Scientific cooperation in Western Europe

Abstract

Among the most significant of the great historical movements of the twentieth century it is conventional to include the two World Wars, the advent of communism, the preponderance of the United States and Russia and the disappearance of the colonial empires. Of comparable significance are the death and rebirth of Europe, which, like the phoenix, was reduced to ashes but is now taking on a new life and a new importance. The economic, demographic and political renewal of Europe are better known than the scientific resurgence, which is the only one to concern us here. When we speak of Europe we mean principally the Western European countries and not those countries which have fallen under the dominating influence of communist doctrines, and whose fate must be examined separately. Furthermore, even the nations of Western Europe are divisible into three distinct groups: those who were engaged in one or another of the two World Wars at least in the second and, being on the mainland of the Continent, had their scientific activities brought to an almost complete standstill as a result of the invasion and occupation of their territory; a second, those which, although part of the region, only suffered from the after-effects of the wars but were not themselves direct participants; thirdly, the United Kingdom, which was in a special position. It was deeply involved in the First and Second World Wars but was not occupied by the enemy. The point to be made here is that those in the first group had to replace their scientific personnel and, in many cases, institutions and laboratories which had been scattered or destroyed; in the second group, very little happened during the fighting because of the lack of communications with the wider scientific community; while Great Britain, insofar as she was able to continue her research effort, had to adjust it to the necessities and the competing demands of war. After the First World War, Germany and England, not having been overrun, recovered rapidly; for France and Belgium it was more difficult. After the Second World War, Great Britain was the only one of the contestants able to resume her scientific research almost without a break, and, thanks to a considerable effort in human and financial terms, she found herself well ahead of all the nations of Western Europe.