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

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.