title: Laying the foundation for wartime research: a comparative overview of science mobilization in National Socialist Germany, Japan, and the Soviet Union.
abstract: This chapter surveys wartime science mobilization within National Socialist Germany, Japan, and the Soviet Union to understand how each nation mobilized science resources for the war, how their approaches to mobilization differed, and how these approaches might be evaluated historically. Science mobilization in National Socialist Germany, in particular, has heretofore been characterized as a failure; however, such a view appears too simplistic and cannot account for the numerous advanced weapons and technological artifacts produced by the nation during the war. Both Germany and Japan operated under decentralized systems for science mobilization, whereas the Soviet Union imposed a highly-centralized authoritarian structure. These differed significantly from the organizational model of the United States, which has often been touted as the most "successful" of the belligerents. This essay attempts to evaluate the science mobilization efforts in these nations on their own terms, rather than comparing them directly with the American system.
authors.affiliation: Walter E. Grunden, Bowling Green State University, Department of History, Williams Hall, Bowling Green, OH 43403, USA. wgrund@bgnet.bgsu.edu
authors.forename: Walter E
authors.initials: WE
authors.lastname: Grunden
authors.forename: Yutaka
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kawamura
authors.forename: Eduard
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kolchinsky
authors.forename: Helmut
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Maier
authors.forename: Masakatsu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yamazaki
mesh_terms: D003148:Communism / Q000266:history; D003625:Data Collection; D005858:Germany; D049673:History, 20th Century; D007564:Japan; D008889:Military Personnel / Q000266:history*; D017146:Models, Organizational; D028683:National Socialism / Q000266:history; D012106:Research / Q000191:economics / Q000266:history* / Q000458:organization & administration; D012586:Science / Q000191:economics / Q000266:history* / Q000458:organization & administration; D014586:USSR; D047789:World War II