Beyond the Divide

Simo Mikkonen is a Finnish Academy Research fellow in the Department of History and Ethnology at the University of Jyväskylä, Finland. He is the author of State Composers and the Red Courtiers: Music, Ideology, and Politics in the Soviet 1930s (2009).

“Nearly 30 years after the dissolution of the USSR (signaling the close of the Cold War), it is somewhat surprising that a team of academics could provide such a timely work, spanning 11 European countries… [The] diverse perspectives from various disciplines and fields (connected through the study of history) across the European nations is one of the largest strengths of this volume. Highly recommended.” • Choice“The volume’s concise introduction and chapters, none of which exceeds twenty pages (including footnotes), are well suited to seminar discussions along the lines drawn [in the volume], one through the Iron Curtain, and another toward, through, and around the institutions above it.” • Slavic Review“The value of this volume is based in the abundance of empirical insights into the manifold attempts to overcome the ideological divisions and the receptiveness of the involved actors…This volume is a welcome and important contribution, offering much material and inspiration for further case studies and comparative overviews.” • Forschungen zur Baltischen Geschichte“Beyond the Divide introduces new themes to the field of the Cold War culture by giving voice to themes that have not been widely discussed in Cold War historiography. Not only the geographical coverage but also topics from politics to science, from friendship societies to media, from television to popular culture create a picture of active exchanges that took place in spite of the division and restriction caused by the Cold War…It is a volume that is worth reading.” • European History Quarterly“Where did the power of the Cold War begin and what were its limits in terms of defining social reality? Mikkonen’s and Koivu­nen’s fresh and innovative anthology succeeds in pushing this important question once more to the top of the research agenda.” • Neue Politische Literatur“It is rare that edited volumes cover the European continent so broadly in terms of geography. Furthermore, many of the chapters focus on individual actions and impact, which adds a certain personal depth to the larger story of exchanges, cooperation, and cultural relations across the Iron Curtain.” • Rósa Magnúsdóttir, Aarhus University“The overall message is that time has come to overcome traditional Cold War narratives and to look at European societies in detail. I think this volume will have an impact both on Cold War research and on teaching European history.” • Annette Vowinckel, Zentrum für Zeithistorische Forschung Potsdam

• List of IllustrationsIntroduction: Beyond the DividePART I: POLITICAL PROCESSES AND TRANSNATIONAL NETWORKSChapter 1. Opening Up Political Space: Informal Diplomacy, East-West Exchanges, and the Helsinki ProcessGiles Scott-SmithChapter 2. Challenging Old Cold War Stereotypes: The Case of Danish-Polish Youth Exchange and the European Détente, 1965–75Marianne RostgaardChapter 3. Transmitting the “Freedom Virus”: France, the USSR, and Cultural Aspects of European Security CooperationNicolas BadalassiChapter 4. Cultural Diplomacy of Switzerland and the Challenge of Peaceful Coexistence, 1956–75Matthieu GillabertPART II: INTERPLAY IN THE ACADEMIC CONTEXTSChapter 5. Expert Groups Closing the Divide: Estonian-Finnish Computing Cooperation since the 1960sSampsa KaatajaChapter 6. French-Romanian Academic Exchanges in the 1960sBeatrice ScutaruChapter 7. Hungary Opens toward the West: Political Preconditions for Finnish-Hungarian Cooperation in Research and Development in the 1960s and 1970sAnssi HalmesvirtaChapter 8. “Discrete” Intermediaries: Transnational Activities of the Fondation pour une entraide intellectuelle européenneIoana PopaPART III: LIMITATIONS FOR TRANSNATIONAL NETWORKSChapter 9. The Image of “Real France”: Instrumentalization of French Culture in the Early Communist CzechoslovakiaVáclav ŠmidrkalChapter 10. Dealing with “Friends”: Soviet Friendship Societies in Western Europe as a Challenge for Western DiplomacySonja GrossmannChapter 11. The Soviet Union Encounters Anglia: Britain’s Russian Magazine as a Medium for Cross-Border CommunicationSarah DaviesPART IV: ALONG THE BORDERLINESChapter 12. Transnational Television in Europe: Cold War Competition and CooperationLars LundgrenChapter 13. Transnational Spaces between Poland and Finland: the Grassroots Dismantling of the Iron Curtain and Their Political EntanglementsAnna MatyskaChapter 14. A Filter for Western Cultural Products: The Influence of Italian Popular Culture on Yugoslavia, 1955–65Francesca RolandiNotes on ContributorsBibliographyIndex