SURVEY OF WESTERN EUROPEAN AND JAPANESE RESEARCH ACTIVITIES ON EASTERN EUROPEAN AFFAIRS AND INTERNATIONAL COMMUNISM

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-01445R000100270001-8
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 20
• Document Creation Date: November 16, 2016
• Document Release Date: March 10, 2000
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: December 31, 1958
• Content Type: REPORT

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A4
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
Senior Research Staff on International Communism
Survey of Western European and Japanese
Research Activities on
Eastern European Affairs and International Communism
Reported by
(Based on information available as of 31 December 1958)
( If detached from cover page,
this report becomes
UNCLASSIFIED).
--~ `~ OFFICIAL USE ONLY
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Survey of Western European and Japanese
Research Activities on
Soviet-Satellitd Affairs and International Communism
The following survey is the result of information obtained
during my recent trip through Western Europe and, in particu-
lar, from scholars and governmental observers participating
in the Bad Aussee Conference on Sino-Soviet problems.
1. WEST GERMANY
The Bonn Government is investing an extraordinary
amount of money and effort in Eastern European research.
It is aware that, owing to recent developments in the Far East,
more attention must be paid to Communist China and is now
directing scholarly work into that area. In the Soviet and Com-
munist fields, however, West German research efforts are un-
matched in Europe and a fountainhead of information. Since
academic institutions in Germany traditionally are state-sup-
ported, one may say. that EE research work, wherever it is
done, is also state-supported. From the account of institu-
tional work below, it is clear that large sums are being ex-
pended for research purposes. The reason for this is, as
Bonn officials and German specialists pointed out, that both
government and universities firmly believe in the essential
function of research for the formulation of policies and defense
measures. They also realize that interpretations of Soviet-
Communist actions in terms of 19th century power politics
are no longer adequate, and therefore they are particularly
anxious to explore the problems of Communist ideology in
theory and practice which they believe to be the basis for
bloc strategy and tactics.
Eastern problems are being dealt with in the following
organizations:
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a. Bonn Foreign Ministry
The Eastern Affairs Bureau, which was the first
to be re-created when the West German Foreign Ministry
started working again, has added to its organization an Inter-
national Communism Division. Its head is Dr. Boris Meiss-
ner, a Soviet scholar of distinction before he joined the Ger-
man foreign service and a former member of the OSTEUROPA
group (see below, para. e.). He has recently returned from
a two-year assignment to the German Embassy in Moscow
and is now working in close collaboration with the various
Eastern Research institutions and with Sovietologists and
Sinologists throughout the Federal Republic.
b. East-'West Study Group
This group constituted itself informally and un-
officially a few months ago. It reputedly enjoys Chancellor
Adenauer's personal support. The Chancellor will seek funds
for its official establishment as a research institute. As soon
as these funds have been approved by Parliament, the group
will build up a major research center in Cologne, studying
chiefly problems of International Communism. The guiding
idea, submitted by Professor Otto Schiller who is a Soviet-
ologist and Sinologist of note, is to study these problems not
only from the eastern, but also from the western standpoint.
The center would undertake comparative studies and also would
consider those aspects of Communism which have been rather
neglected, for example, sociology in the Communist bloc.
c. The Ost Kolleg
Another recent creation, the Ost Kolleg (roughly
translated Eastern College) is under the sponsorship of the
Bonn Ministry of the Interior. It is not a research institute
but a high level study center. Students are mature men and
women from all the professional fields, such as doctors,
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lawyers, government officials, teachers, officers, etc.
Meeting groups of thirty to forty in a house situated in Co-
logne, they are cloistered for one week to concentrate on
the complex matter of their curriculum. The most impor-
tant aspects of Soviet history, politics and government,
economy and ideology are considered in lectures and dis-
cussions. Since professors and students live and eat in this
house, the utility of the course exceeds the actual lecture
program. The Ost Kolleg is managed by a board of ten out-
standing scholars, one of whom is the chairman of the insti-
tution. This chairmanship rotates each year, while the di-
rection of individual (weekly) courses rotates each week.
Lecturers are recruited from universities, research insti-
tutions, and government. They change for every course.
The work continues forty weeks a year, that is, there are
forty consecutive courses. The cumulative effect of such
instruction cannot help but bear fruit. In time, the entire
West German intelligentsia will have been exposed to a cor-
rect basic picture of the implications of Soviet power. Oc-
casionally, there are specialized courses concentrating on
Middle Eastern and Far Eastern problems, but never with-
out Soviet references.
d. University Institutes for Eastern European Research
The largest of these institutes is at the Free Uni-
versity of West Berlin under Professor Thalheim.: Con-
nected with it is the Berlin Institute of Political Science,
which covers the entire range of the EE area, stressing the
USSR and. Eastern Germany. Almost as large is the EE In-
stitute at the University of Munich, directed by Professor
Hans Koch. It is mainly concerned with the USSR, Poland
and Czechoslovakia. The Southeast European satellites are
taken care of in a Southeastern European Institute. (Also
connected with the University of Munich is an Academy of
Political Science which deals with certain aspects of the EE
question). The Munich institute publishes a journal for East-
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ern European Research (Zeitschrift fuer Osteuropakunde)
and plans the following publications: a dictionary of quota-
tions from Marx to Khrushchev, a Soviet terminological dic-
tionary, and six volumes of depositions from former German
prisoners of war in the USSR.
Three other institutes which enjoy a fine reputation are
those connected with the Universities of Tuebinge.n, Giessen,
and Marburg. Tuebingen has, in fact, two: Institut fuer
Osteuropaeische Geschichte and Landeskunde.(roughly, In-
stitute for Eastern. European History and Geography) and the
Arbeitsgemeinschaft fuer Osteuropakunde. (roughly, Study
Group for Eastern European Research). Marburg has the
Herder Institut which is particularly concerned with the af-
fairs. of East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Poland, and the
Baltic countries. All these institutions publish their own
periodicals or handbooks.
e. Deutsche Gesellschaft finer Osteuropakunde
(German Society for Eastern. European Research).
This incorporated society, whose. ancestor ante-
dates World War II, is a private research organization,
making use of all scholars in the field. Situated in Stutt-
gart, it is directed by Dr. Klaus Mehnert, and is obviously
supported by Federal funds. It publishes four learned mag-
azines: Osteuropa (Eastern Europe), now twelve years old;
Osteuropa-Recht (Eastern Europe - Law); Osteuropa -
Wi,rtschaft (Eastern. Europe - Economy); and Osteuropa-
Naturwissenschaft (Eastern. Europe - Science). Apart from
these scholarly contributions to the field, Osteuropa, main-
ly through the initiative of Mehnert, . has been promoting and
stimulating study of $ino-Soviet problems very vigorously
and almost certainly must be credited with having initiated
many of the projects now in progress. The society also has
sponsored or promoted international meetings (Muenster-
eifel in 1956, and Bad Aussee, 1958).
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Furthermore, there are a number of less specialized
but still pertinent study centers, such as the Berlin Institute
for International Law (Max Planck Institut); the Kiel Institute
for World Economy, which is notable for its specialized li-
brary on Eastern economic matters, and the University of
Hamburg, which publishes the Journal of International Law
and Diplomacy in four languages.
This brief and probably not complete survey demon-
strates that EE research in West German academies is highly
institutionalized. In contrast to Great Britain's individualized
approach, the Germans appear to concentrate their experts in
a network of organizations where intellectual cross-fertiliza-
tion almost certainly contributes to elevate the standard of
research.
2. AUSTRIA
Eastern European research was conducted until recent-
ly in the university institutes of Vienna, Graz, and Innsbruck.
Predominantly, courses of lectures and research activities
were offered on philology, geography, history and culture.
Current political issues were not in the curriculum. There
also existed private research groups, such as the Danube-
European Institute and the Research Institute, publishing
journals on EE economy, law, geography, and culture.
All these activities were more or less academic and
of little use to the Austrian government. After the reestab-
lishment of Austria's independence, it was decided that re-
search in current Eastern affairs was essential. However,
great caution had to be taken in approaching and guiding re-
search activities, because Austria's neutrality had become
the official line of its polities, and government-sponsored
research had to avoid the possible accusation by the Eastern
bloc of violating neutrality in publishing conclusions unfavor-
able to the East. On the other hand, it was recognized that
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Austrian relations with Eastern countries are of great im-
portance politically and economically and that knowledge of
the East must be disseminated in order to cope with future
requirements in those fields.
As a result, the Arbeitsgemeinschaft Ost (roughly,
Study Group East) was established, significantly not under
the Foreign. Office, but under the Ministry of Education. It
was conceived as a roof organization for all Eastern research
-4n Austria, more or less controlling activities in the field
throughout the country. The AO is supervised by a committee
of government officials, and the President is Ministerial Coun-
cilor Dr. Alfred Weikert, right-hand man of the Minister of
Education, Dr. Drimmel. The first major undertaking of the
AO was its sponsorship of the international conference at Bad
Aussee; however, its lack of experience and its determination
to remain neutral during the conference were demonstrated
by the fact that the driving force was the German Osteuropa
group of Stuttgart which furnished the chairman and manager
of the meeting, Dr. Klaus Mehnert. The Austrian officials
stayed on the sidelines: and were content with performing
ceremonial and fiscal functions.
It remains to be seen to what extent the AO will be guid-
ed or impeded - by the government's determination to remain
neutral even in academic matters. The organization is hardly
more than two years old, and judgment of its activities must
be reserved for a later time.
3. GREAT BRITAIN
Sino-Soviet research in Britain is not institutionalized.
Where it flowers,. it is produced by individual scholars.
There is no organization channelling and coordinating re-
search activities. There are only certain academic centers
where some outstanding experts happen to teach or do re-
search, for example in London, Oxford, Birmingham and
Glasgow.
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The University of London's Slavonic School is chiefly
concerned with Slavic languages and the history and geography
of Eastern Europe. The same University's 'School of Econom-
ics and Political Science, which has concerned itself with all
the social sciences,-is far more involved in current aspects
of the Soviet problem. It is staffed with some outstanding
scholars, in the fields of Eastern European politics, govern-
ment, and economics. In Oxford, there are congregated in
St. ..Atat.ony's College a number of excellent scholars in the
fields of both the USSR and Communist China, for example,
the historian Seton-Watson, the Far Eastern scholar Hudson,
and the expert on Communism, Carew-Hunt. But the research
activities remain a matter of individual enterprise and proceed
without coordinated planning. There also exists the Central
Asian Research Center, collaborating with St. Antony's Both
the College and the Center publish excellent journals.
Research at the Royal Institute of International Affairs
(Chatham House), mainly for governmental purposes, is not
geared to any of the study groups, although it makes use of
expert opinions. Small groups studying the Eastern European
area exist at the Universities of Birmingham and Glasgow,
but the research is based on the interests and activities of
individual scholars.
4. FRANCE`
Specialized institutes for Eastern European studies
existed prior to World War I at the Sorbonne (University of
Paris), the Institute of Slavic Studies, the National School
of Ea.steyn Languaies, and the Library of the Slavic World.
After World War II, there was created the Centre d'etudes
?usses de lFda
onaion des Science politi ue (Center of
Russian Studies of the Foundation for Political Science),
d
L
ea:
ng mainly with political questions of Eastern Europe;
l'Institut d'etude de 1'ecano.mie soviAique at de 1'e'conomie
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plannfiee (Institute of Studies of the Soviet and Planning
Economy) which, as its title says, has busied itself chiefly
with problems of Soviet economic planning and has issued
some publications on this subject (1950-1953); Centre des
Relations Internationales de la Fondation des Sciences poli-
ti ~ (International Relations Center of the Foundation for
Political Science) whose section "Eastern Europe" is study-
ing the USSR; and the section of "Russian Studies" is attached
to the Ecole pratique des Hautes Etud.e,s. Primarily econom-
ic, problems are studied in the Institute of Applied Economic
Science.
Outside. the Sorbonne, there is the Association d? Ludes
et d'informations politiques in.ternatior?ales (Association of
International Political Studies and Information) which is di-
rected by Boris Souvarine, presumably a. private. enterprise
supported by White Russians and their. sympathizers. The
work of this group is sla_ ted, and it cannot be regarded as
an objective research organization. Far more important is
the Direction de la Documentation f. :ran ais.e. This institution
acts. as a library and archive and works in conjunction with
the General Secretariat of the Foreign Ministry, the Finance
Ministry, and the National Institute of Statistics and Economic
Studies:. Although not specifically refer-ring to Eastern Europe
in its. name, the Direct:,on does undertake Soviet research and
pub i 1she s the monthly journal URSS. Souvar:ine's organization
publishes the well-known EAST & QUEST review.
5. JAPAN
Before the war there were some societies attempting to
study Soviet problems: but, according to the Japanese delegates
to the Bad Aussee Conference, their work remained inconspic-
u.ou.s.. After the war, a new interest in Soviet problems stim-
ul.ated the establishment of organizations to study them.
Prompted by the conference of Sovietolgists. in Muenstereifel,
Germany, in 1956, the Japan In,st,tute was established, and it
is c tn.cerned with problems of the entire Sino-Soviet bloc and
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International Communism. Another even newer institution,
the Institute of Soviet Scholars, was created by former Am-
bassador Amau and publishes its own magazine. Membership
is now seventy; new members must be introduced by two older
members. (It appears that this Institute is eager to play a
role in international Sovietology and is trying to convoke a
conference in Tokyo in the Fall of 1959).
Some research is being done by the Association of
Japanese Industrialists, but its direction and extent are not
clear.
There are two organizations whose re-search is political-
ly slanted: the Society for the Study of Soviet Problems is al-
legedly leftist or even Communist-oriented; the- Continental
Problems Research Institute is purported to be -strongly right-
ist. Nothing is known about the work of these organizations.
However, the impression one gathers in surveying Sino-Soviet
research activities in Japan is one of growing interest in this
field, probably spurred by the achievements in Sovietology
mainly in the US and West Germany.
6. SWEDEN
As a neutral state, Sweden has approached Soviet re-
search with caution. Nevertheless, there seems to be a lively
interest in such aspects as Soviet agriculture. and population,
and the activities of CEMA. There is a specific interest in
studying the iron ore situation in the bloc. The Swedish gov-
ernment does not seem to have undertaken the sponsoring of
such research; at this time, the Iron and Steel Federation is
backing whatever work is being done. Since- the Federation
collaborates with the Swedish Foreign Office, the results of
research will be chanelled to the right persons. However,
it is possible, as the Swedish observer at the Bad Aussee
conference stated, that more official research will be organ-
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ized; the information obtained at Bad Aussee:.was regarded
by the observer as helping his efforts in the preparation of
more intensified and better organized work.
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ANNEX:
Sample Curricula of the
OST KOLLEG
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Ost - Kollegofthe
Bundeszentrale fur Heimatdienst
Program of the 17th Study Conference
from 20 to 27 November 1958
Chairman: Dr. Ge rtle r
Day
Time Speaker
20 Nov 16:00 Arrival
18:00 Dr. Gertler,
20:00 Prof. Lieber,
B erlin
.15: 3 0 Prof. Markert,
Tth ingen
11:00
17:00
20:00 D. Lakebrink,
K8ln
9:00 Prof. Markert
15:30 Dr. Fetscher,
Tubingen
17:00
20:00 Film
20:00 Prof. Thalheim,
Berlin
Subject
Opening Statement
Communist Party,
State, Society
Dialectical and His-
torical Materialism I
if II
Outline of Russian and
Soviet History I
U II
Dialectic thinking and
war
Outline of Russian and
Soviet History III
it IV
Dialectical and His-
torical Materialism III
11 IV
Economic System I
II
III
IV
17:00 Stephan Thomas, Satellite system:
Bonn Soy. Zone Of. Germany
20:00 Free
9:00
11:00
15:30
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Day
Time Speaker .. . Subject
25 Nov 9:00 . Prof. von Mende, Party, State, Society II
Dltsseldorf
11:00
15:30
Dr. Boris Meissner, Soviet Theory
Bonn
ri
of the State
Soviet Communism
and Reform Commun-
ism
2 0: 00 Discussion (voluntary)
9:00 Prof. Moebus, Soviet Pedagogy I
11:00 Koblenz if II
15:30 Prof. Hellmann, Transformation of
Munster History in the Satel-
17:00
20:00
9:00
10:00
12:00
14:00
Informal lec-
tures by Prof.
MLbus, Prof.
Hellmann, Dr.
Wildenmann,
Prof. M8bus,
Koblenz
Final discussion
Departure
lites
ra II
-Situation of Interna-
tional Communism
Soviet Pedagogy III
It IV
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Ost - Kolle g of the
Bundes.zentrale fttr Heimatdienst
Program of the 19th Study Conference
from 7 to 13 December 1958
Chairman: Dr. Striedter
Day Time Speaker
7 Dec 16:00 Arrival
18:00 Dr. Striedter,
Berlin
20:00 Prof. Raupach,
Wilhelmshaven
8 9:00
11:00
Dr. Boettcher,
Hamburg
15:30
17:00
20:00
9 9:00
11:00
15:30
17:00
Dr. Siehlow,
Dortmund
Dr. Striedter,
Berlin
Prof. Philipp,
Berlin
'I
Prof. Maurach,
Md.hchen
20:00 Film
10 9:00 Prof. Philipp
Subject
Opening statement
Soviet economic system
I
Marxist ideology and
planned economy
Methods of Commu-
nist infiltration
Soviet intellectual
hi story
Outline of Russian= and
Soviet history I
11 11
Party, state, society
" II
(voluntary)
Outline of Russian.
Soviet hispbry III
11:00 '" '6 IV
15:30 it ft V
17:00 K. H. Theil, Satellite system
DUs seldorf
20:00 Free
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Day
Time Speaker
11 Dec 9:00 Dr. Wildenmann
11:00
17:00.
15:30 Prof. Lieber,
Berlin
20:00 Discussion
9:00 Prof. Lieber
15:30 Informal lec-
tures by Lieber,
A chminow,
Salter
11:00
9:00 Dr. Lakebrink,
Kti1n
12:00 Free discussion
14:00 Departure
10:00
Subject
Party, state, society
III
It IV
Historical and dialec-
tical materialism
IF II
(voluntary)
Historical and dialec-
tical materialism III
it IV
Political- scientific
analysis of present
controversy with
International Commu-
nism
Values of the Western
World
it II
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Ost -, Kolleg of the
Bundeszentrale fur Heimatdienst
K In - Lindenthal
Program of the 20th Study Conference
from 14 to 20 December 1958
Chairman: Dr. Wildenmann
Time Speaker
16:00
Arrival
18:00
Dr. Wildenmann,
20:00
Prof. Schiller,
Hohenheim
9:00
Dr. Gurland,
Dusseldorf
10:00
11:00 to
Discussion
13:00
15:30 to
Prof. Schiller
16j15
16:30 to
17:15
17:30
Discussion
20:00
r,
9:00
Prof. Thalheim,
Berlin
10:00
11:00 to
Discussion
13:00
15:30 to
Dr. Br,
.ker,
16: 15
Kd1n
16:30 to
17:15
17:30 to
Discussion
19:00
20:00
Topic
Opening statement
Introduction to the
Problems of the under-
developed countries
The consequences of
the European Colonial
Policy I
ra lI
The Situation of India
rr
U
Economic policy of
the USSR
if II
The foreign trade of
the Soviet Union I
ti II
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Day
Time Speaker
17 Dec 9:00 to Dr. Klatt,
10:00 London
10: 15 to
11:15
11:30 to Discussion
13:00
15:30 to Dr. Klaus Meh-
16:15 nert, Stuttgart
16:30 to
17:15
17:30 to Discussion
19:00
20:00 Free
9:00 to Dr. Fernau,
10:00 Zurich
10:15 tto
11:15
11:30 to Discussion
13:00
15:30 to Dr. Anthon,
16:15 Mehlem
16:30 to
17:15
17:30 Discussion and
20:00 films
9:00 to Dr. Klatt,
10:00 London
10:05 to Prof. v. Mende,
12:00 Dtts seldorf
Topic
Soviet economic expan-
sion, land reform and
collectivization in China
The Situation in the
Far East
IT II
The contemporary
world of the Islam I
fl II
The Situation in the
Near East I
II
The applicability of
the Soviet model to
under developed
countries
Soviet measures for
intellectual influence
on the under-developed
countries
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Day Time Speaker Topic
19 Dec 12:15 to Discussion
13:00
15:30 to "
19:00
20:00
20 Dec, 9:00 Prof. Bergstraes-Problems and respon-
ser, Freiburg sibility of the Occident
in a revolutionary
world
10:00 it "' II
12:00 Final discussion
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