Le Nord : revue internationale des Pays de Nord - 01.06.1943, Page 63

THE DANISH SOCIETY
Information about Denmark Abroad
by Frederik Graae.
Permanent Under-Secretary of State to the Danish Ministry of Education,
UNDER the influence of modern civilization and the de-
velopment of communications the countries of the
world are getting closer to each other. Nevertheless, the
conquest of geographical distance has not been accompanied by
a corresponding diminution of the psychological distances which
separate nations. The interplay of cultural forces has, in fact, not
kept step with that of technical inventions. On the contrary,
the lack of mutual knowledge and understanding among nations
has made itself increasingly felt, with consequences more fatal
than in any earlier age, and the task of remedying the resulting
evils, by promoting a better knowledge of other nations, has there-
fore become more imperative than ever before.
Already during the first World War, the different countries
began to display a certain interest in these matters. It was realized
that the disaster which had befallen the civilized world was
largely due to the fact that the people of each country knew
too little about their neighbours, and that this ignorance had left
the way open for misrepresentations which had produced an at-
mosphere of hatred and distrust in both the contending camps.
It became clear that an international work of information,
addressing itself both to particularly influential circles and to a
wider public, would help to avert many future conflicts. Most
countries, especially those which owed their existence to the war,
began to plan information services which were to spread a know-
ledge about their own civilizations among the publics of other
nations. It is true that obvious political and economic interests
also provided an incentive to the establishment of these informa-
tion services. But in addition to such interests, the above-men-
tioned wider perspectives were always discernible behind the
work of national information which various countries plan-
ned to carry on on each other’s soil. Unfortunately, the realiza-
tion of these schemes, and the effect they ultimately had, was
often quite different from what had been originally contemplated.
The triumphal march of technological progress continued during
the years between the two wars. Its results were utilized by the
Lc Nord, 1943, 2—4
5