own nuclear power station were more advanced than at Hoechst. The proposed location on BASF’s factory premises, however, represented a distinct rejection of the current safety philosophy that could not be ignored by policymakers.

C. Edoardo Altamura
A New Dawn for European Banking: The Euromarket, the Oil Crisis and the Rise of International Banking
The 1970s are a crucial decade for understanding the modern financial landscape but it is still relatively unexplored in financial history. It was marked by the end of the Bretton Woods regime, the progressive liberalisation of finance, the return of banking crises and two massive energy crises. As archives are now providing new archival material, this paper seeks to analyse a neglected aspect of the 70s which touches on all of the above-mentioned phenomena: the progressive privatisation of international financial flows to Less Developed Countries (LDCs), especially in Latin America and South-East Asia, and its impact on the European banking sector. After the collapse of the Bretton Woods’ system in 1973 and until the debt crisis of 1982, Western commercial banks assumed an increasing role in transferring huge amounts of dollars accumulated by oil-exporting countries to LDCs through the so-called «recycling» mechanism of the Euromarket. The trend marked a clear break with the past since, until the late 1960s, development finance had mostly been provided by public institutions and thus gave commercial banks a new central role in international financial matters. In the short term, the privatisation of credit proved to be a profitable bet and it allowed a renaissance of the banking sector after the regime of Bretton Woods. Besides, these international flows of money provided the basis for the financial globalisation to come. In the longer term, many LDCs became subject to the imperatives of private institutions and prisoners of a «debt trap» throughout the 80s. We still know little about the attitude of international organisations towards the progressive privatisation of finance and the recycling mechanism and the impact of the oil crisis on the European banking. This paper will suggest some tentative ideas about such matters by relying on new archival evidence, particularly from the International Monetary Fund (BIS), the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), the Bank of England and the archives of two major European commercial banks in France and United Kingdom, notably Lloyds Bank and Société Générale.

Robrecht Declercq
Transnational Entrepreneurs? German Entrepreneurs in the Belgian Fur Industry (1880 to 1913)
This article examines a set of German immigrant entrepreneurs in the Belgian fur industry before the First World War. Their role as «transnational entrepreneurs» organising cross-border firm activities in relation to economic integration and trade intensification between Belgium and Germany before the war is questioned, as contrasting to multinational businesses, which are traditionally seen to be the agents of business globalisation. It is described that most German entrepreneurs in the Belgian fur industry were «embedded» in two contexts, that of the fur industry in Leipzig, the epicentre of the German fur industry, and Brussels with its booming urban luxury consumption. On the one hand, the article focuses on the advantages of transnational entrepreneurship in organising foreign trade, such as knowledge of the country of arrival and flexibility. As big businesses were rare in this sector, immigrant entrepreneurs constituted an attractive alternative for small- to medium-sized businesses in the organisation of cross-border activities. This alternative was staunchly reinforced by a high turnover of human capital in this sector – leading, in turn, to a large supply of entrepreneurs. The article also charts the nature and effects of transnational business networks in terms of economic integration. Interdependencies with the «sending context» were created in a number of ways, situated in economic and social as well as cultural demands of immigrant business. However, rather than advancing a claim of German immigrant entrepreneurs and independent merchants abroad as «outposts» of the Wilhelminian economic empire, the article aims to demonstrate that immigrant entrepreneurs followed internal profit rationales as well, and combined their connection with firms that dispatched them with expansive international and local strategies.

Martijn Lak
«The Rhine in Ruins». The consequences of World War II for the Rhine shipping between the Netherlands and Germany, 1945 to 1957
When the guns fell silent in Europe after the Third Reich’s unconditional surrender in May 1945, the Netherlands was confronted with the fact that Germany, its most important trading partner since the late19th century, was in ruins. In the pre-war trade relations between the two countries, Rhine shipping and transit via Rotterdam had played an important role. After the Second World War, however, this was out of the question. Not only was Germany and especially its infrastructure in ruins, it was also occupied by the victorious Allies, whose strict autarkic policy was harmful to surrounding countries, especially to the Netherlands. Much has been written on the Allied occupation of Germany, but far less on the consequences of this policy for Germany’s neighbours. The British and Americans did everything in their power to prevent the costs of the occupation getting out of control. This meant, for example, that Dutch sea ports and Dutch Rhine shipping were discriminated against in favour of their German competitors. Dutch Rhine ships were not allowed to enter Germany, although this was a violation of the Convention of Mannheim of 1868. This article therefore focuses on the consequences of the Allied occupation policy on Dutch Rhine shipping and the continuation of this policy by the Federal Republic of Germany after 1949. It also explains why, after years of denying the Dutch Rhine fleet to enter German waterways freely, from May 1956 on Bonn suddenly changed its policy.

Buchbesprechungen (Reviews):

Jürgen Finger/Sven Keller/Andreas Wirsching, Dr. Oetker und der Nationalsozialismus. Geschichte eines Familienunternehmens (Hartmut Knittel)

Tanja Junggeburth, Stollwerck 1839–1932: Unternehmerfamilie und Familienunternehmen (Jonathan Voges)

Kenneth Bertrams/Nicolas Coupain/Ernst Homburg, Solvay. History of a Multinational Family Firm (Thomas Hermann)

Christof Dejung, Die Fäden des globalen Marktes. Eine Sozial- und Kulturgeschichte des Welthandels am Beispiel der Handelsfirma Gebrüder Volkart 1851–1999 (André Steiner)

David Seyffer, Die Unternehmensgeschichte von IWC Schaffhausen. Ein Schweizer Uhrenhersteller zwischen Innovation und Tradition (Jonathan Voges)

Ute Pothmann, Wirtschaftsprüfung im Nationalsozialismus. Die deutsche Revisions- und Treuhand AG (Treuarbeit) 1933 bis 1945 (Peter M. Quadflieg)

Kai Rump, Einer für alle, alle für einen! Ländliche Genossenschaften in der Lüneburger Heide 1890–1930 (Peter Gleber)

Eberhard Illner (Hg.), Eduard von der Heydt. Kunstsammler, Bankier, Mäzen (Harald Wixforth)

Stephan Wegener (Hg.), Geschwister Thyssen. Ein Jahrhundert Familiengeschichte (Matthias Gomoll)

Renate Tobies/Annette B. Vogt (Hrsg.), Women in Industrial Research. (Silke Fengler)

Boris Gehlen/Frank Schorkopf (Hrsg.), Demokratie und Wirtschaft. Eine interdisziplinäre Herausforderung (Werner Bührer)

Ralf Ahrens/Boris Gehlen/Alfred Reckendrees (Hrsg.), Die «Deutschland AG»: Historische Annäherungen an den bundesdeutschen Kapitalismus (Werner Bührer)

Holm A. Leonhardt, Kartelltheorie und Internationale Beziehungen. Mit einem Vorwort von Michael Gehler (Eva-Maria Roelevink)

Harold James (Hg.), Swiss Re und die Welt der Risikomärkte. Eine Geschichte
(Rolf F. H. Schröder)

Dorothee Guggenheimer, Kredite, Krisen und Konkurse. Wirtschaftliches Scheitern in der Stadt St. Gallen im 17. und 18. Jahrhundert (Margrit Schulte Beerbühl)

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