Burgundian town whose natural resources made it a centre of the French arms manufacturing industry. A royal foundry was established there in 1782 and produced iron and bronze cannon. In 1836 Adolphe and Eugène Schneider acquired the enterprise, and soon made cannon, locomotives, and armour plate. There were 10, 000 workers by 1867, and during the Franco-Prussian war Schneider delivered 250 cannon, with carriages and limbers. After the law was changed to permit the export of arms in 1884 the factory grew rapidly. The South African republics were among its customers, and used some Creusot guns in the Second Boer War. New artillery workshops were opened in 1888, and a 100 tonne steam-hammer, which remains a local landmark, was built. A range was opened near Le Havre on the Normandy coast to test long-range guns, and more workshops were built nearby. There was widespread collaboration with marine engineering companies. By WW I the enterprise was enormous—60 locomotives used 168 miles (270 km) of railway within the works—and the loss of part of France's heavy industry to German invasion in 1914 increased its significance. It remained important in the inter-war years and was bombed by the Allies during WW II. Le Creusot's industry has long since diversified, and its name is now more commonly seen on cooking pots than guns.
— Richard Holmes
