Kollaborationens dilemma

Den 17. august udkommer Working for the New Order, en antologi redigeret af lektor, ph.d. Joachim Lund fra International Center for Business and Politics. Bogen, der bærer undertitlen

European Business under German Domination 1939-1945, er et komparativt studie i betingelserne for at drive forretning og opretholde produktionen i et risikofyldt ’business environment’ præget af krig, nazistisk besættelsespolitik og ressourceknaphed. Efter en sammenligning af en lang række europæiske lande konkluderes det, at industrien i krigens sidste tid ofte var hårdt ramt af mangel på råvarer og arbejdskraft, men at mange virksomheder til gengæld oplevede krigens første to-tre år som en fremgangstid på grund af en øget efterspørgsel fra det kontinentale Europas altdominerende magt, Tyskland.

Bogen udgives på CBS Press i samarbejde med Syddansk Universitetsforlag.

Citater fra bogens cover:

Damned if you do – damned if you don’t. During the Second World War, the collaboration dilemma regarding Europe’s business life came to the forefront as business leaders were faced with the necessity of cooperating with the German enemy in order to maintain production and survive as economic units.

Addressing a wide range of European countries under German control during the Second World War, this book analyzes the conditions of business during the war, showing how contrary to many beliefs and post-war conceptions, occupation and dependency on the German market – as part of a formal or informal empire – was not solely a story of Nazi plunder and the subsequent ruin of national economies. At the same time, levels of business activity for companies in a number of European countries actually increased, as they became part of the German supply lines during the war. Producing for Germany potentially meant not only a means of survival for an individual company, but also an actual source of stabilization. The conditions of business survival varied according to the politics of the occupying power, the cooperation potential of local business and what was left of local political authority. However, in most European countries, one way or another, business chose to cooperate and accept German contracts.

Europe’s business during the Second World War is a story of corporate survival in a highly unstable business environment. Cooperation with the dominant European power aimed at securing the future for business, national economies – and the nation states of Europe. With this point of reference, Europe’s business life contributed substantially to the Nazi German war effort. It was working for the New Order.