"If I don't get enough oil, I must end this war." -Hitler
In the last two years of World War I, there was a serious oil shortage in Germany, and the only source was Austria-Hungary and Romania. Ludendorff pointed out at that time: "Romania's oil is the most important, but unfortunately, Romania's oil production capacity has reached its limit, which is not enough to change the overall situation of German oil shortage." The British beat us to it and occupied Baku in August 19 18, which was called "a heavy blow to us" by ludendorff.
In the first year of Nazi coming to power, economic strategists pointed out that in the event of war, heavy dependence on crude oil imports would be the key bottleneck restricting German military operations. 1The "Lin Kai Construction Plan" put forward on July 2, 938 required that the oil production should reach 1 10000 tons at the beginning of 1944, but Hitler obviously could not wait for this time. His strategy is to wage war through reserves first, and then solve the oil source in the war. 1939 Germany's oil imports peaked in the first half of the year, with Romania as the largest source. Although sources outside Europe were cut off after September, Germany imported 565,438+065,000 tons of oil that year, 200,000 tons more than the annual 65,438+0938. 1940 On May 27th, Germany and Romania signed an oil agreement. Of the 2.075 million tons of oil imported by Germany in that year, 974,000 tons came from Romania, and nearly 657,000 tons were imported according to the Soviet-German trade agreement. 194 1 year, the import from Romania increased to 1007 million tons, and in the first half of the year, it imported 283,000 tons from the Soviet Union.
Germany's remarkable economic growth in the past half century largely depends on its abundant energy-coal. In the late 1930s, coal accounted for about half of the total energy in the United States, but for Germany, it provided 90% of the energy-while oil only accounted for about 5%. However, Hitler was already planning the future in 1932, and oil was crucial to his ambition. 1933 In June, he became the German Chancellor, and a year and a half later, he took all the power. He lost no time in launching what he called a "turning point in the history of German automobile traffic". One-way expressways without speed limit run through the country. 1934, the plan to manufacture new cars began. It's called "people's car", that is, "Volkswagen".
But for Hitler's grand plan to put the whole of Europe under the rule of the Nazi empire-and himself-these are just side issues. In order to achieve the above goals, he immediately began to rectify the economy, strengthen the state's control over large enterprises, and manufacture Nazi war machines-including bombers, fighters, tanks and trucks, all of which needed oil. Therefore, the ongoing production of synthetic fuel in France is of decisive significance.
Why can solid coal be liquefied into a liquid similar to petroleum? This is determined by the composition of coal and oil. Coal and oil are both fossil fuels. Coal was buried in the stratum by some trees that grew on the earth tens of millions or even hundreds of millions of years ago. In the long geological age, it gradually changed under the action of ground temperature and ground pressure. Lower animals change oil through processes similar to coal. The main components of coal and oil are carbon and hydrogen, but the main component of oil is small hydrocarbon molecules composed of hydrocarbons, while the main component of coal is organic macromolecules composed of hydrocarbons, and its relative molecular mass is about 10 times that of oil. The proportion of hydrogen and carbon in coal is very small, about half that of oil. When the hydrogen content in coal is increased by certain technical measures to make the hydrocarbon ratio in coal and petroleum basically the same, solid coal may become a liquid fuel similar to petroleum. This is the basic idea of coal liquefaction, and the key to coal liquefaction is how to hydrogenate coal.
The liquefaction process of coal is very complicated. It is generally believed that coal first decomposes into an intermediate product called "pentene" and then reacts with hydrogen to become a substance similar to petroleum. Because coal contains impurities, the substances in the liquefaction plant are very viscous. After solid-liquid separation, the liquid obtained is the oil generated by coal liquefaction, which is a dark brown liquid. After fractionation, heavy components are removed to obtain gasoline.
There are two basic methods of coal liquefaction technology, namely direct liquefaction and indirect liquefaction. Direct liquefaction is that coal is first made into coal slurry, and then under the action of catalyst at high temperature and medium pressure, liquid hydrocarbon is generated by hydrocracking, that is, "synthetic oil". The efficiency of direct liquefaction is about 65% ~ 75%, and 0.3~0.4t liquefied oil can be produced per ton of coal. Indirect liquefaction is to gasify coal with steam at high temperature to produce synthetic gas (CO, H2, etc. ), and then the synthesis gas generates liquid alcohols and hydrocarbons with excellent performance through catalytic reaction. The efficiency of indirect liquefaction is usually low.
Chemical dissolution method In Germany, the pioneering work of extracting synthetic fuel from coal actually began before the First World War. At that time, Germany had been recognized as the world leader in chemistry. 19 13 years, German solid fuel and a large amount of hydrogen were injected into coal with the catalyst at high temperature and high pressure, resulting in advanced liquid fuel. 10 years later, in the mid-1920s, the Germans created a competitive method called "Fisher-Trop". In this method, coal particles are crushed under steam, and then hydrogen and carbon monoxide are injected to make them interact, and finally a synthetic oil is made. The hydrogenation method of Bejeus is considered to be the better of the two methods. Among other products, it can also produce aviation gasoline, but the "Fischer-Tropsch" rule cannot. In addition, the French company obtained the Bejeus law patent in 1926.
A French company became interested in synthetic fuels in the 1920s, because it had the same expectation that the trend of stimulating global large-scale oil exploitation would quickly exhaust the traditional oil supply in the world. The Nazi government provided financial assistance because the growing demand for foreign oil was depleting important and insufficient foreign exchange. Hitler knew that Germany would be ready for war. We must reduce our dependence on foreign oil through new technology and chemistry.
1936 In the second half of the year, Hitler took some decisive steps to arm Germany, so that Germany could prepare for the war expected to take place in 1940. He began to implement a four-year plan, one of which is to reduce dependence on foreign oil through new technology and chemistry. When proposing the plan, he said: "Now we must develop fuel production in Germany as soon as possible. This task must be handled and completed with the same determination as in combat, because future war behavior depends on the solution of this problem. " He added: "The production cost of this raw material is irrelevant."
Germany has indeed established a very strong synthetic fuel industry. By September 1939, when Germany invaded Poland and World War II broke out in Europe, it had 14 hydrogenation plants running at full speed, and another 6 were under construction. By 1940, the output of synthetic fuel increased sharply-72,000 barrels per day, accounting for 64% of the total oil supply. However, from the perspective of military demand, the significance of synthetic fuel is more significant. Bergeus hydrogenation provides about 95% of the total aviation gasoline in Germany. Without these synthetic fuels, the German Air Force could not take off.
Although Hitler had a powerful war machine and more and more synthetic fuels, the oil problem never reassured him. In fact, this fear prompted him to form a basic strategy based on "blitzkrieg"-concentrating mechanized troops to carry out fierce short-term attacks in order to win a decisive victory before there is a problem with fuel supply. At first, whether in Poland in 1939 or in the spring of 1940, this strategy was used surprisingly well. The battle of the western front actually improved the oil situation in Germany, because the oil reserves captured by the Germans greatly exceeded the fuel they consumed in the war of aggression. Even if Hitler's attempt to conquer the British Isles by large-scale air bombing failed in the autumn of 1940, Germany still seems to be close to dominating Europe!
Also in 1940, Romania was in danger, and Hungary, Bulgaria and the Soviet Union all made territorial claims to it. 1 In July, the Soviet Union simply sent troops to seize Bissalabia. 1October 23rd 165438+ Romania's entry into the Axis countries and international anti-communist agreements. At that time, Germany's dependence on Romanian oil reached 94%. By the time of the "Barbarossa" operation the following year, the 2.086 million tons of oil exported to Germany was worth more than the 654.38 million+00,000 Luo Jun that participated in the war.
Germany thinks it is not difficult to win. Therefore, when Romania's largest Proyeshti oil field was threatened by the Soviet Union, Hitler turned his eyes eastward to his next target-the Soviet Union.
Starting from Barbarossa, the occupation of Baku and other Caucasus oil fields was the center of Hitler's Russian campaign. A historian once wrote: "In the economic field, Hitler's goal was oil. The occupation of Caucasus oil fields is even more important than the occupation of Moscow! For Hitler, oil was indispensable to the industrial age and economic strength. It's the blood of the war machine!
194110/on October 7th, george thomas, Director of the Bureau of Wartime Economy and Armament, reported again: "At present, the output of aviation fuel and lubricating oil is 289,000 tons, which can still meet the demand before the end of the year, but it will only be 3 1 by the beginning of 1942. By June 65438+1 October1,the diesel oil was less than 250,000 tons. According to the current consumption, there will be a shortage of 25,000 tons 1 1 at the end of June. Obviously, Germany can no longer provide Italy with 654.38+10,000 tons of fuel per month. "
1942, Germany's oil reserves fell to 797,000 tons, only enough for one month's consumption. Although the synthetic fuel increased to nearly 4 million tons, this increase was offset by the decline in Romanian oil production caused by allied bombing. /kloc-in February/February, antonescu said to ribbentrop, "Romania has spent all its money on crude oil, and now the only way out is to occupy oil-rich areas."
1943 The Battle of Stalingrad was Germany's first big defeat in Europe, which made Hitler furious. The Germans stopped attacking. The "blitzkrieg" phase has ended. Since then, the decisive factor is no longer lightning attack, but military manpower and economic resources, including oil.
1943, the Axis countries have been defeated in Russia and North Africa, and the German attempt to conquer Baku or oil fields in the Middle East has become wishful thinking. So Germany had to rely on its own resources instead, and had no choice. Synthetic fuel will be the center of its crazy maintenance of the war machine. In the process of making such efforts, Hitler's empire showed its technical wisdom and the coercive power of centralized politics.
Like other sectors of the war economy, the synthetic fuel industry is also rising. By 1942, the industry had made greater progress than in 1930s-updated production technology, improved catalysts, produced better products and expanded the types of coal as raw materials. And the output is also rising rapidly. Between 1940 and 1943, the output of synthetic fuel almost doubled, from 72,000 barrels per day to124,000 barrels per day. Artificial fuel plant is an important link in the fuel industry system. 1944 its output in the first quarter accounted for 57% of the total fuel supply and 92% of aviation gasoline. Production is still growing at a high speed. On an annual basis, the output of 1944 in the first quarter is increasing at a higher speed. Generally speaking, during World War II, synthetic fuels accounted for half of Germany's total oil production.
Ironically, the oil situation in Germany has improved from 65438 to 0943. The first reason is that Italy left the Axis in September. Not only did it finally block the "sewer" of oil reserves, but the Germans who occupied northern Italy gained a lot of oil reserves. The output of synthetic fuel plants in Germany also reached a historical peak, exceeding 5.6 million tons.
1944, in order to cope with the air raid, the allied forces shifted the focus of bombing Germany to the oil industry. Speer, Minister of Armament, ordered that the synthetic fuel factory and other oil facilities should be repaired quickly, or evacuated to smaller, easier-to-protect and hidden places as much as possible-some moved to the ruins of destroyed factories, some moved to tunnels, and some moved underground. Even breweries are switching to fuel. It was originally planned that 1944 would greatly increase the production capacity of synthetic fuel, but at this time, those machine parts prepared for increasing production had to be dismantled to maintain the existing facilities. More than 350,000 workers are engaged in this intense work. At first, the factory was quickly repaired, but after a while, the factory was often attacked by air again, which made the factory more scattered, fragile and difficult to repair. The output began to drop sharply. 1944 Before the first air raid in May, the average daily output of synthetic fuel produced by hydrogenation was 92,000 barrels. By September, the output had dropped to 5000 barrels. The output of aviation gasoline in that month was only 3,000 barrels per day, accounting for only 6% of the average output in the first four months of 1944. At the same time, the Soviet army occupied the Romanian Plier Sti oil field, which made Hitler lose the main source of crude oil.
1September 1944, the monthly output of synthetic fuel decreased by 92.2%, only 1.7 million tons, and the fuel demand of the German Air Force 1.8 million tons could only meet 30,000 tons, so it could not be dispatched normally. 1in the autumn of 944, bad weather conditions temporarily eased the allied attack. 165438+ 10 In June, the Germans managed to increase the output of synthetic fuel. But by 65438+February, the output had dropped again.
If Germans had more fuel, they might buy more time. Strategically, Germany's war efforts failed because of the failure of the Ardennes offensive. 1945 February, German aviation gasoline production was only 1000 tons-0.5% of the level of 1944 in the first four months. Since then, production has stopped. But the German illusion of victory still exists. Speer recalled that Hitler "in desperation, when he continued to express his position to those divisions that no longer exist, or ordered planes grounded for lack of fuel to provide supplies for the troops, some people around him would listen to him silently". "
At the last moment of the German army in 1945, a large number of new steam jet fighters and heavy tanks were blown up by the allied air force on the ground because of lack of fuel. The Germans have returned to the19th century, becoming mules, horses and manpower transport troops. When Hitler and his wife committed suicide in Berlin bunker, they ordered the bodies to be poured with gasoline and burned to avoid falling into the hands of hateful Russians. The existing gasoline is finally enough to carry out the final order.