For the claim that oil is called "black gold", in fact, I originally learned from the movie "Black Gold", in the movie, because of the "black gold" oil caused by the confrontation and collusion of various forces, so that the local people fell into the water. In the same oil-themed movie "Blood Is Coming", the greed and madness of human beings in the black gold competition are even more clear.
In fact, until now, human beings have been very dependent on oil, and the impact of oil on a global scale is very huge, and people also compare oil to "industrial blood", I have heard such a statement, "If the first industrial revolution benefited from the widespread discovery of coal, then the second industrial revolution relied on the industrial exploitation of oil." ”
Oil as the world's most important fuel, and production, life are closely related, but also indispensable war preparedness energy, so to "black gold" to refer to oil, is really very appropriate, "black" is its color, and "gold" is its value, it is not only fuel, but also as raw materials, it can be said that as large as the entire political pattern of human society, small to the daily life of individuals, can see the shadow of oil. The huge industrial, economic and military value contained in oil makes it even directly affect the development of the world, and it is closely related to the fate of the entire world.
In Black Gold, written by the French freelance journalist Matthew Ozano, it tells the story of how black gold has influenced the political structure, economic structure and world order step by step from its inception.
As Clemenceau said, "Gasoline will be as essential as blood in tomorrow's battle." ”
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="6" > the rapid trend of "this thing will be popular in the world"</h1>
Human discovery and exploitation of oil has a long history, taking China as an example, the record of oil can be traced back more than a thousand years. The famous geographer Li Daoyuan of the Northern Wei Dynasty had this description of oil in his book "Notes on water classics": "Gaonu County has water, and the fertilizer is combustible. There is fat on the water, which can be picked up. ”
The Song Dynasty scientist Shen Kuo studied the production, performance, and use of oil in the "Mengxi Pen Talk", and made a meticulous record and bold prediction: "The fire is like hemp, but the smoke is very thick... Doubting that its smoke is available, try to sweep its coal for ink, ink is as bright as lacquer, pine ink is not as good as it is ...", "Yanchuan stone liquid is also, this thing will be popular in the world, since the beginning of it, cover oil at most, born in the earth infinity." ”
As Shen Kuo predicted that "this thing will be popular in the world", the development of oil on a global scale is very rapid, and even in just one and a half centuries of industrial development, human beings have seized nearly half of the total amount of developable crude oil on the earth that needs to undergo tens of millions of years of geological evolution to produce.
Oil has a wide range of uses in the early days, it is used in construction, sealing and waterproofing; in medicine, "stone oil", is used as a cream to treat rheumatism; in daily life, oil is used for lighting... Of course, it should not be overlooked that oil has long been one of the main motivators of war.
Since the birth of the first wave of black gold boom in the northeast of the United States, oil derricks have mushroomed, and more and more prospectors have begun to explore this path of wealth, and the American writer Mark Twain has clearly expressed his views, he believes that "this is a crucial period in American history, which deified the new worship of wealth and devalued the basic ideals of this young country."
The American Civil War, the first mechanized war and a rapid boost to the production of kerosene, made many people realize how the black liquid would transform the world, and the 20th PRESIDENT James Garfield also called it "the king of the business world."
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="13" > John Rockefeller and the Oil "Seven Sisters."</h1>
It was during this period that John Rockefeller aimed at the timing and started from scratch step by step, creating the Standard Oil Company in Ohio, ushering in a new era in the oil industry, not only bringing the standard of order to the oil industry, but even saving Wall Street from crises twice.
As Black Gold describes, "Rockefeller also had some childhood imprints that made him truly superior in capitalism." ”
It can be said that Rockefeller was a person who was "polished" by his father since childhood, and although such polishing gave him a certain degree of harm, it was undoubtedly a catalyst for Rockefeller to become confident and decisive.
He expanded his business all the way into the oil space, and at the age of 25, he managed to acquire Cleveland's largest oil experience field. The oil industry was getting crazier, but Rockefeller knew that if he wanted to occupy the real core of the business, he should maximize the transportation costs by commercializing oil as much as possible, rather than controlling the circulation of this black gold by extracting oil.
As Standard Oil regained its position of almost complete freedom in Europe, the advantage of American black gold began to become overwhelming, and the Rockefeller Empire occupied 80% of the Old World market with huge production.
At the same time, the world game between oil giants has gradually begun.
With the upsurge of the oil industry, seven large international oil companies - the "Seven Sisters" have gradually formed and developed rapidly, not only all of them entered the top ten of the top 500 enterprises in capitalist countries in 1980, but also from exploration and development to oil and gas storage and transportation to refining and sales, comprehensively controlling the oil industry of the entire capitalist world in the world.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="21" > oil is as indispensable as blood in war</h1>
In many wars, oil plays a role that cannot be underestimated, either as a motive, or a tool, or as a gain, although the roles are different, but either one has a major impact on the world order and even on all walks of life in the world.
U.S. oil bred the decisive weapon of the First World War, the tank.
Because of the "black gold", the United States has consolidated its young imperialist economic strength, but the old empire, Britain, is not, and its weakness is gradually revealed, that is, the lack of oil. This led the British to set their sights on Persian oil, and with the investment of the wealthy merchant William Knox, they founded the Anglo-Persian Oil Company and began to sell oil obtained from Persia, in the process, the Middle East gradually appeared in the world oil chess game, the ultimate goal of the expansion of various empires was also changing nature, oil was reshuffled, and occupied an important position in the German imperialist ambitions that led to the First World War.
In the war, the shortage of oil would paralyze the army, and the then head of the French government, Georges Clemenceau, sent a note to the United States, which owned 80% of the oil used by the Allied war machine, pleading for 100,000 tons of oil to be transported, because "if the Allies do not want to lose the war, then the fighting France must have the oil as necessary as blood in tomorrow's battle, in the final moments against Germany." ”
Many of the wars that followed were fueled by oil, for example, in all the major strategic choices of Nazi Germany and the Japanese Empire, access to oil played a key role, as Calvin Coolidge, the 30th President of the United States, once said: "National hegemony is likely to be determined by the available oil and petroleum products." ”
After world war II, energy-technology began to spiral in complexity, with a strong impact on businesses and countries. To this day, the impact of oil on national development and all aspects of people's lives is still very far-reaching, but at the same time, the century problem of "oil depletion" also makes us have to think deeply, oil, this indispensable energy, is facing unprecedented debates and challenges, "Black Gold" for us to understand the development of oil history, grasp the global political, economic trends and other aspects of the very important help.
Black Gold: The Rise and Fall of the Oil Empire and the Change of the World Order ¥69 Purchase