The Reaction in Continental Europe to Wegener's Theory of Continental Drift

Abstract

The reaction in Germany indicates that in spite of World War I, the geological community was very much alive. Opinions ranged from violent and emotional rejections by prominent scientists, who saw their previously published theories challenged, to active acceptance of an exciting new concept to be tested in the various fields of geology. The French reaction, delayed by the death of many geologists during the war, and hampered by the language barrier, remained provincial and chauvinistic. Only lofty and skeptical comments were presented against what was considered an amateurish theory by a geophysicist. In reality, nobody in France, with the exception of Philibert Russo and Boris Choubert, was at the time involved in any orogenic theory or prepared to accept the challenge. The idea of continental bridges prevailed. In Switzerland, after the introduction of Wegener's ideas by Emile Argand during the war, and in spite of strong anti-German feelings, the concept was accepted quickly and enthusiastically as the best framework for solving critical problems of Alpine tectonics. Several famous Austrian geologists had published orogenic theories for the Alps based on the contraction the-ory and rejected Wegener's mobilism, but later, under the influence of Swiss geologists, they showed partial acceptance. Belgian geologists rejected Wegener's theory because they considered the beautiful symmetry of the present surface of the Earth incompatible with the assumed breaking-up of an original continental mass. Italian geologists, with a few exceptions, rejected Wegener's "aberration" while Spain, unaffected by the war, had a positive attitude which was facilitated by an early translation and a receptive academic audience. Dutch geologists, deeply involved with the Indonesian archipelago, accepted widespread mobilism with enthusiasm since it provided a spectacular answer to their problems. The Scandinavians, supportive but unable to interpret Precambrian geology with Wegener's theory, concentrated their efforts on astronomical and geodetic studies of present-day drift in the Arctic region. In summary, the reaction in Continental Europe was extremely diversified and dominated by an association of strong post World War I politics, the language barrier, the stifling of academic authority, passions of individuals, and regionalism of geology.

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