Although the most important deposits of coking coal of the Continent are in Westphalia, those of Belgium and northern France are very important to a general control of the coal situation. It cannot be assumed that these important coal fields were seized by the Germans for other reasons, or that the Germans included coal and iron by accident. In 1911 the Rhenish Westphalian Zeitung advised that French Lorraine and Luxemburg should be dominated as thoroughly as Westphalia was. In 1915 the six greatest associations of business men in Germany petitioned the Chancellor to consider the control of the coal (and iron) of northern France as a military as well as economic necessity.
The annual production of coal in Germany before the war was about one-fifth of the world’s total output, closely approaching the production of Great Britain. In the first years of the war the coal output declined somewhat. In coal exports, Germany has been second only to the British Isles, but no country exports by sea one-sixth as much as Great Britain. Before the war Germany had established some fourteen “Kohlen depots” abroad and had a large amount of shipping. These bunkering ports were taken by the Allies.
An example of German industrial penetration is furnished by the case of Kiau Chau, China. In 1899 the Shantung Eisenbahn Gesellschaft was formed in Berlin with headquarters at Tsingtao. It acquired exclusive rights for 5 years to search for minerals in a zone 10 miles each side of the railway and to acquire claims. Chinese mines were not to be allowed to adopt modern methods and compete, unless they bought German material and employed German men. The mines that were developed produced good steamship coal and good enough coke, so that a blast furnace was planned. The Germans lost their control when war broke out, and these rights have passed, under the terms of the peace treaty, to Japan. German capital that had been invested some years ago in the Chung Hsing Coal Co. was bought out in 1908.
France.
—Before the war France was fifth in the list of world’s coal producers, but for many years needed more coal than she produced. Possibly enough coal could have been mined in France by greater developments, but to import it was cheaper. French capital was invested in some foreign coal deposits. A company of French control owned the Stonehall colliery, near Dover. Before the war a French company was one of the largest operators in Turkey and was steadily acquiring new mines. A French company owned an important colliery in the Dombrova field, now part of Poland.
France has maintained government coaling stations for shipping in Indo-China, Tahiti, Society Islands, Martinique, and Madagascar; but no attempt is made to supply them wholly with French coal, or to be independent of other coaling stations.
Italy.
—Italy has a poor supply of low-grade coal, and the normal production is insignificant. Imports have been large, those from Great Britain amounting in 1914 to 10,000,000 tons.
Russia.
—Russia has several important coal fields. The production was 31,000,000 tons in 1915 and 23,000,000 in 1916, so that Russia, including the province of Ukraine, has ranked fifth or sixth among the world’s producers. If the demand for coal develops under the stimulus of industrial stability, the output will all be consumed in Russia. About two-thirds of the production has been raised in the Donetz basin. Half of this is coking coal.