Page - 416 - in THE FIRST WORLD WAR - and the End of the Habsburg Monarchy, 1914 – 1918

416 Factory War and Domestic Front, 1915 companies in question had to close. In 1914, the shortage of workers as a result of mobilisation had led to numerous closures and collapses. In 1915, it was the lack of source materials, namely still the shortage of workers and transport problems, which led to further closures. From a total of 15,154 enterprises that had to close in Austria during the course of the war, most of them shut down in 1915.982 The luxury goods industry was affected most. Many companies, however, could adapt themselves. The textiles industry produced materials for uniforms, tents, foot cloths and everything else that the millions of soldiers required in the way of textiles. Businesses processing leather switched from handbags and ladies’ shoes to saddles, straps and military foot- wear. The food industry changed to canned goods and in a short time was not only fully engaged but in fact reached the limits of its capacity. Factories that produced for the army’s requirements shot up like mushrooms.983 The iron and steel corporations, whose boom as a result of the war was relentless, initially recorded in 1915 an output that was no higher than in 1913. The huge requirements of the war and the handsome profits were an enormous incentive, however, to produce more. Only very little served to cover private needs or export, though. If before the war, five per cent of Austria-Hungary’s entire production in the iron and steel sector had been sufficient to cover military requirements, this proportion rose to 85 per cent in 1915. In other words, only 15 per cent were available for the civilian needs and for export, as compared with 95 per cent before the war.984 From May 1915, the export of iron, steel and ferrous alloys required special permission.985 This much could be said, however : the control mechanisms that had to be installed ad hoc at the beginning of the war had proved to be at least viable and were applied ever more comprehensively. Above all the central office for metal, the first consortium to be set up in the form of a public limited company and which worked closely with the War Ministry, could ensure the seizure of the required raw materials by means of strict management. The metal central office carried out collections of old iron, initiated the campaign ‘I gave gold for iron’ (Gold gab ich für Eisen), with which precious metals including wedding rings were collected and, in the case of the latter, replaced with iron rings, and in 1915 confiscated all coins minted in nickel, thus bridging the shortage of this metal that was almost irreplaceable for the production of weapons.986 If private firms failed to cover war needs, as was the case with tungsten, the War Ministry abandoned its merely steering role and intervened directly. When the extraction of this rare metal by the Fürstlich Lobkowitz Tungsten Mining in Cinovec (Zinnwald) sagged, the business was placed under military control and production was increased tenfold within the space of one month. Old mines were reactivated and managed militarily from the outset and, as far as possible, with the help of prisoners of war.987 Control in the metal sector resulted in the most important businesses receiving their monthly requirements a month in advance and thus being able to produce in accordance with the changing but overall increasing needs.