The Mysterious Case of Rudolf Diesel: Genius, Power, and Deception on the Eve of World War I

World War I (WWI) was fought on a scale previously considered unfathomable. Its scale—the number of countries involved and the mass casualties—earned it the name The Great War. The modern nature of WWI was the result of concurrent industrialization and scientific discoveries (Theo Emery, “How World War I Became the First Modern War of Science.” Politico Magazine, Nov. 12, 2018.) The Mysterious Case of Rudolf Diesel discusses how scientific breakthroughs in the decades prior to the war changed how wars were fought, contextualizing the potential scenarios surrounding Diesel’s disappearance.

WWI was fought in ways marked by many technological developments. Weaponry, battle strategy, and even rules of combat were constantly changing, as new inventions pushed innovation in all aspects of the war. The battle arrays of long organized lines of men marching at each other, horses, single-shot rifles, and brilliantly colored uniforms became ineffective against modern weaponry and types of warfare (“How Modern Weapons Changed Combat in The First World War.” Imperial War Museum, 2014). WWI was the first war fought on land, sea, and in the air. Weapons of mass destruction were deployed for the first time. For example, during the Second Battle of Ypres of 1915, the German army released chlorine gas that spread across a four-mile stretch of Allied lines—the first time that chemical warfare was employed on such a large scale (“Firsts of the First World War.” Imperial War Museum, 2024).

The book focuses on engineer Rudolf Diesel, whose engines dramatically transformed combat. While he intended his internal combustion diesel engine for peacetime uses, it was immediately adapted for military use: Its capability to run on gas, petroleum, coal tar, and even various vegetable oils, made airplanes, submarines, tanks, and battleships practical for use in warfare. When powered by diesel engines, battleships could be built bigger and faster—and also more covert, as the smoke plumes of earlier steam engines no longer gave away their position. Submarines became basically untraceable, while planes could mass-bomb major civilian cities. The war casualty rate reflects these developments: Planes and submarines led to tens of thousands of deaths (Casey MacLean, “World War I on the Homefront.” NOAA's Office of National Marine Sanctuaries, 

May 2018); tanks were also extremely destructive, and their use in the Battle of the Somme was a large contributor to the hundreds of thousands of deaths in 1916 (“First Battle of the Somme.” Encyclopedia Britannica, 2024).

The political ramifications that followed also emphasize the deadly impact of Diesel’s work. The Treaty of Versailles, which officially ended World War I on November 11, 1918, heavily restricted the use of all modern military technology in Germany, where much of it had originated. The treaty made it clear that the Allies wanted to drastically weaken Germany’s military and believed that limiting access to modern advances in military technology was key to doing so (“German Reparations and Military Limitations.” Encyclopedia Britannica, 2024). Eventually, the Geneva Conventions, a set of international agreements about the rules of warfare, were negotiated in the aftermath of World War II (WWII) to regulate—among other things—the uses of all new military technologies.