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Belgian Guns |
ARMS MANUFACTURE of LIEGE
This part of the site is dedicated to arms manufacture inhabitant of Liège and more particularly to its century of gold (1814-1914) with extrapolations over older times and the contemporary time. We will try to help the amateurs of firearms, share the world, to identify, date, look further into their knowledge or simply to discover our inheritance exceptionally rich in this field.
The weapon with fire appears early, about 1350, in the Principality of Liege. Its production makes great strides fulgurating as of first half of the 17th century (war the 30 year old and other conflicts international as well as the geographical position contributed largely to this development).
Under the French period (1794-1814), much of arms manufacturers were reduced to unemployment, the reduction of the outlets and the monopoly of Manufacture eliminated from the circuit 90 percent of the specialized workers, those which made the weapons of draft and luxury.
During the "century of Gold" (1814-1914), overlap:
- the tradition of the domestic industry: with the census of 1896, the three quarters of the workmen arms manufacturers, is more than 8.000 people still work in this manner, which constitutes a skilful and inexpensive personnel;
- evolution of mechanization: the proliferation of the sheet mills in the valleys of Ourthe and Vesdre as of the end of the 18th century, the factory of the Company John Cockerill founded in 1834 with the Valley-Benoit, as well as the appearance of the first machines to mechanize the parts of weapons and the wood of rifle about 1851 (Falisse and Trapmann), are three examples among others).
The number of manufacturers does not cease increasing: 36 in 1816, 97 in 1856, 174 in 1884 and 195 in 1909 for which it is still necessary to add 75 manufactures of parts of weapons and 13 of sticks of rifles.
What is necessary to understand by manufacturers? They are primarily traders of weapons which make them manufacture in residence, take delivery of them and sell them with their profit.
To face important orders (weapons of war, of draft or luxury), they create a consortium with several competitors very continuously their own activities.
Before 1914, there was not that two companies able to entirely manufacture weapons in workshop: the FN and the Pieper Establishments.
In the goal to gather, for the workmen inhabitant of Liège, a sampling of weapons at didactic ends and the patronage of the manufacturer Joseph Lemille, the Museum of Weapons of Liege been able to be organized and opened in 1885.
The question of a professional teaching specific, which was posed to face the constraints of thorough mechanization and the preoccupation with a lucrative output, succeeded to the creation of the school of Arms manufacture (Leon Mignon) which opened its doors on February 8, 1897. It was in the beginning managed jointly by the manufacturers of weapons, the State, the Province and the Town of Liege.
It is not easy to determine the share which is allocated to the Inhabitants of Liège in the development of the portable weapon at the 19th century, but, between 1830 and 1907, there was not less than 6.331 granted patents in Belgium in this field.
Production: the first known official figure is of 107.173 weapons tested in 1823 and the absolute record is located in 1907 with 1.549.479 tested weapons.
This industry impressed all the people of the world by his level of activities, by the variety of its products, their moderate price and the universality of their dissemination.
Ph. Hausoul
Administrator ASBL Friends of the Museum of Weapons.
Source: the remarkable work of Claude GAIER, Doctor of History and Director of the Museum of Weapons of Liege, Five centuries of arms manufacture inhabitant of Liège, Editions of the Perron, Alleur (Belgium)
Questions or suggestions ? : Alantrigger