434 Chapter 22
state control of coal mines, broke the powers of the
miners’ guild, and cut the taxes on mines by 50 percent.
Prussian coal production sharply increased. The Krupp
Works of Essen showed the similar growth of the met-
allurgical industry. Krupp had been a small, and nearly
bankrupt, iron foundry with seven employees when it
began to manufacture ordnance in 1847. Alfred Krupp
won the firm’s first government contract in 1859, and
within a decade the Krupp Works became the largest
arms manufacturer in central Europe, with iron and
steel mills that made it one of the largest industrial
combines in the world (see illustration 22.5).Illustration 22.5
The Krupp Works at Essen. The
Krupp family have been armaments
makers at Essen, in the Ruhr River valley
of western Germany, since the sixteenth
century. The Krupp Works pioneered
modern steel manufacturing. Under Al-
fred Krupp (1812–87), “the cannon
king,” the firm contributed significantly
to German unification; under his son
Fritz (1854–1902), the Krupp Works be-
came the largest steel works in the
world.