When Germany lost World War One they were in anarchy. There were so many revolts against the German government right before the war ended after the war it became a revolution. Finally a government named Weimar came which was a centrist democratic republic. The government wasn’t very popular and not many people supported it because it was shaky and very weak. The allied forces wanted to punish Germany so they took over all the German companies that were in their countries including their industrial secrets, and tried to get rid of all Germany’s chemical patents. BASF wasn’t too worried if their chemical patents were seized because the competitors couldn’t figure out how to make the ammonia, but the some factories including the ammonia factory in Oppau were in the land that was taken from Germany. This could give away the whole process. Bosch was relieved that the factory in Luena was safe though. Another factory that was taken was BASF’s original plant for when they were a dye business and the French took about a million marks worth of dye. When the French went into the factory in Oppau they turned off all the machines claiming that they didn’t have enough coal to run them right now which was a reason, but the big reason was that he didn’t wanna show the secrets of how it worked. The French wasn’t having any of it and told them to turn on the machines. The BASF lawyers said not to because the French wanted to steal secrets and this was not in the treaty. The French told the British and both agreed that this was a military factory so they had the rights to take the secrets. Bosch held them back in any way possible, but the French put a military post at Oppau and treated BASF workers like criminals and search all the things at Oppau and the dye lab which was at Ludwigshafen. When inspectors came to watch the machines all the workers stopped working and turned off the machines so that the French couldn’t know anything. The French never could figure out the ammonia making system. Bosch kept his workers busy so no one would worry about the French. Bosch improved everything at Oppau. The problem was how long could Bosch do this because no one knew how long the French were staying. Everyone wanted a Haber-Bosch system so they could make their own ammonia. The United States and Britain both tried to, but failed. Everyone wanted to rip apart Oppau so they could see how it worked. This machine was the thing that could feed their citizens and provide weapons it was the ultimate machine. The French never could figure it out so British sent inspectors to try to figure it out. The British wanted to pull apart equipment and look at the machines working, but the workers did the same thing stopped working and turned off machine when inspectors arrived. The British couldn’t get the secret either so they left. The British did get sketches and notes,but BASF managed to get someone to steal them for them. Bosch was hoping Germany to get strong again so they could help the company. Bosch was sent to Versailles to represent the German industry for the peace negotiations and was thrown in jail as a precaution. When The Germans got there they found there was no negotiations it was the Allied forces telling them what was going to happen. The allied powers were gonna make them pay. The French wanted all military equipment companies destroyed and the shutdown of Oppau and Leuna. The Allied forces also wanted to destroy the Germans economy by making them pay for damages in all types of valuable items including ammonia. Bosch tried to argue, but mostly was ignored. So Bosch decided to escape the jail that they were keeping the German representatives and talked to a representative of the French chemical industry. For Oppau and Leuna to stay open he would give them the information to build a Haber-Bosch plant. The French would also get the rights to build the system in the French territories. The machine that they would build would make a hundred tons a day. The French would also get all the new information BASF find during the next fifteen years. BASF would get five million francs and some money for every ton of ammonia made in France. Oppau and Leuna began making ammonia again. Bosch became the head of BASF for this he liked being the head, but hated the meetings. He wanted to get back to engineering and making the machines. He dealt with this because he had to get BASF through post war and he got many perks like a huge villa and a big pay raise. Another problem rose when the french began selling the dyes they confiscated from Ludwigshafen. They sold so many that the prices were very low. Other countries also started to make their own dyes from the patents being gone. Since so many German science secrets were out the other countries were at the same level at science as the Germans. The Germans weren’t a science world power anymore. Bosch decided to boost ammonia production and look for new business ideas. Bosch needed a new idea because the Haber-Bosch plants were gonna spread across the world in no time.
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