Doing Medicine Together: Germany and Russia Between the Wars

Dieter K. Buse is professor emeritus of history at Laurentian
University.

Relations between Germans and Russians have been long and intricate.
From German scholars participating in the 18th-century founding of the
Russian Academy of Sciences and German explorers codifying Russian
eastern realms, to 20th-century exchanges of military and technological
information, the relationship has been multifaceted and tumultuous. This
collection of erudite essays analyses the interactions primarily in
regard to science and medicine during the so-called Rapallo era when
both countries sought ways out of their diplomatic isolation after the
Russian Revolution and World War I.

The introduction could have provided more background on economic and
secret military cooperation, topics that have been well researched. But
it does present well the context of the medical and health interchanges
that feature in this collection. It argues that one task is “to look
below the level of the nation–state, at the intellectual agendas,
disciplinary contacts, and institutional settings of the scientists
involved in the cross-national relations.” The second task is seen as
exploring “how important ‘the other’ was for the partners, what
alternatives to ‘the other’ the partners identified, and how they
weighed those alternatives.” Hence, the book is structured around four
facets that the editor asserts have not received much attention: “the
process of choosing friends across borders, the role of scientific
entrepreneurs in uncharted terrain, the nexus of bilateral and
international science, and the migration of scientists across
borders.”

Each of the four parts contains three or four essays providing case
studies on topics such as German overtures to Russia between 1919 and
1925, or how the Germans became the predominant foreign scholars invited
to participate in the 200th anniversary of the Academy of Sciences in
1925. The lengthy and theoretically informed study of cultural diplomacy
by Michael David-Fox employs concepts such as “showcases, fronts and
boomerangs.” Many of the other essays examine the role, influence, and
intentions of one of the prime movers, Heinz Zeiss, whose career spanned
many ideological regimes.

Though occasionally marred by proofreading errors, the essays are based
on detailed research—frequently in recently opened archives—and
provide important contributions on a significant topic related to
globalization of knowledge.