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Geopolitics on trial: politics and science in the wartime geopolitics of Gudmund Hatt

Larsen, Henrik Gutzon LU (2015) In Journal of Historical Geography 47. p.29-39
Abstract
The history of Danish geographers during the Second World War is almost synonymous with that of Gudmund Hatt (1884–1960), the Professor of Human Geography at Copenhagen University. Hatt was a key figure in the development of Danish geography and assumed the role of a public intellectual, particularly through his geopolitical analyses as they unfolded in a staggering number of radio speeches, newspaper essays, books and articles during the late 1930s and early 1940s. But this industriousness, which accelerated during the first years of the Nazi-German occupation of Denmark (9 April 1940–5 May 1945), was also the direct reason for Hatt's hard downfall – academically as well as personally. For his wartime activities, Hatt was as the only... (More)
The history of Danish geographers during the Second World War is almost synonymous with that of Gudmund Hatt (1884–1960), the Professor of Human Geography at Copenhagen University. Hatt was a key figure in the development of Danish geography and assumed the role of a public intellectual, particularly through his geopolitical analyses as they unfolded in a staggering number of radio speeches, newspaper essays, books and articles during the late 1930s and early 1940s. But this industriousness, which accelerated during the first years of the Nazi-German occupation of Denmark (9 April 1940–5 May 1945), was also the direct reason for Hatt's hard downfall – academically as well as personally. For his wartime activities, Hatt was as the only Danish university professor tried by a post-war public servants' tribunal. It found that he had engaged in 'dishonourable national conduct' during the occupation and dismissed him from his professorship. Drawing on archives and published sources from the period, the paper focuses on Hatt's wartime activities and geopolitical analyses in the complicated political context of the occupation, and it pays particular attention to the conflict between 'science' and 'politics' as it crystallised in the post-war trial of Hatt. (Less)
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author
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Denmark, Gudmund Hatt, World War II, Geopolitics
in
Journal of Historical Geography
volume
47
pages
29 - 39
publisher
Elsevier
external identifiers
  • wos:000353096100006
  • scopus:84940278630
ISSN
0305-7488
DOI
10.1016/j.jhg.2014.05.031
language
English
LU publication?
yes
additional info
The information about affiliations in this record was updated in December 2015. The record was previously connected to the following departments: Department of Human Geography (LUR000049)
id
faefce03-a55b-467d-997a-17589729bbf7 (old id 4537419)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 14:45:28
date last changed
2022-03-22 01:46:15
@article{faefce03-a55b-467d-997a-17589729bbf7,
  abstract     = {{The history of Danish geographers during the Second World War is almost synonymous with that of Gudmund Hatt (1884–1960), the Professor of Human Geography at Copenhagen University. Hatt was a key figure in the development of Danish geography and assumed the role of a public intellectual, particularly through his geopolitical analyses as they unfolded in a staggering number of radio speeches, newspaper essays, books and articles during the late 1930s and early 1940s. But this industriousness, which accelerated during the first years of the Nazi-German occupation of Denmark (9 April 1940–5 May 1945), was also the direct reason for Hatt's hard downfall – academically as well as personally. For his wartime activities, Hatt was as the only Danish university professor tried by a post-war public servants' tribunal. It found that he had engaged in 'dishonourable national conduct' during the occupation and dismissed him from his professorship. Drawing on archives and published sources from the period, the paper focuses on Hatt's wartime activities and geopolitical analyses in the complicated political context of the occupation, and it pays particular attention to the conflict between 'science' and 'politics' as it crystallised in the post-war trial of Hatt.}},
  author       = {{Larsen, Henrik Gutzon}},
  issn         = {{0305-7488}},
  keywords     = {{Denmark; Gudmund Hatt; World War II; Geopolitics}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  pages        = {{29--39}},
  publisher    = {{Elsevier}},
  series       = {{Journal of Historical Geography}},
  title        = {{Geopolitics on trial: politics and science in the wartime geopolitics of Gudmund Hatt}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jhg.2014.05.031}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.jhg.2014.05.031}},
  volume       = {{47}},
  year         = {{2015}},
}