War in Minds. Review of the book by Maciej Gorny “Welka wojna profesorow. Nauki o czlowieku (1912–1923)” [Russ. ed.: M. Gurnyi «Velikaya voina professorov. Gumanitarnye nauki. 1912–1923»]

Abstract

The fundamental research of Maciej Gurny, professor at the Institute of History of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Berlin, is reviewed. Professor Gurny’s book is devoted to a phenomenon known in the historiography of the 20th century as “Krieg der Geister”. This seemingly invisible and bloodless war belongs only to the sphere of ideas. However, the scientific forces that were involved in this “Krieg der Geister”, as the author shows, directly influenced the origins, the course, and the consequences of the hot war – the World War I. These spheres are geography, racial anthropology, psychology and psychiatry. The monograph shows the role of the intellectuals of the region of Central-Eastern Europe and the Balkans in mobilizing the ideological (moral) and material resources of the warring countries. Having processed a huge array of information (about 1000 references to sources), M. Gurny notices a number of very interesting nuances in the topic under study. At the same time, one of the shortcomings of the book, in the opinion of the reviewer, is the absolutely insufficient use of Russian sources devoted to the phenomenon of “Krieg der Geister”. And those exist in not small numbers. One can argue with many of the conclusions that M. Gurny makes, but one of the undoubted advantages of the monograph is the return to the Russian intellectual space of many forgotten, but, paradoxically, historical plots that are relevant today.