1914 – 1918 / First World War

The First World War begins in the summer of 1914. Germany pours its resources into the war effort, which is increasingly placing a burden on the economy. The war makes the newly industrialized society aware of the two-sided nature of many of its products for the first time, including those in the chemical sector. Synthetic ammonia was created, for example, to ensure food supplies for a growing population. But already faced with a shortage of ammunition by late 1914, the government accords the highest priority to the production of ammonia. At the Oppau site, it is converted into nitric acid and then supplied to the explosives industry.