Dunfermline philanthropist Andrew Carnegie tried to bribe the Germans in a desperate attempt to stop the First World War, it has emerged.
A new documentary reveals how the early steel magnate offered Kaiser Wilhelm millions of pounds of his vast wealth in exchange for peace.
Accustomed to success, the show claims Carnegie was left “broken” when President Teddy Roosevelt blocked an attempt to put his absurd plans to the German Emperor.
It was a loss which was said to have plunged him into a deep depression and ill-health.
The film, Andrew Carnegie: Rags to Riches, Power to Peace, made by London-based production company Galeforce and narrated by actor Brian Cox, previewed at the Edinburgh International Film Festival and is scheduled to be aired by BBC Scotland next month.
Producer Sonita Gale said: “Carnegie really thought he could stop the war.
“He was used to getting his own way and did not give up.
“He was the richest man in the world who got his own way in almost everything he put himself to but as soon as the war broke out he gave up.
“He fell silent, stopped talking to friends and moved back from Scotland to America after falling into a serious depression.
“He died a broken man.”
Featuring in the documentary is Sports Division founder and entrepreneur Sir Tom Hunter, who gave the key Carnegie Day address last year in the philanthropist’s hometown.
He said: “He was a man used to getting his own way, and he would have given away his entire fortune to stop the First World War,” he added.
Despite his business being a key part of the manufacture of arms and warships for the US Navy, Carnegie was later seized with a determination to avert war.
His huge influence in business convinced him he could persuade the German Emperor to stop the carnage before it began.
After attempting to woo the US President to negotiate Anglo-German peace talks with the Kaiser in Germany and his cousin, King Edward VII in Britain, Carnegie banked on brokering compulsory arbitration between nations.
But Roosevelt believed Carnegie’s Utopian plan was flawed and refused to deliver Carnegie’s script and what he felt were absurd peace plans.
Biographer David Nasaw said: “If Andrew Carnegie were alive today, he would use every ounce of his energy, every dollar of his money, all his wit, his charisma, his intelligence, to create international peace movements that would stop the scourge of war.”