MAJOR PLATFORMS OF INTER-BLOC KNOW-HOW EXCHANGE IN THE 1950s AND 1960s IN THE CASE OF CZECHOSLOVAKIA

Year 2023, Volume: 63 Issue: 2, 987 - 1012, 25.12.2023

Ondřej Fišer

https://doi.org/10.33171/dtcfjournal.2023.63.2.4

Abstract

Through the case study of Czechoslovakia, this article analyses the main platforms through which projects of economic and scientific-technical cooperation between the two sides of the Iron Curtain were implemented in the 1950s and 1960s. The emphasis is placed on mapping the changes that each platform of East-West cooperation underwent over time and on characterizing the impact that these transformations had on the development of international cooperation. In the first place, the role of conferences and scientific-technical societies is examined. In addition, considerable space is also devoted to the rediscovery of the long-overlooked international fairs and inter-company visits that allowed face-to-face contact between experts in the environment of industrial plants and laboratories. The analysis of the role and development of the various platforms of inter-bloc cooperation draws heavily on the archives of Czechoslovak industrial ministries. In addition, the testimonies of individual scientists and experts who participated in international cooperation projects in the 1950s and 1960s provide important support for the article. Although the emphasis of the analysis is on the case study of the Czechoslovak economy, its connection to other member states of the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance requires that the Czechoslovak experience be placed in the broader framework of the pan-socialist milieu.

Keywords

economic cooperation, scientific-technical cooperation, Cold War, East-West ties, Czechoslovakia, Cooperation platforms

ÇEKOSLOVAKYA ÖRNEĞİNDE 1950'LER VE 1960'LARDA BLOKLAR ARASI BİLGİ ALIŞVERİŞİNİN BAŞLICA PLATFORMLARI

Abstract

Bu makale, Çekoslovakya örneği üzerinden, 1950'ler ve 1960'larda Demir Perde'nin iki yakası arasında ekonomik ve bilimsel ve teknik işbirliği projelerinin hayata geçirildiği ana platformları analiz etmektedir. Doğu-Batı işbirliğinin her bir platformunun zaman içinde geçirdiği değişimlerin haritasının çıkarılması ve bu dönüşümlerin uluslararası işbirliğinin gelişimi üzerindeki etkisinin karakterize edilmesi üzerinde durulmaktadır. İlk etapta konferansların ve bilimsel-teknik toplulukların rolü incelenmektedir. Buna ek olarak, uzun süredir göz ardı edilen uluslararası fuarların yeniden keşfine ve endüstriyel tesisler ve laboratuvarlar ortamında uzmanlar arasında yüz yüze temasa olanak tanıyan şirketler arası ziyaretlere de önemli bir yer ayrılmıştır. Bloklar arası işbirliğinin çeşitli platformlarının rolü ve gelişiminin analizi, Çekoslovak sanayi bakanlıklarının arşivlerinden büyük ölçüde yararlanmaktadır. Ayrıca, 1950'li ve 1960'lı yıllarda uluslararası işbirliği projelerine katılan bireysel bilim insanları ve uzmanların tanıklıkları da makaleye önemli bir destek sağlamaktadır. Analizin vurgusu Çekoslovak ekonomisi üzerine olsa da, Karşılıklı Ekonomik Yardımlaşma Konseyi'nin diğer üye ülkeleriyle olan bağlantısı, Çekoslovak deneyiminin pan-sosyalist ortamın daha geniş çerçevesine yerleştirilmesini gerektirmektedir.

Keywords

Ekonomik işbirliği, Bilimsel-teknik işbirliği, Soğuk Savaş, Doğu-Batı bağları, Çekoslovakya, İşbirliği platformları

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