‘The “invisible” export of thought’: German Science and Southern Europe, 1933-45

Conceived as a general introduction to the whole volume, this chapter provides a concise overview of recent literature on the international scientific and cultural relations of the Nazi regime.
Even though the last decades have seen a flood of publications and research focusing on Nazi Science, only few of these studies consider German scientific institutions and actors of that period within an international context, that is, within a scientific framework by that time, already highly networked.
After examining the role played by Science in the international diplomatic ‘soft power’ strategies of the Nazi Regime, the chapter then concentrates on the specific and extremely diverse scientific and cultural relations that Germany was able to establish with southern European countries (goals, interests and motivations).
Thus, the perspective adopted aims to provide a more comprehensive view of the complex and dynamically networked interactions between Germany and Southern Europe during the fascist period.