Science, Technology and Changing Power Relations: the negotiation process of the agreement on Finnish-Soviet Scientific-Technical Cooperation, 1955

Abstract

Finland and the Soviet Union signed the Agreement on Finnish-Soviet Scientific-Technical Cooperation, the so-called TT-agreement, in 1955. Previous research has emphasized the viewpoint that the agreement was part of a new ‘softer’ strategy of the Soviet Union, the aim of which was to entangle Finland scientifically and technologically in the Soviet sphere of influence, and that anti-communist Finns formed a unanimous front against this inconvenient initiative. This article illustrates that adopting a different perspective makes possible an interpretation which indicates that the negotiation process for the agreement was less straightforward. Throughout the negotiations it is possible to observe the key issues of centralization and decentralization as well as the question of the status of science and technology policy in Finnish society. In essence, the TT-agreement was about determination of power relations and dominion not only between Finland and the Soviet Union but also between different interest groups inside Finland.