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https://doi.org/10.22364/luraksti.zvm.818.08 | 71-81 | PDF

Latvijas Valsts universitātes pētnieku līdzdalība PSRS militārajos pētījumos un izstrādēs 20. gadsimta 60.–80. gados: pēc LVU Pirmās nodaļas materiāliem

Participation of Researchers of the Latvian State University in Development of Soviet Military Research and Developments in 1960s–1980s: Based on Materials of the First Department of the Latvian State University

† Uldis Krēsliņš
Latvijas Universitātes Latvijas vēstures institūts
Kalpaka bulv. 4, Rīga, LV-1050

Pēc Latvijas inkorporācijas PSRS sastāvā Latvijā sāka izplatīties zinātnes militarizācija un kā nozīmīgs zinātnes un jauno zinātnieku sagatavošanas centrs 60. gadu sākumā militārajos pētījumos tika iesaistīta arī Latvijas Valsts universitāte. Šo pētījumu dokumentāciju un saraksti pārraudzīja īpašs 1946. gadā LVU struktūrā nodibināts slepenās lietvedības institūts – t. s. Pirmā nodaļa –, kuras uzdevums atbilstoši pastāvošajiem likumiem un instrukcijām bija nodrošināt valsts noslēpuma saglabāšanu LVU. Līdzās teorētiskām studijām – studentu slepenu diplomdarbu aizstāvēšanai un atsauksmēm par tādiem no citām augstskolām – LVU pētnieki piedalījās arī militāros lietišķos pētījumos. Daudzveidīgi ar militāriem pētījumiem saistīti aprēķini tika veikti LVU Skaitļošanas centrā, ilggadēju pirotehnisko sastāvu stabilitātes pētījumu programmu īstenoja LVU Ķīmijas fakultāte, bet plašāk zināmais LVU pētnieku sasniegums bija izstrādes kosmiskajā ģeodēzijā.

Atslēgvārdi: kosmiskā ģeodēzija, Latvijas Valsts universitāte, LVU Pirmā nodaļa, LVU Skaitļošanas centrs, zinātnes militarizācija.

Summary

The participation of the researchers of the Latvian State University (LSU) in military research of the USSR began in the early 1960s and spanned about thirty years, until the early 1990s. The fact that the beginning of the 1960s became the starting point for that participation could be explained by several circumstances. One of the reasons was the development of military technologies, when the existing weapons were replaced by whole weapon systems, which required more and more scientific resources. However, the decisive factor was the consolidation of the scientific and technical base of the LSU, which enabled the launch of new and, at the time, promising research directions.

At the same time, it should be emphasized that the participation of the LSU researchers in the military researches of the USSR was most often limited to theoretical calculation, less frequently – involved the conduct of individual experimental studies. The limitation of these studies was determined by the general practice of military researches (for preventing the leakage of secret information), allowing higher education institutions to carry out only part of a study, the results of which then were included in the overall design of the project outside the walls of the university.

Looking at the wider context and assessing the impact of militarization on the development of science as a whole, certain dualism has to be noted. On the one hand, it cannot be denied that orders for military research stimulated not only the development of certain scientific research directions, but also gave the opportunity to develop the material and technical basis of the LSU, which would have been slower without such orders. On the other hand, the influence of military interests on science also caused significant damage, which struck especially drastically in geography (for example, the data on mineral deposits and their dimensions available for public was limited) and cartography, where maps, available to the public, were humiliating Soviet cartography and were disrespectful to society as a whole. Besides, the fact that certain researches, as well as the names of the authors of these studies, became secret, made the history of Latvian science poorer.

Keywords: cosmic geodesy, Latvian State University, the First Department of the LSU, Computing Centre of the LSU, militarization of science.