Socialist Life of a U.S. Army Computer in the GDR’s Financial Sector - Inria - Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies du numérique Accéder directement au contenu
Communication Dans Un Congrès Année : 2019

Socialist Life of a U.S. Army Computer in the GDR’s Financial Sector

Martin Schmitt
  • Fonction : Auteur
  • PersonId : 1021268

Résumé

This article investigates the role of the first digital computer in GDR’s socialist financial system. Why did the GDR’s Ministry of Finance import a Univac computer from the U.S. army in 1965, even though the country aimed at computational autarky and was restricted by embargo? The main argument is that the Ministry of Finance imported the computer to kickstart its program for electronic data processing. They succeeded because they not only imported a machine, but also reframed it ideologically. They drew on the notion of the computer as a universal machine and adapted it to local conditions. The process hints to the ambiguity of the later decision of the East Bloc toward copying IBM’s system architecture. This article investigates this process by following the traces of an early computer and the ideas surrounding it through the Iron Curtain. It stresses the role of early computer users with the example of GDR’s financial system in contrast to better known producer stories. Through the analysis of exclusive material, this is suggesting a different perspective on the import procedures of Eastern European countries in the Cold War. A policy change in the Cold War towards détente becomes visible as early as in 1965.
Fichier principal
Vignette du fichier
481034_1_En_9_Chapter.pdf (6.01 Mo) Télécharger le fichier
Origine : Fichiers produits par l'(les) auteur(s)
Loading...

Dates et versions

hal-02386553 , version 1 (29-11-2019)

Licence

Paternité

Identifiants

Citer

Martin Schmitt. Socialist Life of a U.S. Army Computer in the GDR’s Financial Sector. IFIP International Conference on the History of Computing (HC), Sep 2018, Poznan, Poland. pp.139-164, ⟨10.1007/978-3-030-29160-0_9⟩. ⟨hal-02386553⟩
46 Consultations
195 Téléchargements

Altmetric

Partager

Gmail Facebook X LinkedIn More