Le simple garçon qui a créé Mercedes-Benz

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Mercedes-Benz est l'une des entreprises automobiles les plus anciennes et les plus luxueuses du monde, avec une valeur d'environ 80 milliards de dollars. Mais comme elle fait partie des voitures les plus prisées et les plus chères d'aujourd'hui, il est facile d'oublier ses humbles débuts.  Tout a commencé avec un pauvre ingénieur, qui a dû faire face à de nombreux doutes et échecs dans sa quête pour construire la première voiture sans chevaux. Malgré les difficultés, il a prouvé que tout le monde avait tort et a transformé sa petite entreprise en la première et la plus grande société de production automobile au monde à la fin du 19e siècle.  Mais ce qui avait commencé comme une réussite édifiante a pris une tournure étonnamment sombre, lorsque l'entreprise a profité de la fourniture de véhicules militaires aux Allemands dans le cadre de travaux forcés.   Alors, asseyez-vous et détendez-vous, car aujourd'hui nous allons couvrir la folle histoire de Mercedes-Benz et de l'homme qui a donné vie aux automobiles, Karl Benz.  CHAPITRES: 00:00 - 01:13 Prologue 01:14 - 05:58 Un Début Modeste 05:59 - 08:57 Benz & Cie 08:58 - 11:44 Le Voyage Qui A Changé L'avenir 11:45 - 16:50 La Rivalité 16:51 - 21:56 Une Nouvelle Direction #Histoire #Documentaire #Voiture

Transcript

00:00Mercedes-Benz is one of the oldest and most luxurious automotive companies in the world,

00:22with a value of approximately $80 billion.

00:24But since it is one of the most popular and expensive cars today,

00:28It's easy to forget one's humble beginnings.

00:31It all started with a poor engineer who faced many doubts and failures in his quest to build the first horseless carriage.

00:39Despite the difficulties, he proved everyone wrong and transformed his small business into the first

00:45and the largest automobile production company in the world at the end of the 19th century.

00:50But what began as an uplifting success story took a surprisingly dark turn.

00:54When the company profited from supplying military vehicles to the Nazis through forced labor.

01:01So, sit back and relax, because today we're going to cover the crazy history of Mercedes-Benz

01:06and the man who brought automobiles to life, Carl Benz.

01:10Carl Benz was born in 1844 in the German town of Müllberg.

01:25His father was a locomotive engineer and barely managed to support his family.

01:30However, when Carl was two years old, his father died,

01:33leaving him and his mother in dire financial straits.

01:37Needless to say, Benz's childhood was not easy.

01:41But despite the poverty and the fact that he went to bed hungry,

01:44His mother did everything she could to ensure her son received a good education.

01:49Thanks to her, Carl can go to school and shows signs of intelligence from a very young age,

01:54particularly in chemistry and mechanics.

01:55At 15, Carl decides to follow in his father's footsteps

01:59and takes the entrance exam for mechanical engineering at the University of Karlsruhe,

02:03where he meets a teacher who will play an important role in his life,

02:06Fernand Rettenbacher.

02:09Rettenbacher is considered the main architect of the transformation of mechanical engineering,

02:14from a workshop trade to a technical science in Germany.

02:18He firmly believed that steam engines,

02:20which were mainly used at the time for railways and ships,

02:24would quickly become a thing of the past.

02:27Under his tutelage, Benz's interest in horseless carriages really began to develop.

02:32and being a regular cyclist himself, he started tinkering with his bicycle,

02:37experimenting with possible ways to create a motorized vehicle.

02:41By this time, many engineers and inventors had already attempted to create the first automobile

02:46and although some of them have managed to build self-propelled vehicles,

02:51These early inventions were not yet entirely practical.

02:54Karl noticed that most of these vehicles were built with steam engine technologies

02:59and, influenced by his teacher Röntgenbacher,

03:02Benz realized the need for a completely different concept.

03:06Although many people mocked his vision,

03:09he always believed it was possible.

03:11He just needed more time to prove it.

03:14So, after graduating from Karlsruhe at the age of 19,

03:18Benz spent the next seven years working in various engineering and construction jobs.

03:23Although he had difficulty adapting to each of them,

03:26He used everything he had learned to relaunch his own business in 1871.

03:32At the age of 27, Karl joined forces with a mechanic named Auguste Ritter

03:36and together they began operating an iron foundry and machine shop in Manheim.

03:42Meanwhile, Benz continues to work on his side project,

03:46namely the construction of a motorized car,

03:49so it seems essential to him to have a partner to help him manage the business.

03:53Unfortunately, his partner proved unreliable

03:56and, after local authorities confiscated his tools,

03:59The company experienced enormous difficulties during its first year of existence.

04:04Fortunately, Karl had then met a woman,

04:07Bertha Ringer, who would become his wife a few years later.

04:11Coming from a wealthy family, Bertha was a woman with strong values.

04:15and couldn't bear to see her fiancé's efforts ruined by his partner.

04:20So she decided to use her own dowry

04:22to buy out all of Ritter's shares in the company,

04:25which allowed him and Karl,

04:27to take full control of the company.

04:30Together they managed to turn the situation around

04:32and keep the company afloat for the next ten years.

04:36Despite all the difficulties, it was during this period

04:39that Karl was able to show his true genius

04:41and achieve significant developments and advances

04:44from his parallel experiences,

04:46notably for a two-stroke gasoline engine in 1879.

04:50To increase your income,

04:53he also began patenting his inventions,

04:55such as the engine speed control system,

04:58battery ignition,

05:00the spark plug,

05:01the carburetor,

05:02the clutch,

05:03the gear lever

05:04and the water radiator.

05:06Thanks to his inventions,

05:08Karl not only got closer to his dream

05:09to create a horseless carriage,

05:11but it also allowed him to add other products

05:13that he could sell as part of his business.

05:17However, his business is not doing as well as he would have liked.

05:19Karl's company's production costs have increased so much

05:23that the banks demanded that it be incorporated.

05:26He is therefore forced to join forces with other investors.

05:29and to transform his company into a public limited company in 1882.

05:34In the end,

05:34Karl now only owns 5% of his company's shares

05:37and his position in society is therefore demoted.

05:41To make matters worse,

05:42his ideas are no longer taken into account

05:44when designing new products.

05:46Actually,

05:46he no longer had any control over the company.

05:48Frustrated and hurt by this arrangement,

05:51Karl packed his bags

05:52and left the company the following year.

06:07Leaving his company was a hard blow for Karl,

06:11but this decision made him even more determined to succeed.

06:14His lifelong passion for bicycles

06:17leads him to Max Rose and Friedrich Wilhelm,

06:20two owners of a bicycle repair shop in Mannheim.

06:23Together,

06:24they founded Benz & Company

06:26and focus on the manufacturing of industrial machinery

06:29and stationary gas engines.

06:31Unlike Karl's previous company,

06:33this one starts off pretty well

06:35and becomes very profitable in a short time.

06:36With a stable income and a workforce of 25 people,

06:40Benz finally devotes himself to his lifelong dream,

06:43build a car with its gasoline engine.

06:47Instead of simply adding an engine to a car,

06:50Karl builds the car around the engine.

06:52And using technology similar to that of a bicycle,

06:56he builds what many consider

06:57like the first real automobile in 1885,

07:01the Benz Patent Motorwagen.

07:03This two-seater vehicle moved on three wire wheels,

07:07forming a tricycle

07:08and was powered by a four-stroke gasoline engine.

07:11Its single-cylinder engine produced two-thirds of a horsepower.

07:14and could reach a speed of 7 miles per hour.

07:18Benz knew this was a revolutionary vehicle.

07:21And after testing and perfecting his vehicle,

07:24He presented his wonderful car to the public in the summer of 1886.

07:28However, reviews are mixed.

07:31While some admire his creation,

07:33Most people are skeptical about the machine

07:35and do not want it to circulate on the main streets,

07:38for fear that it might explode.

07:40Others were even convinced that Benz was the devil himself.

07:43driving a hellish car.

07:45Carl's business partners aren't very happy either.

07:48His obsession with cars kept him away from his work

07:51and he didn't see how his invention could be useful.

07:54“Why would anyone buy such a machine?”

07:57he argued.

07:57"She's no faster than a horse,

08:00it can break down easily

08:01and it may run out of gas."

08:03However, Carl Benz was convinced

08:05that his horseless carriage was the future

08:08and he started making automobiles

08:10for sale in 1888,

08:12the first in the world to do so.

08:14His greatest support was his wife,

08:17who often stayed with her husband in the workshop

08:19to make new suggestions to him.

08:21But even after making improvements,

08:23People don't really see Carl's vision.

08:26On the other hand, the few people who bought the cars

08:29could only use them to travel short distances

08:32and, even in this case,

08:34They needed mechanics to accompany them at all times.

08:37Moreover, as they were very expensive,

08:39they were only accessible to the rich and the elite,

08:41and even many members of this so-called elite

08:44didn't like them

08:45because they were too noisy and messy.

08:48That said, one thing was clear,

08:51Carl had to convince the world

08:52that the automobile was here to stay.

09:06One morning in the summer of 1888,

09:08Bertha Benz gets up very early,

09:10while Carl is still in bed.

09:11and gets into her husband's car

09:13to undertake one of the most important journeys

09:15of the history of the automobile.

09:17She takes her two sons

09:18and goes to visit his mother in Pforzheim,

09:21106 kilometers from Mannheim.

09:23Bertha did not inform her husband or the police of her plans,

09:26probably because, if she had done so,

09:28he wouldn't have let him go.

09:30At that time, no automobiles or motorized cars

09:33had never attempted such a long journey,

09:34but she was determined to show the importance

09:36of Benz's invention.

09:37However, this trip was not a walk in the park.

09:41Bertha had to face many problems,

09:43like crossing dusty and rocky roads

09:46intended for horses,

09:47stop at a pharmacy to fill up with gas

09:49and even carry out some mechanical repairs

09:51along the way.

09:53It took Bertha and her two children

09:55approximately 12 hours of travel to cover the 66 miles.

09:58But they finally arrived in Pforzheim safely.

10:01This trip especially allowed Bertha

10:03to achieve the goal she had set for herself,

10:05to make it known that the automobile was the future of transportation.

10:09The Benz Motorwagen thus becomes the talk of the town

10:12and gives Karl's company great publicity.

10:15Very quickly, Benz and company began to expand rapidly,

10:18so much so that in 1890,

10:21It becomes the second largest engine manufacturer in Germany,

10:23although not through the sale of its automobiles,

10:26but by that of its stationary gasoline engines.

10:28The order of two business partners,

10:31Friedrich von Fischer and Julius Gantz,

10:33will be a game changer.

10:35While he was dealing with business and marketing,

10:38Benz was able to focus more on engineering

10:40and was able to patent several automotive innovations

10:42such as planetary gear transmission,

10:45double-pivot steering

10:46and the flat engine with a boxer configuration.

10:50On the recommendation of its business partners,

10:52He also designed and manufactured a new and improved car

10:55which was put up for sale in 1893.

10:58He calls it the Benz Victoria.

11:01This is a more luxurious car for two passengers,

11:03equipped with a 3 horsepower engine,

11:05capable of reaching a speed of 11 miles per hour.

11:08Thanks to its reliability,

11:10the vehicle is selling quite well,

11:11but this is his next model,

11:13the Benz Velo,

11:14more affordable,

11:15which is experiencing real growth.

11:17With a total production of around 1200 cars,

11:20This bicycle became the first automobile

11:21produced on a large scale in history,

11:23making Benz and company

11:25the world's largest automobile company

11:27in the 1890s

11:28and early 1900s.

11:31However,

11:32while the Benz company enjoys its new success,

11:34she is also under a lot of pressure

11:36from another company located nearby,

11:39Daimler Motorrun Gesellschaft.

11:40Daimler Motorrun Gesellschaft

11:55was headed by Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach.

11:59Both were brilliant engineers,

12:01but Gottlieb Daimler in particular

12:02was known to be very competitive

12:04and had many connections and acquaintances

12:06in business terms,

12:08what Carl Benz seemed to lack.

12:09The first Daimler automobile

12:11sold commercially

12:12appeared in 1892.

12:15Two years later,

12:16a two-cylinder car is born

12:18and in 1897,

12:19the first front-engined model,

12:21the Daimler Phoenix, is presented.

12:24It is clear that the Daimler company

12:25catches up with Benz,

12:27because its vehicles seem more attractive

12:29and more comfortable for the public.

12:31However,

12:32Mr. Daimler unfortunately died in 1900,

12:35leaving Maybach at the helm of the company,

12:37but it is under the control of Maybach

12:38that he conceives his greatest achievement,

12:41the 35 horsepower Mercedes in 1901.

12:44What makes this vehicle so special,

12:47it is that it is the first automobile

12:48to resemble the idea we have today

12:50of a car.

12:52It was equipped with a powerful gasoline engine,

12:54its body was wider and taller,

12:57with a custom-made steel frame,

12:59and its center of gravity was close to the ground.

13:02Originally designed for racing,

13:04This vehicle was built to order

13:06of a wealthy businessman,

13:08Emile Gelinek,

13:09who decided to give the car

13:10the name of his daughter, Mercedes.

13:13This car has won many street races

13:15and hill climbs,

13:17reaching a top speed of 90 km/h,

13:20superior to that of all other vehicles of the time.

13:23This victory attracted the attention of the Daimler company,

13:26who decided to rename all of its vehicles

13:28under the name Mercedes

13:29and started producing new models

13:31for racing and public use under the same name.

13:34However, this new trend is not suitable

13:36to Carl Benz's partners,

13:38who want an immediate answer.

13:40To counter competition,

13:41they call on French designers

13:43to help them design a new, faster model,

13:46without Carl's agreement.

13:48Benz is furious and upset by this decision.

13:51He never liked the idea of car racing.

13:53and always preferred to drive slowly and carefully.

13:57He was horrified by the noise

13:58and the danger that a person represented

14:00driving at high speed on public roads.

14:03The car built by his team

14:04is not a success either,

14:06which harms the Benz company,

14:07which experienced a new crisis between 1903 and 1904.

14:11Angry and disappointed,

14:12Carl decides to leave his company

14:14while remaining on the board of directors.

14:17But he finally agreed to enter his cars

14:19and it was racing success that would ultimately save his business.

14:24In 1908,

14:25Benz has a 120 horsepower racing car.

14:28A monster

14:28which connects Leningrad to Moscow in 8h30

14:31with an average speed of 80 km/h.

14:34This is an incredible feat.

14:36given the primitive state of the streets at the time.

14:39But it's the 200 horsepower Blitzen Benz

14:42which will remarkably put the brand in the spotlight.

14:44Built in 1909,

14:47This racing car will break the absolute speed record

14:50hit by a plane,

14:51a train or an automobile at the time

14:53exceeding 225 km/h in 1911.

14:57This places Benz alongside Daimler

14:59as one of the most sought-after automobiles of the era

15:02and both companies are recording good sales

15:04in the years that followed.

15:06However,

15:06This success was short-lived

15:08because the outbreak of the First World War

15:10was going to turn people's lives upside down

15:12and the global economy.

15:13After the defeat of Germany

15:15during the First World War,

15:17the country experienced an economic recession

15:19and the two companies,

15:21Daimler and Benz,

15:22found themselves in great difficulty.

15:24To increase their chances of survival,

15:26The two companies put aside their rivalry

15:28and signed an agreement in 1924

15:30in which they agree to combine

15:31their production and marketing efforts

15:34while retaining their individual names

15:36in order to reduce costs.

15:38But this agreement only lasts two years.

15:39The German economy is deteriorating

15:41and both companies are forced

15:43to merge completely in 1926,

15:46creating a new business

15:47called Daimler-Benz.

15:49Under the aegis of Daimler-Benz,

15:51the company renamed its vehicles

15:53Mercedes-Benz

15:54and launched several impressive models

15:56in the late 1920s,

15:58such as the Mercedes-Benz type 630,

16:01model S, SS and SSK.

16:03One of the leading and most brilliant engineers

16:06having participated in the development of its vehicles

16:08is Ferdinand Porsche,

16:10whose name will later become

16:11very famous in the automotive industry.

16:14Karl, for his part,

16:15remained on the board of directors

16:17from Daimler-Benz

16:18and was able to see the success of his cars

16:20and marvel at the path traveled

16:22by the automotive industry during its lifetime.

16:25Unfortunately,

16:25He died shortly after the company merged.

16:27in April 1929,

16:29at the age of 84.

16:32After his death,

16:32the company continued to grow in size

16:34and in power,

16:36becoming one of the best car manufacturers in the world.

16:39However,

16:40he had some of his best years

16:41under the direction of an unlikely protagonist,

16:44Adolf Hitler.

16:59When Hitler came to power in 1933,

17:01he wanted to present to the whole world

17:03German engineering and technology,

17:05in order to get his political point across

17:07before the others.

17:09One of the ways he decided to impress the world

17:11was to highlight German cars

17:13in international motorsports.

17:16Almost immediately,

17:17he gave a large subsidy to Daimler-Benz

17:20for her to participate in the Grand Prix.

17:21At the time,

17:23no other car manufacturer

17:24did not spend so much time and money

17:26to the incredibly fast car building

17:28that Daimler-Benz

17:30and it showed on the circuits.

17:32From 1934 to 1939,

17:34Mercedes dominated the Grand Prix races,

17:37rolling at speeds

17:37up to 322 km/h

17:40with its W25 and W125 models.

17:42However,

17:44a new rival,

17:46Auto Union,

17:47another German car manufacturer

17:49sponsored by his own country,

17:50competes with him.

17:52Auto Union will also have its share of success

17:54during the same period,

17:56winning 25 races between 1935 and 1937.

18:00His successes place Germany

18:02in the world's first rank

18:03in motor sports events,

18:05in particular Mercedes-Benz,

18:06which even became Hitler's favorite car brand.

18:09Actually,

18:10one of the cars that was frequently seen on board

18:12was the Mercedes-Benz 770,

18:15a large luxury vehicle

18:16used mainly by high-ranking Nazi politicians

18:19and other Axis officials.

18:21However,

18:22with the outbreak of World War II in 1939,

18:25the Daimler-Benz company

18:26soon finds himself in great danger.

18:28As demand for civilian cars has become scarce,

18:31She started manufacturing military vehicles,

18:33submarines,

18:34tanks and aircraft engines for the Nazi army.

18:37Military trucks,

18:38with a capacity of 3 to 6 and a half tonnes,

18:40constituted its main sector of activity.

18:42In 1942,

18:43the company stopped producing public cars

18:46because all efforts were devoted to the war.

18:48And as the war intensified,

18:50it was necessary to recruit staff

18:51to cope with the increase in the production of military weapons.

18:55Given that the entire workforce

18:56is now engaged on the front,

18:58Daimler-Benz begins recruiting women

19:00to cope with the volume of units required.

19:03But since this is not enough to meet the demand,

19:05The company uses forced labor.

19:08These prisoners of war,

19:09kidnapped civilians

19:10and concentration camp inmates

19:12are housed near factories

19:14and forced to work long hours

19:15under immense pressure from the Germans.

19:18Most of these workers

19:19were originally from Eastern Europe

19:20and were interned in barrack camps

19:22where a prison atmosphere reigned,

19:24while concentration camp inmates

19:26were watched by the German SS squad

19:28in inhuman living conditions.

19:31Many people died in these camps,

19:33either severe malnutrition,

19:35either mistreatment

19:36or even torture.

19:38In 1944,

19:39almost half of Daimler-Benz's 63,000 employees

19:42were forced laborers.

19:44After the end of the war in 1945,

19:47The company was hit hard.

19:49Lost soul post chords,

19:51all German assets abroad were confiscated

19:53and used to pay for repairs.

19:55Daimler-Benz has thus lost all its former subsidiaries,

19:58affiliated companies and branches abroad

20:01and was reduced to its own factories

20:03in his country of origin.

20:04In other words, the company had to restart

20:07and earn his place.

20:09First, Daimler-Benz was restructured

20:11and notably denazified at the level of its leadership.

20:14Thanks to these radical changes,

20:16the company was able to obtain a production permit

20:18from the American occupation authorities

20:20in 1946.

20:22Although these factories were badly damaged

20:24by the bombings,

20:25Mercedes-Benz retains the advantage of owning its own factory

20:28because many other competitors,

20:30such as BMW or Adler,

20:32lost their factories when they found themselves

20:34in Soviet territory.

20:36Mercedes-Benz then focused its efforts

20:39on the production of ambulances,

20:41police patrol vehicles

20:42and delivery vans

20:44based on its 170V models

20:46and uses one of its factories

20:48as a repair center

20:49for US Army vehicles.

20:51In 1947 it resumed production of passenger vehicles

20:55but with only 1045 vehicles of its 170V model

20:59products that year.

21:01But even in a less than ideal financial situation,

21:04Daimler-Benz managed to turn a profit a year later.

21:08In the 1950s,

21:10Mercedes-Benz has managed to regain much of its influence

21:13by making a strong comeback in motorsport events

21:16as well as achieving successful sales worldwide

21:19to the point that in 1954,

21:21the company had already made a profit

21:23of more than a billion dollars.

21:26Over the years,

21:27Mercedes-Benz has completely changed its image

21:29and became one of the car brands

21:31the most precious in the world.

21:33However, all this would not have been possible

21:34without Carl Benz

21:35who, despite his modest origins,

21:38his challenges and his doubts

21:39had the courage and determination

21:41to turn his dream into reality.

21:46Thanks for watching this video!

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