Have you noticed that the word "Monopol" is also incorporated into the Witten steel trademark? "Monopol" was then also a "Trademark" for a better-quality barrel steel by that company. There are no other markings that hint to Belgium. Trademarks were not internationally protected as they are now.
Why would a German maker use the French word for monopoly?
The trademarks were protected. They were protected under the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property of March 20, 1883.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris_Conve...racting_partiesThe Patent Laws of All Nations: United States, C. R. Brodix, 1886
Article VIII. A trade-name shall be protected in all the countries of the Union, without the necessity of registration, whether it form part or not of a trade or commercial mark.http://books.google.com/books?id=2JcLAAA...883&f=falsePete
-- Yes, but monopol/ monopole-- George/Georges. Just like our "pals' the Limeys- viz: honor/honour, color/colour) the Frogs like to add extra letters as well. Monopol is the word in German for a Monopoly, and it was in use long before either the "Robber Barons", Teddy R and the "Trust Busters" or even Parker brothers (NOT the gun boys in Meriden Conn) developed the board game in the mid-1930's--
Indeed, why would any German company want to have anything to do with anything French- those two countries have been at each other's throats (and most likely, groins as well) for centuries--To compare any weapon made in France, except possibly the Georges (damn extra "s" again) Granger doubles and those damn Darnes that don't tolerate reloads well- with the precision, skill of assembly and overall quality of a German or Austrian made firearm--
WW1 and later WW11 (when Herr Adolph decided to pay the Frogs back for their harsh reparations that bankrupted Germany in the post WW1 years)- compare the French military weapons with those of the German forces- no comparison at all. And what a numbnutted idea was the Maginot line- built to prevent another invasion of French soil by the feared "Hun"- with fixed gun positions facing East towards the expected line of attacking forces--so the German Wehrmacht sappers and engineers went behind the cement bunkers and blew them to shreds with explosives--
Now the Belgies- sure, good FN at Liege- so good that capturing that vast manufacturing complex was a high priority for the Germans- invading Holland gave them another area of access to the North sea, and windmills and wooden shoes up the ying-yang- but no strategic arms plants in Holland--
Another reason possibly that the French and their overall lack of morals, solid government and good hygiene would be looked down on with contempt by neighboring European countries can be expressed in a short couplet- I still have the translation into French, from a lady friend who was a language major at Oberlin and studied at the Sorbonne for two summer vacation period while at that college in Northern Ohio- goes about like this: Le Francais, ils sont une course la plus curieuse, ils combattent avec leurs pieds, et font l'amour avec le visage!!
