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Old 07-19-2014, 03:17 AM
 
Location: Michigan
29,391 posts, read 55,384,349 times
Reputation: 22042

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A.J. Baime is author of the new book “The Arsenal of Democracy: FDR, Detroit and an Epic Quest to Arm an America at War,” the story of how American car companies led the charge to make Detroit the most important war production city during World War II. At the heart of the book is Ford Motor’s construction of the Willow Run Bomber Plant, home to the B-24 Liberator bomber.

Willow Run, Edsel Ford and Detroit's role in arming the U.S. in WW II | Detroit Free Press | freep.com
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Old 07-21-2014, 03:42 PM
 
18,756 posts, read 27,181,960 times
Reputation: 20095
Does he also say, how American companies actively participated in German industry development?
For GIs, an Unpleasant Surprise
When American GIs invaded Europe in June 1944, they did so in jeeps, trucks and tanks manufactured by the Big Three motor companies in one of the largest crash militarization programs ever undertaken. It came as an unpleasant surprise to discover that the enemy was also driving trucks manufactured by Ford and Opel -- a 100 percent GM-owned subsidiary -- and flying Opel-built warplanes. (Chrysler's role in the German rearmament effort was much less significant.)
When the U.S. Army liberated the Ford plants in Cologne and Berlin, they found destitute foreign workers confined behind barbed wire and company documents extolling the "genius of the Fuehrer," according to reports filed by soldiers at the scene. A U.S. Army report by investigator Henry Schneider dated Sept. 5, 1945, accused the German branch of Ford of serving as "an arsenal of Nazism, at least for military vehicles" with the "consent" of the parent company in Dearborn.

Washingtonpost.com: Ford and GM Scrutinized for Alleged Nazi Collaboration

And guess who supported AG Farbenindustri, a backbone of German chemical industry, including the infamous Cyclon B gas? Or, how much stake had GE in German companies?

You didn't know that PROFIT cares of no boundaries, political systems, or human lives? Just like ol' chap Lening said: "There is not a hideous crime, a capitalist will not commit, for 10% of profit".

Be well.
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Old 07-21-2014, 04:11 PM
 
Location: West Phoenix
963 posts, read 1,330,043 times
Reputation: 2537
Those factories were taken over and operated by the nazi's. Ford, GM or Opel had no say as to what the factory was being used for. French aircraft factories were taken over and made to build german designs such as the Fi-156 Storch, the Me-108, french aircraft engines were used to power german aircraft, somehow I don't think the germans asked if the French wanted to make them.

Japanese planes were using parts and designs licensed from American companies, but I don't think they kept up the payments.
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Old 07-27-2014, 02:03 AM
 
Location: London
4,717 posts, read 5,020,438 times
Reputation: 2154
French planes and engines supplied to the Germans were of poor manufacture - no surprise there from a reluctant workforce. Few planes were supplied by French industry. They were just too slow. French industry was starved of energy and raw materials.
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Old 07-27-2014, 10:05 AM
 
17,877 posts, read 15,719,596 times
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Isnt the Pharma giant Merck originally a german firm? I think when WW2 started we told the New world branch to split or split. Meaning split as in get lost, or split off from your german counterpart and be on your own.
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Old 07-28-2014, 01:40 PM
 
Location: On the Great South Bay
9,096 posts, read 13,104,976 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by West Phx Native View Post
Those factories were taken over and operated by the nazi's. Ford, GM or Opel had no say as to what the factory was being used for. French aircraft factories were taken over and made to build german designs such as the Fi-156 Storch, the Me-108, french aircraft engines were used to power german aircraft, somehow I don't think the germans asked if the French wanted to make them.

Japanese planes were using parts and designs licensed from American companies, but I don't think they kept up the payments.
The Germans also took over some good armament factories when they annexed the Czechs. The Czechs of course inherited them from the old Austrian-Hungarian Empire (some of the old Austrian artillery was quite good).

Å*koda Works - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (Skoda works Austria - Czechoslovakia)

Anyway I am glad you mentioned Ford etc. because I have seen a number of posts mentioning it here on City-Data. Effective propaganda, they take something with a bit of truth, ie. Ford and many other companies built trucks for prewar Germany and then they greatly exaggerate it until they have the United States and other western countries being responsible for building up the German war machine.

Last edited by LINative; 07-28-2014 at 01:51 PM..
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Old 07-29-2014, 09:44 PM
 
Location: North of Canada, but not the Arctic
20,849 posts, read 19,322,755 times
Reputation: 25335
Quote:
Originally Posted by ukrkoz View Post
You didn't know that PROFIT cares of no boundaries, political systems, or human lives? Just like ol' chap Lening said: "There is not a hideous crime, a capitalist will not commit, for 10% of profit".
Pffft...do you realize how foolish you sound? Ford was building cars in Germany long before the Nazis took over. Ford Germany - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Ford was also building cars in Russia before Stalin. Globalization is not a recent development.
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Old 07-30-2014, 03:46 AM
 
Location: London
4,717 posts, read 5,020,438 times
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Ford was a Nazi sympathizer. He wrote a book, "The International Jew". He had a dictatorial nature and detested unions. Henry Ford owned a disused plant in Manchester in England and refused it to be used for the production of Rolls Royce Merlin aircraft engines in WW2. Only by pressure from the US government did he allow the factory to be used in 1941. However the Air production Ministry built a much larger factory next to the idle Ford plant and Ford agreed to organise production on both plants. The Trafford Shopping Centre now occupies the site.
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Old 08-01-2014, 04:28 AM
 
Location: Buckeye
604 posts, read 927,876 times
Reputation: 1395
Quote:
Originally Posted by John1960 View Post
A.J. Baime is author of the new book “The Arsenal of Democracy: FDR, Detroit and an Epic Quest to Arm an America at War,” the story of how American car companies led the charge to make Detroit the most important war production city during World War II. At the heart of the book is Ford Motor’s construction of the Willow Run Bomber Plant, home to the B-24 Liberator bomber.

Willow Run, Edsel Ford and Detroit's role in arming the U.S. in WW II | Detroit Free Press | freep.com
This book mentioned by John is a great read! WWII was won in Detroit and it sickens my heart to see what happened to that industry since those days. It's been a while since I read this but I believe it was also this book that pointed out the great opposition to WWII by the labor unions and their hundreds of strikes which threatened the ability of the U.S. to not only arm itself but our European allies.

Incidentally, there was no "pressure" on these industrial giants by the federal government according to this book. In fact, it was they who had to direct the government in the armament. Roosevelt and his cabinet hadn't a clue what was needed to win the war.
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Old 08-02-2014, 06:59 PM
 
Location: London
4,717 posts, read 5,020,438 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by GeneR View Post
WWII was won in Detroit
It clearly was not.
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