Publication Date
2025
Document Type
Dissertation/Thesis
First Advisor
Bruno, Andy
Degree Name
Ph.D. (Doctor of Philosophy)
Legacy Department
Department of History
Abstract
Global rubber shortages and market instability in the early 20th century drove the United States, Soviet Union, and Nazi Germany to collaborate in an overwhelming drive to secure domestically producible sources of rubber, either from plants that could grow outside the tropics, or from synthetic rubber processes. The Soviet Union was an indispensable part of this converging, transnational “quest for rubber.” Russian scientists created the first factories to produce synthetic rubber, and Russian agronomists had discovered a dandelion in Central Asia that yielded latex suitable for manufacture. Consequently, both discoveries were disseminated across the world. Sometimes they were shared: the Soviet Union exchanged seeds with the United States during WWII, German and American chemical companies DuPont and I.G. Farben collaborated on producing synthetic tires, and Russian scientists involved in the synthetic rubber industry visited and even immigrated to the United States. Sometimes these secrets were stolen. German commandos raided the Soviet Union to steal dandelion seeds and grew them with the help of abducted Russian scientists at Auschwitz. After the war, the United States and Soviet Union split up Germany’s largest chemical company, I.G. Farben, dividing Germany’s resources, facilities, and chemists between themselves. This history supports a view of modernity as transnational, where the material demands of modernist agendas overruled different ideologies like communism, socialism, and capitalism that clashed over how to modernize. In the case of providing rubber, these differences broke down in the face of pure necessity, creating moments where enemy nations worked together to guarantee the provision of rubber, sometimes even amid war.
Recommended Citation
Craver, Alexander Hinnov, "The Roots of Empire and Industry: the Transnational History of the Soviet Rubber Industry" (2025). Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations. 8053.
https://huskiecommons.lib.niu.edu/allgraduate-thesesdissertations/8053
Extent
217 pages
Language
en
Publisher
Northern Illinois University
Rights Statement
In Copyright
Rights Statement 2
NIU theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from Huskie Commons for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without the written permission of the authors.
Media Type
Text
