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Linguistic Areas in
Europe:
Their Boundaries and Political Significance (1915) (The 5 maps in color included with the original article were not properly scanned and are not reproduced here) Contents
1. Introduction The purpose of this paper is to show that definite relations exist between linguistic areas in Europe and the geography of the continent and that application of facts derived from a study of this science to frontier delimitation is valid and practicable. The work was planned and executed under the direction of Councillor Madison Grant, who has drawn on his studies of European anthropology and history, as well as on a wide knowledge of the European continent, to supply the writer with numerous notes besides carefully revising the final proof and making many valuable additions. It is regretted that limitations of space have necessitated restricting presentation of a number of fundamental relations to bare statements of fact. This deficiency is remedied in part by the list of sources given in the footnotes. The nationality of authorities cited should be determined prior to consultation, as divergences of views corresponding to conflicting national aims are not infrequent.(1) Modern history has entered a stage in which determination of national boundaries is intimately connected with distribution of languages. International events in the past two centuries have been marked by constant endeavor to provide conformity of political and linguistic frontiers. The progress of western Europe in this respect is satisfactory. The eastern section of the continent contains problems which have defied diplomatic solution. Linguistic areas in common with other data of geography have been largely determined by the character of the surface covered or delimited. Occurrences such as the expansion of Polish to the Carpathian barrier or the restriction of Flemish to the lowland of northwestern central Europe cannot be attributed to mere haphazard. Determination of linguistic boundaries, therefore, implies due recognition of selective influences attributable to surface features. But the influence of region upon expansion or confinement of language is far from absolute. The part played by economic factors will be shown in the following lines to have been of prime importance. Considered as political boundaries, linguistic lines of cleavage have a twofold importance. They are sanctioned by national aspirations and they conform with physical features. Every linguistic area considered in this paper bears evidence of relation between language and its natural environment.(2) A basis of delimitation is therefore provided by nature. Eastern extension of French to the Vosges, confinement of Czech to a plateau enclosed by mountains, uniformity of language in open plains and river basins, all are examples of data provided by geography for the use of statesmen engaged in the task of revising boundaries. Europe may be aptly regarded as a vast field of settlement where the autochthonous stock has again and again been swamped by successive flows of eastern and southern immigrants. The wanderings of these invaders have been directed in part into channels provided by Eurasian structural features. Within historic times Celts have been driven westward by Teutons, who in turn were pressed in the same direction by Slavs. The consequence is that few Frenchmen or Germans of our day can lay claim to racial purity. As a matter of fact, northern France is perhaps more Teutonic than Southern Germany, while eastern Germany is in some respects more Slavic than Russia. The political significance of race is, therefore, trifling. Nationality, however, an artificial product derived from racial raw material, confers distinctiveness based on history. It is the cultivated plant blossoming on racial soil and fertilized by historical association. Language, the medium in which is expressed successful achievement or struggle and sorrow shared in common, therefore acquires cementing qualities. Its value as the cohesive power of nationality is superseded in rare instances by ideals similarly based on community of tradition or hope and in some cases of religion. Belgium and Switzerland afford good examples of such exceptional instances. Broadly, it may be submitted that the development of civilization in most countries has been marked by the progress of nationality, while nationality itself has been consolidated by identity of speech.
2. The Franco-Flemish
Boundary The westernmost contact between Romance and Teutonic
languages occurs in French Flanders and Belgium. Starting at a few miles
south of Dunkirk,(3) the
linguistic divide follows a direction which is generally parallel to the
political boundary until, at a few miles east of Aire, it strikes
northeast to Halluin, which remains within the area of French speech. From
here on to Sicken-Sussen, near the German border, the line assumes an
almost due east trend. This division corresponds to the mountainous and depressed areas into
which Belgium is divided. The upland has ever been the home of French.
"Walloon is but a modified form of the old langue d'oil.(4)
Flemish, on the other hand, is a Germanic language which spread over
Belgian lowlands as naturally as the Nieder-deutsch dialects to which it
is related had invaded the plains of northern Europe. This east-west line
also marks the separation of the tall, blond, long-skull Flemings from the
short, dark, round-skull Alpine Walloons. In northwestern France the language of the plain has steadily receded
since the 13th century before the uplander's speech.(5)
At that time Flemish was spoken as far south as the region between
Boulogne and Aire. The area spreading east of the Strait of Dover between
the present linguistic boundary and a line connecting these two cities is
now bilingual, with French predominating. It might be noted here, however,
that Boulogne has been a city of French language since Frankish days. Within Belgian territory the linguistic line has sustained slight
modification in the course of centuries. The country may be conveniently
divided into a northern section, the inhabitants of which consider Flemish
as their vernacular, but who also generally know French, and a southern
section peopled by French-speaking inhabitants who adhere to the use of
Walloon dialects in the intimacy of their home life. A small area in
eastern Belgium is peopled by Germans.(6) The figures of the last (Dec. 31, 1910) Belgian census
(7) show that the Flemish provinces are bilingual, whereas the
Walloon region is altogether French. Knowledge of French as an educational
and business requirement accounts for its occurrence in Flanders. The
Romance language, therefore, tends to supersede the Germanic idiom as a
national vernacular. Utter absence of Flemish in the Belgian Congo
constitutes perhaps the strongest evidence in favor of French as Belgium's
national language. The linguistic dualism is traceable to the period of the Roman conquest. Intercourse at that time between the Belgæ dwelling south of the Via Agrippa and the Romans who were pushing steadily northwards was intimate. The Latin of the Roman invaders modified by the Celtic and Germanic of the native populations gave birth eventually to the Walloon of subsequent times.(8) The Belgæ of the lowlands farther north, however, successfully resisted the efforts made by the Romans to conquer them. The marshes of their nether country and the forested area which was to be laid bare by the monks of the Middle Ages constituted a stronghold in the shelter of which Germanic dialects took root. At a later date the growth of the temporal power of the Roman Church witnessed the establishment of a number of bishoprics over districts segregated irrespective of linguistic differences. Perhaps one of the most notable facts of Belgian history is found in the fact that its linguistic and political boundaries have never coincided. Every century is marked by renewal of the age-long clashes between the Germanic and Romance races which have been thrown in contact along the western end of the line of severance between the plains of northern Europe and the mountainous southland of the continent. In recent years a keen struggle for predominance between Flemings and Walloons is observable in Belgium. Language had been adopted as the rallying standard of both parties. Aggravation of this feud may yet lead to secession. The Flemish provinces might then cast their political lot with the Dutch. The languages spoken in Holland and Flanders are practically identical. Religious differences alone have stood in the way of political fusion in the past. The revolt of the Netherlands from Spanish authority had led to the independence of Protestant provinces only. Flemish princes, swayed by religious scruples, refused to side with the Protestant communities whose political connection had been established by the Union of Utrecht in 1579. At present the severance of religious from political issues and the menace of absorption by Germany may drive the Flemings to join their close kinsmen of the lowlands on the north.(9) A state formed by this union could be named the Netherlands in all propriety. Its geographical foundation would be secure. Walloons would then naturally revert to French allegiance. The coincidence of political and linguistic boundaries in the westernmost section of central Europe would thus become an, accomplished fact. 3. The Franco-German Boundary In its central section the long contact line between French and German languages conforms approximately with the political line dividing the two countries. Modifications which French frontiers underwent since the Treaty of Utrecht may be regarded as final adjustments in a prolonged process of adapting political to linguistic boundaries. The Napoleonic period of political disturbances brought about an abnormal extension of the northern and eastern line. Between 1792 and 1814 almost all of the territory of Belgium and Holland was annexed and the eastern frontier extended to the Rhine. Foreign populations( )in Holland, Flanders, Rhenish Prussia and the western sections of Hesse and Baden passed under the administrative control centered at Paris. But their subjection to Napoleon 's artificial empire was of relatively short duration. The German-speaking people in 1813 united in a great effort to drive the French across the Rhine. They were merely repeating the feat of their ancestors who at a distance of eighteen centuries had defeated the Latin-speaking invaders of their country led by the Roman Varus. Success in both movements was helped to a certain extent by community of feeling based on identity of language. In 9 A. D. the Romans were forced back to the Rhine from the line they occupied on the Weser. The treaty of Vienna restored French boundaries to the lines existing in 1790. French territory again reverted to the approximately normal boundaries which enclose members of the French-speaking family. The union of Frenchmen into a compact political body was shattered, however, by the treaty of Frankfurt in 1871, when France was obliged to cede important strips of French-speaking territories in Alsace-Lorraine to Germany. The part to be played by Lorraine in the history of Franco-German relations was laid out by nature itself. The province has always been the seat of a wide pathway connecting highly attractive regions of settlement. It lies midway between the fertile plains of the Rhine and the hospitable Parisian basin. It is also placed squarely in the center of the natural route leading from Flanders to Burgundy. The region is physically part of France. It has therefore been inhabited mainly by French-speaking inhabitants. At the same time, the lack of a natural barrier on the east facilitated Teutonic incursions. In particular, the Moselle valley has favored easy access into Lorraine throughout history. In the Middle Ages and until the 18th century the province was part of the Empire and largely German speaking. This language still persists in the eastern parts. The region was thus a border land disputed first by two adjoining races and subsequently by two neighboring countries. This long period of successive conflicts necessarily witnessed modifications of linguistic boundaries. Glancing as far back as the end of the Middle Ages, a slight westerly advance of the area of German speech may be ascertained for the period between the 10th and 16th centuries.(10) From that time on, however, the regional gain of French has been in excess of previous German advances. Data obtained from place names often afford valuable clues to earlier distribution of languages in this region. Occurrences of the suffix "ange," which is the Frenchified form of the German "ingen," in names lying west of the present line show the extent of territory reclaimed by the French language.(11) Alsace is the region denned by the valley of the Ill Ill]. The wall of the Vosges Mountains marks its western limits. Its easterly extension attains the banks of the Rhine. This elongated plain appears throughout history as a corridor through which races of men marched and countermarched. The Alpine race provided it with early inhabitants. Romans subjugated the land in the course of imperial colonization. The province subsequently passed under Germanic and Frankish sway. Its entry into linguistic history may be reckoned from the year 842, when the celebrated oaths of Strassburg were exchanged in Romance and Teutonic vernaculars by Charles the Bald and Louis the German. The alliance of these two sovereigns against Lothair at this time marked the beginnings of the German destiny of Alsace. After 925 the province became part of the Teutonic domain and remained German except during the period of French occupation which lasted from 1681 to 1871. A highway of migration cannot be the abode of a pure race. Its inhabitants necessarily represent the successive human flows by which it has been overrun.(12) The Alsatian of the present day is, accordingly, a product of racial mingling. But the blending has conferred distinctiveness, and Alsatians claiming a nationality of their own find valid arguments in racial antecedents no less than in geographical habitation. The red soil of their fertile plains symbolizes the native land in their minds as it reveals itself to perception with the attribute of unity. Alsatians have responded to such an environment to the extent of representing a distinct group in which the basal Alpine strain has been permeated by strong admixtures of Teutonic blood. The confusion of dark and fair physiognomies represents the two elements in the population.(13) In a broader sense the Alsatians are identical with the Swiss population to the south and the Lorrainers and Walloons to the north. The districts occupied by all these people once constituted the Middle Kingdom of Burgundy. Alsace was a province of purely German speech until the end of the 18th century. French took solid foothold mainly after the revolution and during the 19th century. An enlightened policy of tolerance towards the province's institutions cemented strong ties of friendship between the inhabitants and their French rulers. Alsatian leanings towards France were regarded with suspicion by the victors of 1871, who proceeded to pass prohibitionary laws regarding the use of French in schools, churches or law courts. These measures of Grermanization were attended by a notable emigration to France. In 1871 there were 1,517,494 inhabitants in Alsace-Lorraine. The number dwindled to 1,499,020 in 1875 in spite of 52.12% excess of births over deaths. Nancy by its situation was destined to welcome Alsatians who had decided to remain faithful to France. The number of immigrants it received after the Franco-Prussian war was estimated at 15;000.(14) Pressing need of workingmen in the city's growing industrial plants intensified this movement. Alsatian dialects were the only languages heard in entire sections of the urban area. Peopled by about 50,000 inhabitants in 1866, Nancy's population jumped to 66,303 in 1876. Metz, on the other hand, with a population of 54,820 inhabitants in 1866, could not boast of more than 45,675 citizens in 1875. The census taken in 1910 raised this figure to 68,598 by including the unusually strong garrison maintained at this point. The present line of linguistic demarcation in Alsace rarely coincides with the political boundary. Conformity is observable only in stretches of their southernmost extension. East and southeast of Belfort, however, two areas of French speech spread into German territory at Courtaron and Montreux. In the elevated southern section of the Vosges the line runs from peak to peak with a general tendency to proceed east of the crest line and to reveal conspicuous deflections in certain high valleys of the eastern slope. Its irregularity with respect to topography may be regarded as an indication of the fluctuation of racial sites in early historical times.
Two methods of indicating the presence of a French element in Alsace-Lorraine are given in the map of this region accompanying this article. Percentages according to administrative districts(16) have been contrasted with actual extension of French predominance.(17) The map shows concordance of French and German authorities regarding the German character of Alsace, as well as the French nature of a substantial portion of Lorraine. The Rhine valley, a natural region, appears throughout as an area of German speech. Viewed in this light, French claims favoring extension of the country 's western boundary to the left bank of the Rhine deserve consideration only if grounded on Alsatian preference for French nationality. They cannot rest on a sound geographical foundation. Of all so-styled natural boundaries, a river perhaps is the most unsatisfactory.(18) Conventional representation of its course on paper provides the map with black lines which on casual inspection impart semblance of a break in regional continuity. Reasoned examination, however, discloses the similarity of the land extending beyond both banks. Allowance being made for difference of elevation between the upper and lower courses of a river, the unit region is obviously constituted by the entire basin. All the data of observation reveal regional unity in the valley of the Rhine. The political case of Alsace-Lorraine, viewed from the linguistic standpoint, may be summed up as follows: Alsace is German. Areas of French in this province consist of intrusions of minor importance. It is evident that the Vosges Mountains have prevented expansion of French towards the valley of the Rhine. Lorraine, however, which was also German, was devoid of a natural barrier that might have arrested the spread of French. Consequently it has been partly regained by that language. Beyond Alsace, French and German meet along a line which extends across western Swiss territory to the Italian frontier.(19) Its present course has been maintained since the fifteenth century.(20) Beginning at Lucelle, the line crosses the Jura mountains west of Solothurn. Lake Neuchatel is surrounded on all sides except the northeast by French-speaking communities. The western and southern shores of Lake Morat are likewise French. Fribourg, a city in which the struggle for linguistic supremacy is strenuous, lies at the edge of French-speaking territory. The line becomes better defined in the upper valley of the Rhone, where it coincides with the divide between the Yal d'Anniviers and the Turtmann Thai. The construction of the Simplon tunnel appears to have been the cause of an extension of French influence in this region and recession of German from the Morge valley to the east of Sierre lies within the memory of living natives. The origin of linguistic differences in Switzerland may be traced to the early history of the country. At the time of Caesar's conquests Helvetia, then peopled by Celts, became subjected to Rome's, imperial rule. Later, during the period of invasions, the Helvetians were conquered by the Burgundians, a Germanic tribe, who settled in the western part of the country. A fusion of the two peoples followed this conquest. The Celtic and Latin languages then prevailing gave birth to French which became essentially the speech of the Jura highlanders. German, on the other hand, is a relic of Teutonic invasions in eastern and central Switzerland. In the 6th century the Alemanni took advantage of the weakening of the Burgundian kingdom to spread beyond the Aar and overrun the attractive lake district. By the 11th century they had succeeded in imposing their language on the native population of the Fribourg and Valais country. Religious struggles beginning in the 15th century and maintained to the 17th century furthered the westerly advance of the Germans. The history of Switzerland shows pertinently that, at bottom, language does not always suffice to constitute nationality. Diversity of language has not impaired Switzerland's existence as a sovereign nation. Racial lack of unity in its population has likewise failed to weaken national feeling. The indomitable determination of Swiss to protect the liberal institutions and the religion around which their national life revolved has maintained their independence throughout the course of centuries. The area of German speech is interposed between the territories of Slavic and Romance languages. Niederdeutsch or Plattdeutsch^ the language of the plain, is restricted to the extensive northern lowlands. Dialects spoken in Westphalia, Holstein, Mecklenburg, Brandenburg and Prussia enter into its composition. The wealth of words in this tongue seems to indicate that ease of life on the plain favored greater development of thought. Eelative sterility of the vocabulary derived from mountainous sections of central and southern Germany is brought out by contrast. Oberdeutsch is the German of the highland. It comprises the Bavarian, Swabian and Alemannic dialects of Bavaria, "Wurtemberg and Baden. Its adoption as the literary language of all German-speaking people became well established in the Middle Ages. Luther's translation of the Bible, written in a combination of Upper and Middle German, contributed no mean share in the diffusion of the language. Printed German also followed this form. Its use has been favored by Germany's most noted writers since the 17th century. It is fast becoming the language of the educated classes. Its dissemination by the agency of schools and newspapers tends to convert it eventually into the only idiom that will survive within German boundaries. The transition from the northern plain of Germany to high central regions is represented on the surface by a zone of intermediate uplands in Saxony, Lusatia and Silesia. This area is also characterized linguistically by a transitional form of speech between Niederdeutsch and Oberdeutsch.(21) The greater similarity, however, of this intermediate language to Oberdeutsch is observable to the same extent that the rising land over which it is distributed presents greater analogy to the mountainous region towards which it tends. The transitional dialects include Frankish, Hennebergian and Saxon. They occur in the middle Rhineland, Hesse, Thuringia and Saxony. Outside this central mass of Germans living in Germany and Austria, the language prevails in the Baltic provinces of Russia, where Protestantism is strongly established. This region was known as the German provinces up to 1876. In that year substitution of Russian to German inaugurated Russification of the area by the government. Colonies of Germans are also found in southwestern Russia from the headwaters to the mouth of the Dniester. The valley of this river as well as that of the Dnieper was peopled by peasants who emigrated from Wurtemberg, Saxony and Switzerland during the reign of Catharine the Great. Many of the settlements still bear German names. The presence of Teutons in this part of Russia is devoid, however, of political significance. 5. The Danish-German Boundary
The present Danish-speaking population of Schleswig-Holstein is variously estimated at between 140,000 and 150,000. These subjects of the Kaiser occupy the territory south of the Danish boundary to a line formed by the western section of the Lecker Au, the southern border of the swampy region extending south of Renz and the northern extension of the Angeln hills. Between this line and the area in which German is spoken a zone of the old Frisian tongue of Holland survives along the western coast of the peninsula. Frisian is also spoken in the coastal islands. The degree to which linguistic variations adapt themselves to-physical configuration is admirably illustrated in this case by the southerly extension of Danish along the eastern section of the peninsula where persistence of the Baltic ridge appears in the hilly nature of the land. The Niederdeutsch of the long Baltic plain also continued to spread unimpeded within the low-lying western portion of the narrow peninsula until its northerly expansion was arrested by uninhabited heath land. The presence of Frisian along the western coast is undoubtedly connected with the adaptability of Frisians to settle in land areas reclaimed from the sea. The province of Schleswig began to acquire historical prominence as an independent duchy in the 12th century. Barring few interruptions its union with the Danish crown has been continuous to the time of the Prussian conquest. In 1848 both Schleswig and Holstein were disturbed by a wave of political agitation which expressed itself in demands for the joint incorporation of both states in the German Confederation. The extent to which the mass-of the Danish inhabitants of the duchies took part in this movement is open to historical controversy. Holstein was an ancient fief of the old Germano-Roman Empire. Its population has always been largely German. But the duchy of Schleswig is peopled mainly by Danes. By the terms(22) of the Treaty of Prague of Aug. 23, 1866, both Austria and Prussia had agreed to submit final decision on the question of nationality to popular vote. The provisions of the clause dealing with the referendum, however, were not carried out, and on Jan. 12, 1867, Schleswig was definitely annexed by Prussia.(23) Incorporation of the Danish province was followed by systematic attempts to Germanize the population(24) through the agency of churches and schools. In addition, a number of colonization societies, such as the '' Ansiedelungs Verein fiir das westliche Nord-sehleswig" founded at Rodding in 1891(25) and the "Deutsehe Verein fiir das nordliche Schleswig," were formed to introduce German ownership of land in Danish districts. The final years of the 19th century in particular constituted a period of strained feeling between Danes and Germans owing to unsettled conditions brought about by duality of language and tradition. At present the problem of Schleswig is considered settled by the German government. A treaty signed on Jan. 11, 1907, between the cabinets of Berlin and Copenhagen defined the status of the inhabitants of the annexed duchy. The problem of the "Heimat-lose," or citizens without a country,(26) was solved by recognition of the right of choice of nationality on their part. The German government considered this measure as satisfying the aspirations of its subjects of Danish birth. Nevertheless, the acquiescence of Danes living in Germany to any solution other than the adoption of linguistic boundaries as frontiers between Denmark and Germany remains doubtful. The standpoint of speech gives evidence of the thoroughly Danish character of northern Schleswig. The southern part of this province together with the whole of Holstein is undoubtedly German. |
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6. The Italo-German Boundary
The southern boundary of Germanic speech abuts against Italian from
Switzerland (27) to the
Carinthian hills. Along this contact zone a notable intrusion of the
Romanic tongue within the Austrian political line is observable in the
Tyrol. This foreign area lacks homogeneity, however, for it is Italian
proper in western Tyrol and Ladin in its eastern extension. The southerly advance of German in the mountainous province has
followed the valleys of the Etsch and Eisack, showing thereby that the
channels through which mountain waters flowed towards, the Adriatic also
facilitated transit of goods and the language of the traders from the
German highlands of central Europe to the Mediterranean. A steady current
of freight has been maintained in a southerly course along this route
since the origins of continental commerce in Europe. By the Middle Ages
numerous colonies of German merchants had acquired solid footing along the
much-traveled road over the Brenner Pass, which connected Augsburg and
Venice.(28) This protuberance of German occupies the valley of the Etsch south of
its confluence with the Eisack. The divide between the two languages has
its westernmost reach at Stelvio near Trafoi.(29)
The junction of Swiss and Austrian political boundaries at this-point
corresponds to the contact between the German of the Tyrol and the Romonsh
idioms of Engadine. Thence the linguistic line of separation skirts the
base of the Ortler massif and subsequently coincides with the watershed of
the Etsch and Noce rivers. Ladin settlements begin north of the Fleims valley(30) and spread beyond the Groden basin to Pontebba and Malborghet, where
the meeting of Europe's three most important linguistic stocks, the
Romanic, Germanic and Slavic, occurs. The Italian section of the Tyrol constitutes the Trentino of present
day Italian irredentists. As early as 774 Charlemagne's division of the
region between the kingdoms of Bavaria and of Italy had implied
recognition of linguistic variations. But the importance of maintaining
German control over natural lines of access to southern seas determined
his successors to award temporal rights in the southeastern Alps to
bishops upon whose adherence to Germanic interests reliance could be
placed. The bishopric of Trentino thus passed under the Teutonic sphere of
influence which is preserved to-day by the political union of the
territory of the old see to the Austrian Empire. Definite annexation of
the Trentino to the province of Tyrol took place in 1815. In its eventful history during the present millennium the Tyrol has
been the cockpit of Germano-Romance clashes. A lively trade competition
between German, and Italian traders has ever been maintained within its
borders. During the era of religious upheavals the Germans rallied to the
cause of reformation, while the Italian element remained faithful to the
authority of the Vatican. Contact with the Teutonic element appears to
have failed, however, to eradicate or modify the Italian character of the
region's institutions or its life.(31) In this
respect the colossal statue of Dante in front of the main railway station
in the city of Trent symbolizes faithfully the aspirations of the majority
of the inhabitants of the Trentino.
7. The Italo-Slavic
Boundary The Adriatic provinces of the Austro-Hungarian Empire are
peopled mainly by Italians and Slavs. German and Hungarian elements in the
population consist of civil and military officials as well as of
merchants. From an ethnological and linguistic standpoint the maritime
district is Italian or Slav according to its elevation. The Romanic stock
forms the piedmont populations, while the dwellers of the hilly coast
chains are of Slavic issue and speech. The western coast of the Istrian peninsula is an area of Italian
speech. The vernacular of Dante is, however, feebly represented in the
Dalmatian islands and on the Illyrian coast.(32) It is generally confined to urban centers. Zara, Spalato,
Sebenico, Ragusa and Cattaro33 contain flourishing colonies of Italians
whose secular commercial enterprise has contributed to establish
prevalence if not predominance of their mother tongue in the region.
Outside of these cities the Italian element wherever present is restricted
to littoral strips. The Slavs invariably occupy the inland plateau and the
slopes extending seaward. The Istrian region of predominant Italian speech consists of the
western peninsular lowland extending south of Triest(34)
to the tip of the promontory beyond Pola.(35)
Istrians, to whom Italian is a vernacular, form over a third of the
peninsula's population. The Slavs of the Karst and terraced sections
constituting the balance belong to the Roman Catholic faith, but have no
other common bond with their Italian countrymen. Settlement by Slavs of the hills dominating the Adriatic appears to
have taken place continuously between the 9th and 17th centuries. Feudal
chiefs of medieval times first resorted to this method of developing the
uncultivated slopes and highlands of the eastern coast. The Venetian
republic and the Austrian government adopted similar measures of
colonization. Slavic tribes hard pressed by their kinsmen or by Tatars
from the east thus found refuge in the mountainous Dalmatian coastland
under the aegis of western, nations. A traveler taking ship to-day and
sailing from harbor to harbor along the shores of the eastern Adriatic
could readily notice numerical predominance of the descendants of Slavs
who, for that section of the world, constitute the mass of toilers in
every walk of life, and who, sooner or later, will probably erect a
political fabric on the foundation of their linguistic preponderance.
8. The Area of Finnish Speech
The eastern half of the European landmass contains a region of excessive
linguistic intermingling(36)
along the contact zone of the Germanic and Slavic races. The Finns
occupying the northernmost section of this elongated belt are
linguistically allied to the Turki. Physically they constitute the
proto-Teutonic substratum of the northern Russians with whom they have
been merged. Their land was transferred from Sweden to Russia in 1808.
Autonomy conceded by the Czar's government until rescinded by the imperial
decree of Feb. 15, 1899, provided the inhabitants with a tolerable
political status. The opening years of the present century marked the
inception of a policy of Slavicization prosecuted with extreme vigor on
the part of the provincial administrators. The area of Finnish speech forms a compact mass extending south of the
69th parallel to the Baltic shores. Its complete access to the sea is
barred by two coastal strips in the Gulfs of Bothnia and Finland, in both
of which Swedish predominates in varying percentages.(37)
The group of the Aland Islands, although included in the Czar's dominions,
are also peopled by Swedes all the way to the southwestern point of
Finland.(38) This broken fringe of Swedish is conceded to be a relic of the early
occupation of Finland by Swedes.(39)
The Bothnian strip is remarkably pure in composition. The band extending
on the northern shore of the Gulf of Finland, however, contains enclaves
of the Finnish element. This is ascribed to an artificial process of ''
Fenni-fication" resulting from the introduction of cheap labor in the
industrial regions of southern Finland. Slower economic development of the
provinces of the western coast, on the other hand, tends to maintain
undisturbed segregation of the population.
9. The Area of Polish Speech
South of the Baltic the unbroken expanse now peopled by Germans merges
insensibly into the western section of the great Russian plain. This
extensive lowland is featureless and provides no natural barriers between
the two empires it connects. The area of Polish speech alone intervenes as
a buffer product of the basin of the Middle Vistula. The region is a
silt-covered lowland which has emerged to light subsequently to the
desiccation of a system of glacial lakes of recent geological age. It
appears to have been inhabited by the same branch of the Slavic race since
the beginning of the Christian era. It was the open country in which
dearth of food and the consequent inducement to migration did not exist.
The development of Poland rests primarily on this physical foundation.
Added advantages of good land and water communication with the rest of the
continent likewise contributed powerfully to the spread of Polish power,
which at one time extended from the Baltic shores to the coast of the
Black Sea. The language is current at present within a quadrilateral the angles of
which are determined by the Jablunka pass in the Carpathians, Zirke on the
Wartha, Suwalki in the eastern Masurian region and Sanok on the San. A
northern extension is appended to this linguistic region in the form of a
narrow band which detaches itself from the main mass above Bromberg and
reaches the Baltic coast west of Danzig. In sum, from the Carpathians to
the Baltic, the valley of the Vistula constitutes both the cradle and the
blossoming field of Polish humanity and its institutions. In spite of the
remoteness of the period of their occupation of the land, these children
of the plains never attempted to scale mountainous slopes. The solid wall
of the western Carpathians between Jablunka and Sanok, with its abrupt
slopes facing the north, forms the southern boundary of the country.
The southeastern extremity of the language attains the sources of the Moravka, an affluent of the Ostrawica. In this district the line of demarcation between Ruthenians and Poles passes through Tarnograd and along the San valley. Its southern extension skirts the foothills through Rymanow, Lhikla, Zmigrad, Gorlica and Gribow.(42) Thence to Jablunka it merges with the political boundary. In its western section the physical boundary coincides for all practical purposes with the ethnographic line of division. The Polish-speaking Gorales mountaineers have never aspired to cross the divide of the Beskid Mountains. The result is that the gentler slopes of the southern side are peopled altogether by Slovaks, while habit and custom have prevented the Podhalians or Polish shepherds inhabiting the high valley of the Tatra from leading their flocks to the southern grazing slopes which form part of the Hungarian domain.( 43)Changes in the aspect of the land resulting from human activity provide an easily observable boundary between the territory inhabited by Poles and that occupied by Ruthenians. The first, proceeding from the Vistula lowland, are now scattered over a territory in which deforestation and large areas of tilled soil bespeak prolonged human occupancy of the land. The latter, coming-from the Pontic steppes, reached the Carpathian slopes much later than their western neighbors. Consequently, only 20'% of the surface of the western Carpathians is now available as prairie and pasture land, whereas the percentage of grazing land in the eastern section of the mountain chain is twice as high.(44) The area of ploughed land in the western region covers between 40 and 50% of the surface. In the east it barely varies between 5 and 10 %. Again, the Polish section is practically clear of the forests which cover in contrast from 50 to 60% of the eastern Carpathians. Similar differences can be noted in the valleys up to an altitude of about 2,300 ft. Within them the proportion of ploughed land constitutes 88% of the surface in the Polish section. In the Ruthenian areas they do not exceed 15%. On the southwestern border the line attains the Oder in the vicinity of Bohumin. Here a number of localities in the Teschen country are claimed alike by Czechs and Poles. The increasing use of Polish and German, however, tends to invalidate the claims of Bohemians.(45) A transition zone between Czech and Polish exists here and is characterized by a local dialect of mixed language. The western linguistic boundary of Poland extends through the German provinces of Silesia and Posen. Here a gradual replacement of the language by German since the 16th century is noticeable. At that time the Oder constituted the dividing line. As late as 1790 the population of Breslau was largely Polish. To-day over 75% of the inhabitants of the city and of neighboring towns and villages are Germans. The district north and south constitutes in fact an area of linguistic reclamation. The westernmost extension of Polish occurs in Posen at the base of the provincial projection into Brandenburg. Around Bomst the percentage of Polish inhabitants is as high as 76%. The line extends northwards through Bentschen to Birnbaum, after which it assumes a northeasterly direction. In spite of this western extension, however, the area of Polish speech within German boundaries is broken in numerous places by German enclaves of varying size. (46)In Western Prussia, the Poles form linguistic islands in the German mass and attain Baltic shores, where they occupy the entire western coast of the Gulf of Danzig. From Oliva and Danzig the line extends to Dirschau (Tezew) and crosses the Vistula about 6 miles below this city. It then strikes east to Altmark, whence it turns southwards towards Marienwerder (Kwidzyn) and Graudenz (Grudziadz). Proceeding due east from here the boundary passes through Eylau, Osterode, the southern territory of the Masurian lakes and on into Russian territory until Suwalki is reached. The eastern frontier begins at this point and is prolonged southwards, according to Slav authorities, through Augustow, Bielostock, Surash, Bielsk, Sarnaki and Krasnostaw.(47) The struggle for predominance between Poles and Germans along Poland's western boundary is fully nine centuries old. In the 6th century Slavonic tribes had become widely distributed between the Oder and Elbe in the course of westerly expansions which corresponded to south and west migrations of Teutonic peoples.(48) The beginning of the present millennium witnessed the inception of a slow and powerful Germanic drive directed towards the east. Repeated German aggressions brought about the earliest union of all Polish tribes into one nation at the beginning of the 11th century. It proved, however, of little avail before the fighting prowess of the knights of the Teutonic Order who, by the first half of the 13th century, had succeeded in adding all "Wend territory to Teutonic dominions. This early and northern phase of the ''Drang nach Osten" brought the Germans to the coast of the Gulf of Finland. Their advance was rendered possible in part by the presence of Tatar hordes menacing southern Poland. Teutonic progress was also facilitated by the condition of defencelessness which characterizes an open plain. Between the Oder and the Vistula the slightly undulating lowland is continuous and devoid of barriers to communication which the interposition of uplifted or uninhabitable stretches of territory might have provided. Polish history has been affected both favorably and adversely by this lack of natural bulwarks. The one-time extension of Polish sovereignty to the coasts of the Baltic and Black Seas or to within 50 miles of Berlin and the central plateau of Russia was a result of easy travel in a plain. This advantage was more than offset by the evident facility with which alien races were able to swarm back into the vast featureless expanse forming Polish territory. The very dismemberment of the country is in part the result of the inability of the Poles to resort to the protection of a natural fortress, where a stand against oppressing foes might have been made. Poland's easterly expansion, with its prolonged and finally disastrous conflict with Russia, began after the battle of Grunwald in 1410. Although the Poles then inflicted a decisive defeat on the German knights, the western provinces they had lost could not be regained. In this eastern field the basin of the Dnieper merged without abrupt transition into that of the Vistula, just as the basin of the Oder on the west had formed the western continuation of the Baltic plain. Four centuries of struggle with Russia ensued until the Muscovite Empire absorbed the greatest portion of Poland. The German element is slowly spreading eastward throughout the eastern provinces of Prussia which once formed part of the Kingdom of Poland. The emigration of Poles to central and western Germany partly accounts for the German gain. From the larger cities of eastern Germany, and more especially from Posen, Bromberg, Gnesen and Danzig, steady flows of emigrants continually wend their way towards the industrial centers of the west, where they find higher wages and generally improved economic conditions. The German government favors this expatriation of its Slav subjects. None of the vexations to which the Poles are subjected by government officials in their native plains are tolerated in the Rhine provinces of the Empire. The result is that notable colonies of Poles have sprung up in the vicinity of industrial centers like Diisseldorf or Arnsberg, in the Minister district and the Rhine provinces. From a racial standpoint, these Poles are practically indistinguishable from the Nordic type of Teuton. Their presence in Rhenish Prussia and Westphalia is no menace to German unity. They are so easily assimilated that the second generation, speaking German alone, forgets its antecedents and becomes submerged in the mass of the native population. Slav settlements are particularly numerous and dense along the Rhine-Herne canal between Duisburg and Dortmund.(49) The heavy preponderance of Poles in certain administrative divisions of eastern Germany has, nevertheless, been unimpaired by the Polish emigration. Their percentage in the "circles77 (Kreise) of Odolanow, Koscian, Ostrzeszow, Posen, Pszczynsk, Olesia and Skwierzyn still exceeds 80% of the total population. In the province of Posen the German-speaking inhabitants still are in the minority. The Poles scattered in the eastern section of Germany constitute the largest foreign speaking element in the empire's population. Their number is estimated at 3,450,000 by Niederle. German census returns for 1900 give 3,086,489. It must be noted here that the percentage of Jews in German Poland is high, particularly in the urban areas, and that the practice of census takers is to classify them with the German or Polish population according to their vernacular. In Russia the last available census (1897) figures reveal the existence of 1,267,194 Jews(50) disseminated in the Polish provinces. This represents 13.48% of the population of Russian Poland. Here, as elsewhere, they are rarely engaged in agricultural pursuits, but show tendency to invade prosperous towns and cities.(51) In addition to drastic educational measures compelling study of their language, the Germans have resorted to wholesale buying of Polish estates in the sections of the kingdom of Poland which fell to the lot of Prussia when the country was partitioned. A colonization law (Ansiedelungsgesetz), decreed on April 26, 1886, placed large funds at the disposal of the German government for the purchase of land owned by Poles and the establishment of colonies of German settlers.(52) The measure was artificial and proved valueless against economic conditions prevailing in the regions affected. A decrease in the percentage of the Polish population of the estates acquired by purchase was rarely brought about. The new settlers could rarely compete with the natives. The most tangible result consisted of a mere substitution of German for Polish ownership. The mass of laborers and dependents on most of the large estates remained Poles, as they had been prior to the transaction. The breach between Poles and Germans was widened in part by the change of masters. Nevertheless, although returns corresponding to the sum of effort and money expended were not obtained, the measure has contributed to the advance of Teutonism in northeastern Europe.(53)From the east pressure corresponding to Teutonic battering, although exerted with less intensity, is applied by Russian endeavor to create national homogeneity. Of all the different members of the widespread Slavic race the Poles and Russians are the most closely related by speech. But the affinity ends here. The formidable barrier of religious differences hampers fusion of the two nationalities. Caught between the Slavic hammer of Russian orthodoxy and the anvil of Teutonic reformation, the Poles have remained staunch Catholics. Creed in this case has played a considerable part in the preservation of national spirit. The problem of delimiting Polish national boundaries is complicated on the east and west by the absence of prominent surface features. The lines of linguistic parting cannot be emphasized and are apt to be unstable. This circumstance detracts from their political value. 10. The Areas of Czech and Slovakian Speech The Czechs, who with the Moravians constitute Slavdom's; European vanguard, occupy the mountain-girt plateau of Bohemia in the very heart of Europe. Here the steady advance of Teutons; has prevented expansion of these Slavs along the valleys providing them with lines of easy communication with the rest of the continent. Czechs and Moravians thus found themselves bottled up inside the mountainous rim of their land by the Germans of Germany and of Austria. The German ring surrounding Bohemia is composed of sections representing various types of the Teutonic family. The southwestern element represents the Bavarian settlers from which it is. descended. Farmers and woodsmen were introduced into the Bohmerwald as an inevitable phase of the exploitation of the mountainous area by religious communities of the 13th century. The end of the Thirty Years' War was marked by a new influx of Germans needed to repopulate the sorely devastated Bohemian districts. The Bavarian element, however, never reached the foot of the eastern slopes. Modern Czech resistance to its spread toward the plateau persists unflinchingly. The Erzgebirge uplift is a German ethnographic conquest. For centuries its mineral wealth has attracted artisans from Franconiar Thuringia and Saxony. The mountain slopes resound to-day to the sound of the dialects of these ancient countries. The Saxon element prevails particularly among the inhabitants of the Elbe valley. Farther east, descendants of natives of Lusatia and Silesia still use the vernacular of their ancestors in the upland formed by the Iser and Eiesen ranges. The valleys of these mountains yield a steady stream of German-speaking inhabitants who wend their way towards the industrial towns of the southern plain. The German workingman's competition with his Czech fellow-laborer is keen, however, in this district and has not been marked by notable advance of the Teutonic idiom. Linguistically the Czechs and Moravians form a unit hemmed in by Germans on all sides except the east, where they abut against their Slovak kinsmen. Community of national aspirations is generally ascribed to these three Slavic groups, in which the Czech is the leading element. The union has been fostered by the lack of a literary language among Moravians with the consequent adoption of Czech forms of style in writing. The numerical inferiority of the Slovaks (54) found strength in this alliance. The Czech linguistic area presents homogeneity of composition which is seldom encountered in other parts of Austria-Hungary. Intermingling of Slav and Teuton elements has been slight in this advanced strip of Slavdom. Overlap of German occurs in banded stretches generally parallel to the political divide. It is particularly noticeable in the eastern angle formed by the junction of the Bohmerwald and Erzgebirge, where it almost attains the town of Pilsen.(55) Beyond in a northerly direction the volcanic area characterized by thermal springs lies within the German line. Reichen-berg, the strenuous center of Teutonism, maintains easterly and w-esterly prongs of German in the Iser-Eiesen uplifts and the Elbe valley, respectively. The German of Silesia spreads into Moravia .along the Zwittau-Olmiitz-Neu Titschen line. A short stretch of the southern linguistic area coincides with the political frontier in the neighborhood of Taus, but the balance of the southern Bohmerwald overlooking Bohemian levels is German in speech from its crests to the zone in which widening of the valleys becomes established. The disappearance of this moutainous chain in southern Moravia coincides with a southerly extension of Czech in the valley of the March. Contact with Slovak dialects begins in the Beskid area. Celts, Teutons and Slavs have occupied in turn the Bohemian lozenge. The appellation of Czechs first appears in the 6th century. National consolidation begins with the country's conversion to Christianity three hundred years later and is maintained with varying fortunes until 1620. Bohemian political freedom suffered annihilation in that year on the battlefield of the "White Mountain. After this defeat the land and its inhabitants lapsed into a state of historical lethargy. Half a century ago Czech was almost extinct. Fortunately, the high cultural attainment of some modern Czechs succeeded in rousing their countrymen to a sense of national feeling. In particular, the fire of Czech patriotism has been kept alive by literary activity. Successful attempts on the part of Hungarians to assimilate the Slovaks has caused these mountaineers to turn to their Czech kinsmen for assistance in the preservation of race and tradition. Merging of national aspirations has been facilitated by close linguistic affinity. A Czecho-Slovak body consisting of 8,410,998 individuals(56) thus came into being within the Dual Monarchy in order to maintain resistance against German and Hungarian encroachments. The Slovaks are mountain dwellers who have but slightly fraternized with Czechs and Moravians, notwithstanding close racial and linguistic affinity. The course of centuries failed to change their customs or the mode of life led in the western Carpathians. The Hungarian plain unfolded itself below their rocky habitation without tempting them to forsake the seclusion of their native-valleys. Their language holds its own as far east as the Laborec. valley. Junction with Polish is effected in the Tatra.
11. The Area of
Hungarian Speech The presence in Europe of Hungarians, a race
bearing strong-linguistic and physical affinity to Turki tribesmen, is
perhaps best explained by the prolific harvests yielded by the broad
valleys of the Danube and Theiss. Huns, Avars, Hunagars and Magyars, one
and all Asiatics wandering into Europe successively, were enticed into
abandonment of nomadism by the fertility of the boundless. Alfold. Western
influences took solid root among these descendants of eastern ancestors
after their conversion to Catholicism and the adoption of the Latin
alphabet. So strongly did they become permeated by the spirit of
occidental civilization that the menace of absorption by the Turks—their
own kinsmen—was rendered abortive whenever the Sultan's hordes made
successful advances towards Vienna. At the same time, fusion with the
Germans was prevented by the oriental origin of the race. The foundation
of a separate European nation was thus laid in the Hungarian plains. The area of Magyar speech thus denned lacks homogeneity in its western section lying west of the Danube where important enclaves of Germans are solidly entrenched. The central portion of the monotonous expanse unfolding itself between the Danube and the Theiss, on the other hand, is characterized by uniformity of the Hungarian population it supports. Enclaves exist again all along the eastern border of this area. A minor group of Hungarians have settled on the eastern edge of the Transylvania mountains. They live surrounded by Rumanians on all sides except on the west, where a lone outpost of Saxons brings Teutonic customs and speech to the east. The name of Szekler, meaning frontier guardsmen, applied to this body of Magyars, is indicative of their origin. Their presence on the heights overlooking the Rumanian plain bespeaks the solicitude of Hungarian sovereigns to control a site on which the natural bulwark dominating their plains had been raised. These Magyars represent at present the landed gentry of Transylvania. This Hungarian colony was in full development at the end of the 13th century. Its soldiers distinguished themselves during the period of war with the Turks. Prestige acquired on battlefield strengthened the separate and semi-independent existence of the community. The region occupied by these Hungarians is situated along the easternmost border of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The towns of Schassburg and Maros Vasarhely lie on its western border. But the area of Rumanian speech situated between the land of the Szekler and the main Hungarian district is studded with numerous colonies of Magyars, thereby rendering delimitation of a linguistic boundary in the region almost impossible. The Saxon colony adjoining the Szekler area on the west is also a relic of medieval strategic necessities. In spite of the name by which this German settlement is designated, its original members appear to have been recruited from different sections of western European regions occupied by Teutons.(58) Colonization had already been started when King Gesa II of Hungary gave it a fresh impulse in the middle of the 12th century by inducing peasants of the middle Rhine and Moselle valleys to forsake servitude in their native villages in return for land ownership in Transylvania.(59) To promote the efficiency of the soldier colonists as frontier guardsmen an unusual degree of political latitude was accorded them. In time their deputies sat in the Hungarian diet on terms of equality with representatives of the nobility. The exigencies of prolonged warfare with the Tatar populations attempting to force entrance into the Hungarian plains determined selection of strategical sites as nuclei of original settlements. These facts are responsible for the survival of the Teutonic groups in the midst of Rumanians and Hungarians. To-day the so-called Saxon area does not constitute a single group, but consists of separate agglomerations clustered in the vicinity of the passes and defiles which their ancestors were called upon to defend. The upper valley of the Oltu and its mountain affluents in the rectangle enclosed between the town of Hermannstadt, Fogaras, Mediasch and Schassburg contain at present the bulk of this Austrian colony of German ancestry.
12. The Area of
Rumanian Speech
The survival of Latin in an eastern land and in a form which presents closer analogies with the language of the Roman period than with any of its western derivatives had its origin in the Roman conquest of Dacia in the first decade of the second century. Occupation of the land by important bodies of legionaries and a host of civil administrators, their intermarriage with the natives, the advantages conferred by Roman citizenship, all combined to force Latin into current use. When in 276 Aurelian recalled Roman troops from the eastern provinces of the empire, the vernacular of Rome had taken such solid root in Dacia that its extirpation had become an impossibility. This abandonment of the region by the Romans is invoked for political reasons by the Magyar rulers of Transylvania in order to deny the autochthonous character of Rumanian natives of this Hungarian province. Rumanian historians, however, have been able to demonstrate the untenability of this assumption.(64) Clues offered by geography also tend to validate Rumanian claims. From the valley of the Dniester to the basin of the Theiss the steppes of southern Russia spread in unvarying uniformity, save where the tableland of the Transylvanian Alps breaks their continuity. The entire region was the Dacia colonized by the Romans.(65) Unity of life in this home of Rumanian nationality has been unaffected by the sharp physical diversity afforded by the enclosure of mountain and plain within the same linguistic boundary. The thoroughness with which Rumanians have adapted themselves to the pecularities of their land is evinced by the combination of the twin occupations of herder and husbandman followed by Moldavians and Wallachians. Cattle and flocks are led every summer to the rich grazing lands of the elevated Transylvanian valleys. In winter man and beast seek the pastures of the Danubian steppes and prairies. Rumanians thus maintain mountain and plain residences, which they occupy alternately in the year.(66) These seasonal migrations account for the intimacy between Highlanders and lowlanders, besides affording adequate explanation of the peopling of the region by a single nationality.(67) There was a time, however, when Rumanian nationality became entirely confined to the mountain zone. The invasions which followed the retirement of the Romans had driven Rumanians to the shelter of the Transylvanian ranges. Perched on this natural fortress, they beheld the irruption of Slavs and Tartars in the broad valleys which they had once held in undisputed sway. Only after the flow of southeastern migrations had abated did they venture to reoccupy the plains and resume their agricultural pursuits and seasonal wanderings. The outstanding fact in these historical vicissitudes is that the mountain saved the Latin character of Rumanian speech. Had the Romanized Dacians been unable to find refuge in the Transylvanian Alps there is no doubt that they would have succumbed to Slavic or Tatar absorption. As it is, the life of Rumanians is strongly impregnated with eastern influences. Oddly enough, its Christianity was derived from Byzantium instead of from Rome, and were it not for a veritable renaissance of Latinism about 1860 its affinity with the Slavic world would have been far stronger in the present century. 13. The Area of Slovene Speech Of the two groups of southern Slavs subjected to Austro-Hungarian rule the Slovenes are numerically inferior.(68) Settled on the calcareous plateaus of Carniola, they cluster around Laibach and attain the area of German speech, on the north, along the Drave between Marburg and Klagenfurt.(69) Eastward they march with Hungarians and the Serbo-Croat group of southern Slavs. Their southern linguistic boundary also coincides with the latter's. Around Gottsehee, however, a zone of German intervenes between Slovene and Croatian dialects. Practically the entire eastern coast of the Gulf of Triest lies in the area of Slovene speech. The group thereby acquires the advantage of direct access to the sea, a fact of no mean importance among the causes that contribute to its survival to the present day in spite of being surrounded by Germans, Hungarians, Croats and Italians. The Slovenes may be considered as laggards of the Slavic migrations that followed Avar invasions. They would probably have occupied the fertile plains of the Hungarian "Mesopotamia" had they not been driven to their elevated home by the pressure of Magyar and Turkish advances. Confinement in the upland prevented fusion with the successive occupants of the eastern plains which unfolded themselves below their mountain habitations. Racial distinctiveness characterized by language no less than by highly developed attachment to tradition resulted from this state of seclusion.
14. The Area of Serbian Speech
South of the Hungarian and Slovene linguistic zones the Austro-Hungarian
domain comprises a portion of the area of Serbian speech. The language
predominates from the Adriatic coast to the Drave and Morava rivers, as
well as up to the section of the Danube comprised between its points of
confluence with these two rivers. The area of Serbian speech thus delimited includes the independent kingdoms of Montenegro and Serbia. "Within the territory of the Dual Monarchy it is spoken in the provinces of Croatia, Slavonia, Bosnia, Herzegovina and Dalmatia. The language is, therefore, essentially that of the region of uplift which connects the Alps and the Balkans or which intervenes between the Hungarian plain and the Adriatic. Union between the inhabitants of this linguistic area is somewhat hampered by the division of Serbians into three religious groups. The westernmost Serbs, who are also known as Croats, adhere to the Roman Catholic faith in common with all their kinsmen, the western Slavs. Followers of this group are rarely met east of the 19th meridian. A Mohammedan body consisting of descendants of Serbs who had embraced Islam after the Turkish conquest radiates around Sarajevo as a center. The bulk of Serbians belong, however, to the Greek orthodox church. Cultural analogies between the Mohammedan and orthodox groups are numerous. Both use the Russian alphabet, whereas the Croats have adopted Latin letters in their written language. The Serbian group made its appearance in the Balkan peninsula at the time of the general westerly advance of Slavs in the 5th and 6th centuries. A northwestern contingent, wandering along the river valleys leading to the eastern Alpine foreland, settled in the regions now known as Croatia and Slavonia. Here the sea and inland watercourses provided natural communication with western Europe. Evolution of this northwestern body of Serbians into the Croatians of our day was facilitated by the infiltration of western ideas. But the great body of Serbians occupying the mountainous area immediately to the south had their foreign intercourse necessarily confined to eastern avenues of communication. They therefore became permeated with an eastern civilization in which Byzantine strains can be easily detected. In spite of these cultural divergences, the linguistic differentiation of the Croat from Serbian element has been slight. To-day the political aspirations of this compact mass of Serbians are centered around the independent kingdom of. Serbia, which is regarded as the nucleus around which a greater Serbia comprising all the Serbian-speaking inhabitants of the Balkan peninsula will grow. This Serbo-Croatian element is estimated to comprise at least 10,300,000 individuals. (72)By its situation, the Serbian linguistic area and the rugged land over which it spreads afford a political and physical link whereby connection between problems pertaining respectively to western Europe and the Balkan peninsula is established. The process of nation-forging undertaken by Serbian-speaking inhabitants of southeastern Europe induces a southerly gravitation of Croatians and Bosnians. In opposition to this tendency, artificial forces are exerted at Vienna in order to prevent detachment of the Serbian element in the Dual Monarchy. 15. The Case of Macedonian Within the Balkan peninsula linguistic groupings now conform to a large extent with the political divisions which ended the wars of 1912-1913. Greater distance in time will undoubtedly afford an increasingly satisfactory perspective of the results which followed this attempt to totally eliminate the Turk from mastery over this portion of the European continent. Racial sifting followed close on territorial readjustments. Turks from .all parts of the former Turkish provinces transferred their lands to Christian residents and emigrated to Asia Minor. Special arrangements for this exodus were provided by the Turkish government. Greeks settled in the newly acquired Bulgarian and Serbian domain similarly sought new homes within the boundaries of the Hellenic kingdom. A heavy flow of Bulgarian emigrants is at present directed to Bulgaria from Bulgarian-speaking territory allotted to Serbia.(73) Pressing need of further boundary revision on the basis of language is still felt in the Balkan peninsula. Fear of a resumption of hostilities in this part of Europe is now due principally to the moot case of the nationality of the Slavs of Macedonia. Serbs and Bulgars claim them alike as their own. In reality the Macedonians-constitute a transition people between the two. The land they occupy is surrounded by a mountainous bulwark which assumes crescentic shape as it spreads along the Balkan ranges, and the mountains of Albania and the Pindus. For centuries this Macedonian plain has constituted the cockpit of a struggle waged for linguistic supremacy on the part of Bulgarians and Serbs. The land had formed part of the domain of each of the two countries in the heyday of their national life. To this fact the present duality of claim must be ascribed in part. The language of the Macedonians is likewise transitional between Serbian and Bulgarian. Its affinity with the latter, however, is greater. It is, in fact, sufficiently pronounced to have generally led to its inclusion with Bulgarian. Travelers in the land of the Macedonian Slavs know that a knowledge of Bulgarian will obviate difficulties due to ignorance of the country's vernaculars. Serbian, however, is not as readily intelligible to the natives. These relations have not illogically weighted the consensus of authority on the Bulgarian side. The result is that compilers of linguistic or ethnographic maps have generally abstained from differentiating the Macedonian from the Bulgarian area.(74) The impossibility for Bulgarians to regard the terms of the Treaty of Bucarest as final are, therefore, obvious. Extension of the Rumanian boundary to the Turtukai-Black Sea line was also an encroachment on soil where Bulgarian was the predominant language.(75) In its westernmost area the delimitation of a Bulgarian
linguistic boundary is greatly hampered by the relatively large
Serbian-speaking element on the north and a corresponding mags of Greeks
on the south. Reliable statistics are still unavailable. The region in
which determination of Bulgarian or Serbian linguistic predominance
assumes its most complicated phase is found in the quadrangle constituted
by Pirot-Nish-Vranja-Prisrend. Here the language of the Slavic natives
departs equally from the Bulgarian and Serbian, between which it varies.
This region, however, lies north of Macedonia proper. At the same time,
there appears to be little room to doubt that the area of Bulgarian speech
extends to the zone of the eastern Albanian dialects and that it attains
the Gulf of Saloniea. But the seafaring population of the Ægean
coast is largely Greek except in the sections within Bulgarian boundaries
which are now destitute of Greek fishermen.
16. The Area of Albanian Speech
Outside of Macedonia a Balkan zone in which political and linguistic
boundaries fail to coincide existed until recently in southern Albania.
The frontier of this principality with Greece had been extended into a
region in which Greek was undoubtedly spoken by the majority of the
inhabitants.(76) The Hellenic government, taking advantage of
disturbances in Albania and the European war of 1914, despatched troops in
the territory claimed by its citizens. As a result of this invasion, the
Albanian area of Greek speech is at this writing under Greek military
occupation.(77)
The inhabitants of Albania are utterly devoid of national feeling. The
formation of this independent state was a purely political move undertaken
by Austrian statesmen to prevent expansion of Serbia to the Adriatic.
Within the boundaries determined by the Ambassadorial conference held in
London in 1913, strife and dissensions prevail to-day as intensely as
during the Turkish regime. Natives of the northern sections of the country
speak Serbian dialects and are inclined to favor union with Serbia or
Montenegro rather than independence. Malissori tribesmen fought side by
side with Montenegrin troops in the fall of 1912, while the Albanians of
Ipek gave assistance to Turkish regulars. The inhabitants of the valley of
the upper Morava sent supplies to Serbian troops against which the
chieftains of central Albania led their men. The purest type of Albanian
found in the vicinity of Elbassan, Koritza and Avlona(78)
is practically submerged in a sea of Greeks. Under
these circumstances, partition of the country between Greece and Serbia
might not be incompatible with native aspirations. Departure from
linguistic differentiation in this case would probably be attended by
political stability which could not be provided in any other manner. Certain inferences engage attention
in this study of linguistic areas. Inspection of the map of Europe
prepared for this article suggests strikingly that zones of linguistic
contact were inevitably destined by their very location to become
meeting-places for men speaking different languages. They correspond to
the areas of circulation defined by Ratzel.(79)
The confusion of languages on their site is in almost every instance the
result of human intercourse determined by economic advantages. In Belgium
after the Norman conquest the burghers of Flanders were able to draw on
English markets for the wool which they converted into the cloth that gave
their country fame in the fairs of Picardy and Champagne.(80) We have here a
typical example of Katzel's "Stapellandern" or "transit regions." In a
cross direction the traffic of the Rhine ran at the end of the 12th
century from Cologne to Bruges along the divide between French and
Flemish. Lorraine, inviting access from east and west, is known to
historians as a Gallo-Germanic market place of considerable importance.(81)
In our own time the river trade between Holland and Germany along the
Rhine has caused expansion of Dutch into German territory as far as Wesel
and Crefeld. The intruding language yields, however, to German
everywhere.(82) Prevalence of French in parts of Switzerland is generally
ascribed to travel through certain Alpine passes.(83) The penetration of
German in the Trentino has already been explained. In Austria the entire
valley of the Danube has provided continental trade with one of its most
important avenues. I have called attention in a former article to the
Balkan peninsula as an intercontinental highway.(84) In a word, language
always followed in the wake of trade and Babel-like confusion prevailed
along channels wherein men and their marketable commodities flowed. The history of Europe during the 19th
century shows clearly that modern reconstruction of nationalities is based
on language. Practically all the wars of this period are the outcome of
three great constructive movements which led to the unification of Germany
and of Italy as well as to the disentanglement of Balkan nationalities.
These were outward and visible signs of the progress of democratic ideals.
The congress of Vienna failed to provide Europe with political stability
because popular claims were ignored during the deliberations. At present
inhabitants of linguistic areas under alien rule are clamoring for the
right to govern themselves. The carrying out of plebiscites under
international supervision can be relied upon to satisfy their aspirations
and serve as a guide to frontier rearrangements. All told, the growing coincidence of
linguistic and political boundaries must be regarded as a normal
development. It is a form of order evolved out of the chaos characterizing
the origin of human institutions. The delimitation of international
frontiers is as necessary as the determination of administrative
boundaries or city lines. Human organization requires it and there is no
reason why it should not be undertaken with a fair sense of the wishes and
the feelings of all affected. Notes: Source: |
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This page compliments of Marisa Ciceran Created: Tuesday May 17, 2005;
Last updated: Thursday, October 15, 2009
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From Baren Kopf to about 10 miles beyond Schlucht Pass the mountainous
divide and linguistic line coincide. Farther north, however, French
prevails in many of the upper valleys of the Alsatian slope. This is true
of the higher sections of the Weiss basin, as well as the upper reaches of
the Bruche. At a short distance south of the sources of the Liepvre, parts
of the valley of Markirch (Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines) are likewise French.
Here, however, the influx of German miners who founded settlements as far
back as the 17th century have converted the district into an area
linguistically reclaimed by Germans. Altogether it was estimated that in
1910 French was spoken by 204,262 inhabitants of Alsace-Lorraine out of a
total population of 1,814,564.(
Lack of conformity between political and linguistic
boundaries along the Danish-German frontier has caused ceaseless strife
tween the two nationalities. Denmark's hold on Schleswig-Hol-stein prior
to 1866 had engendered bitter feeling among Germans who considered the
subjection of their kinsmen settled on the right bank of the Elbe estuary
as unnatural. After Prussia had annexed the contested region, it was the
Danes' turn to feel dissatisfied and to claim the districts occupied by
their countrymen.
