Making the Soviet Intelligentsia explores the formation of educated elites in Russian and Ukrainian universities during the early Cold War. In the postwar period, universities emerged as training ...grounds for the military-industrial complex, showcases of Soviet cultural and economic accomplishments and valued tools in international cultural diplomacy. However, these fêted Soviet institutions also generated conflicts about the place of intellectuals and higher learning under socialism. Disruptive party initiatives in higher education - from the xenophobia and anti-Semitic campaigns of late Stalinism to the rewriting of history and the opening of the USSR to the outside world under Khrushchev - encouraged students and professors to interpret their commitments as intellectuals in the Soviet system in varied and sometimes contradictory ways. In the process, the social construct of intelligentsia took on divisive social, political and national meanings for educated society in the postwar Soviet state.
Au cours des années cinquante, les revenus de l'exportation atteignent la moitié du chiffre d'affaires de la compagnie Bull. Cette performance, rare dans l'industrie française de l'époque, s'explique ...par divers facteurs : les origines de Bull, sa "culture d'entreprise" sont multinationales; en mécanographie et en informatique, les parts de marché sont très stables et il est donc vital d'en conquérir aussitôt que possible; l'Etat favorise l'activité exportatrice de la compagnie; disposant de ses propres brevets, Bull ne subit pas une dépendance technique qui limiterait son expansion; de plus — c'est notre hypothèse —, les machines étant généralement louées plutôt que vendues, le constructeur subit des contraintes financières spécifiques, qui l'incitent à créer des filiales étrangères. A partir de 1948, Bull développe énergiquement son réseau commercial international. En 1964, celui-ci emploie 4 000 personnes et couvre quarante-deux pays, du Japon à l'Amérique. Les principales filiales sont en Allemagne et en Italie. Bull s'attaque aussi aux marchés anglo-américains, mais ne s'établit que tard dans ces pays où ses principaux concurrents sont chez eux. Les accords liant Bull à British Tabulating Machines et à Remington-Rand de 1950 à 1959 donnent à la firme française une certaine marge de manœuvre, mais l'incitent, nous semble-t-il, à trop investir dans le matériel électromécanique "classique" : une division internationale du travail se dessine, enfermant Bull dans la dépendance technologique. Prise de court par l'offensive des petits ordinateurs de gestion, ne parvenant plus à financer la mise en location de ses machines, Bull subit une grave crise et tombe sous le contrôle de General Electric en 1964. During the 1950s, exports generated up to half of Bull's turnover — an exceptional performance for a French company at the time. This success had several causes: Bull's origins and corporate culture were multinational; in the data-processing industry, market shares are very stable over the time, thus it is vital to conquer these as soon as possible; the French government helped Bull to expand internationally, through regulations and loans; as Bull had command of its own patents, its expansion was not limited by license agreements; moreover, particular to Bull's case, their machines were generally leased, not sold, and this imposed financial constraints on a manufacturer, who thus needed to create foreign subsidiaries. From 1948 on, Bull actively developed its international commercial network. In 1964, its sales force abroad employed a staff of 4 000 people and covered 42 countries, from Japan to America. The main subsidiaries were in Germany and Italy. Bull also attacked the British and US markets, but did not initially establish subsidiaries in these countries, where its main competitors were on home ground. Agreements linked Bull to British Tabulating Machines and to Remington-Rand from 1950 to 1959; they gave the French company a greater freedom of action, but enticed it to invest unwisely into conventional punch card equipment manufacturing. In 1960, Bull was set back by the offensive of small business computers, and could no longer afford the costly leasing operations of its machines. After a serious crisis, Bull was taken over by General Electric in 1964.
