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THE NATIONALITY MAP OF

EUROPE

I

BY LEON DOMINIAN

A nation's development unfolds itself within a definable area. Its history undergoes constant change. But the natural features of the regions in which the changes occur are abiding. And life everywhere and in all its transformations tends to adapt itself to its surroundings. Europe is a soil on which the plant of nationality has blossomed. Some of the continent's nations rose to eminence because they came into being on propitious sites. Often natural conditions were adverse. A study of the map is nothing less than a study of the foundations on which national life was laid.

Two great facts underlie European history during the past hundred years. Everywhere nations are emerging from their struggles with increasing homogeneity of population. Within them the spirit of democracy is growing stronger. A survey of boundary changes in the last century reveals the tendency of peoples of the same race and speech to consolidate into single political units. In western Europe the process has attained a highly advanced stage. Tangled conditions still prevail in the eastern section of the continent. Allowance for these considerations is necessary in a study of nationality in Europe as well as in the settlement of new boundaries.

To consider a nation as the arbitrary creation of diplomacy is to ignore the working of natural laws which preside over the formation of nationality. The consciousness of belonging to the same A Social political unit among individuals, and the feeling of union. Force engendered thereby, are manifestations of a persistent action of social forces which are reducible to scientific expression. Self-preservation comes into play. The perpetuation of ideals is desired. Men of a given group have needs which are not felt in other

This article is based on the writer's book "The Frontiers of Language and Nationality in Europe" published by Henry Holt and Company for the American Geographical Society of New York. Reference to this work is invited for ampler details.

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