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Acta Poloniae Historica

Between Stalinism and Infrastructural Globalism: The International Geophysical Year (1957–8) in Czechoslovakia, Poland and German Democratic Republic
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  4. MULTIPLE MODERNITIES OF STATE SOCIALISM

Between Stalinism and Infrastructural Globalism: The International Geophysical Year (1957–8) in Czechoslovakia, Poland and German Democratic Republic

Authors

  • Doubravka Olšáková Institute for Contemporary History of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.12775/APH.2017.115.04

Keywords

Cold War, Eastern Europe, Cold War science, infrastructural globalism, international geophysical year, GDR, Poland, Czechoslovakia

Abstract

This article analyses the political, scientific, and social circumstances of the beginning of infrastructural globalism in Eastern Europe, using the example of the International Geophysical Year (1957–8). This research programme led to the establishment of the first large global infrastructures operating in Eastern Europe, i.e. behind the Iron Curtain, under the auspices of international organizations (UNESCO, ICSU). Following the Geneva conference in 1955, large infrastructures and ‘big data’ science were supposed to become part of Soviet science diplomacy. The paper shows that while the Soviet Union and East-European countries accepted the challenge and became part of the global scientific community, nevertheless specific features of data and information control remained under the strict surveillance of the USSR.

Author Biography

Doubravka Olšáková, Institute for Contemporary History of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic

Doubravka Olšáková – 20th century history; senior researcher at the Institute for Contemporary History, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic

References

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Acta Poloniae Historica

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Published

2017-11-24

How to Cite

1.
OLŠÁKOVÁ, Doubravka. Between Stalinism and Infrastructural Globalism: The International Geophysical Year (1957–8) in Czechoslovakia, Poland and German Democratic Republic. Acta Poloniae Historica. Online. 24 November 2017. Vol. 115, pp. 97-122. [Accessed 7 July 2025]. DOI 10.12775/APH.2017.115.04.
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Vol. 115 (2017)

Section

MULTIPLE MODERNITIES OF STATE SOCIALISM

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