Alfred Nobel The name of Alfred Nobel is now known primarily thanks to the prize he created. During his lifetime, his reputation was completely different: Nobel was called the "king of dynamite" and "mass murderer"

The accusation of espionage. The last decade of Nobel's life

In 1888, the Honfleur plant was established for the production of ballistite . At the same time, Nobel tried to make the French government his main client, but he was refused: the country had its own development, Viel's gunpowder .

By coincidence, this gunpowder was produced at a factory near the Nobel estate. There is information that Nobel tried to lure workers out of this enterprise. The designs of Alfred and his rivals differed from each other, but not for the government.

Although it was more than 20 years before World War I, the Entente and the Triple Alliance already existed, and the world was divided. Nobel in trade did not take into account the political situation. Having received a refusal from the French government, he turned to Italy, then a member of the Triple Alliance, and signed a contract with the government.

To the natural reaction of the French was added the denunciation of the manager of the Sevran plant. Part of the culprit in the scandal was Paul Barb, who was rumored to have negotiated with the Italian government and later helped launch a ballistite plant in the country. Barb was a member of the French Chamber of Deputies, and at one of the meetings he was accused of treason.

In parallel with this, the authorities took up the Nobel. The tax police found that he was guilty of embezzlement of 4.6 million francs. It is believed that the reason for the accusation was given by dishonest business partners of the entrepreneur in France, who carried out dubious transactions and simply stole money.

In addition to the tax, the police and intelligence became interested in Nobel. Searches began in his house and laboratory. It was not possible to find anything special, but the situation was heating up. In 1890, Barb died, and Nobel was left with problems one on one. There is a version that Barba was initially accused of embezzlement of 4.6 million francs, while Nobel became a defendant in the case after the death of his partner.

Having received no objective evidence of Nobel's guilt, the French authorities began to create administrative obstacles to his work. He was banned from doing business in the country, and the Honfleur plant was closed. In the early 1890s, Nobel was forced to leave his beloved Paris.

After leaving, Nobel visited France several times, but he no longer stayed there. His new refuge was Italy, where he bought a villa in San Remo. Nobel created another laboratory here and several times came to the Italian plant that produced ballistite.

The Italian period of Nobel's life is associated with a huge number of inventions. During this time, he became interested in balloons and their use in cartography. At the same time, in the letters of Nobel, one can find information that balloons are not the future of aviation. Alfred noted: what the birds can do, it is possible for humans to embody.

In Italy, Nobel worked in all sorts of fields, from household appliances to weapons. He also developed mufflers for guns and guns. In addition, Alfred advised the brothers' oil company in Baku and advised them to use internal combustion engines on ships.

The inventor's neighbors in San Remo quickly got tired of his explosive experiments and tests of projectiles and began to hint to him about it. Nobel bought the AB Bofors mansion and ironworks in Sweden and moved in 1894. There is information that Nobel lived in Sweden in summer and in Italy in winter.

The equipment at the purchased plant was outdated; a maximum of 160-mm guns, as well as armor , were produced here . Nobel, however, developed a vigorous activity, taking up the expansion and modernization of the enterprise. King Oscar II, noticing the successes, came to the plant and praised the achievements of Nobel. There is information that the king and the businessman did not miss the opportunity to communicate with each other.

In 1897, the Nobel factory presented a 250 mm cannon at an exhibition in Stockholm. Bofors would then become a supplier to the Swedish army and later enter the Krupps' steel empire .

In 1889, English scientists Abel and Dewar created Cordite smokeless powder and granted the right to manufacture it. Representatives of the Nobel company, which worked in the region, considered it to be a fake ballistite, and without the knowledge of the entrepreneur sued the competitors.

Nobel did not want to sue, moreover, back in 1888, he began a correspondence with Abel and Dewar and even provided them with some documentation on ballistitis. Scientists borrowed a lot from Nobel's development, but he still lost a three-year trial and was forced to pay a fine. At the same time, the judge expressed sympathy for Nobel and compared him to a giant with two dwarfs on his shoulders.

Soon, with the filing of Nobel, the British company began to expand and began to produce cordite, so that he still managed to turn the development of competitors to his advantage.