Piotr Eberhardt

Abstract

This article presents the historical and political conditioning leading to the establishment of the contemporary Polish-German border along the ‘Oder-Neisse Line’ (formed by the rivers known in Poland as the Odra and Nysa Łużycka). It is recalled how – at the moment a Polish state first came into being in the 10 th century – its western border also followed a course more or less coinciding with these same two rivers. In subsequent centuries, the political limits of the Polish and German spheres of influence shifted markedly to the east. However, as a result of the drastic reverse suffered by Nazi Germany, the western border of Poland was re-set at theOder-Neisse Line. Consideration is given to both the causes and consequences of this far-reaching geopolitical decision taken at the Potsdam Conference by the victorious Three Powers of the USSR, UK and USA.

Keywords: Oder-Neisse Line, western border of Poland, Potsdam Conference, international boundaries

Piotr Eberhardt [p.ebe@twarda.pan.pl], Institute of Geography and Spatial Organization Polish Academy of Sciences, Twarda 51/55, 00‑818 Warszawa, Poland

Piotr Eberhardt [p.ebe@twarda.pan.pl], Institute of Geography and Spatial Organization Polish Academy of Sciences, Twarda 51/55, 00‑818 Warszawa, Poland

Abstract

The paper presents the political history of the present-day eastern boundary of Poland (Polish-Ukrainian and Polish-Belarusian). Therespective line was called the Curzon Line due to the initiative of the Foreign Secretary of Great Britain, George Nathaniel Curzon(1859-1925). On December 8th, 1919, he suggested a provisional demarcation line separating Poland from Bolshevik Russia.At that time, it was just one of many proposals for the course of the line of separation and did not play any significant political role. Thename, the Curzon Line, was brought back into use during World War II by Stalin and accepted by Roosevelt and Churchill at the conferencesin Teheran in 1943 and in Yalta in 1945, as the eastern boundary of Poland. In this article, the causes and consequences of thisdecision are considered, based on the source documents and the literature on the subject. The political boundary which was forced uponPoland by the three superpowers after the defeat of the German Third Reich, and the inclusion of Poland in the Soviet zone of influenceare the subjects of this article.

Keywords: Curzon Line, boundary of Poland, political boundary, World War II, historical geography

Piotr Eberhardt [p.ebe@twarda.pan.pl], Institute of Geography and Spatial Organization Polish Academy of Sciences, Twarda 51/55, 00‑818 Warszawa, Poland

Abstract

The paper outlines the creative achievements of nine Polish scholars and political activistsliving in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. They were the precursors of the idea of the politicalunifi cation of Europe. They argued, in their various works, that it was necessary to establish the unityand brotherhood of the nations of Europe. They postulated the liquidation of political boundaries and theestablishment of a community of free states on the European continent.

Keywords: Europe, 18th and 19th centuries, integration concepts

Piotr Eberhardt [p.ebe@twarda.pan.pl], Institute of Geography and Spatial Organization Polish Academy of Sciences, Twarda 51/55, 00‑818 Warszawa, Poland

Abstract

The paper presents the demographic problems of the Russian Federation. The demographic developments in Russia to date are first shown. In spite of two World Wars and the enormous losses incurred by the Russian population, this population continued to feature strong demographic dynamics until the disintegration of the Soviet Union began. The turning point came during the 1990s, as difficult politico-economic conditions brought an abrupt decline in the birthrate along with an increase in mortality. The population then started to decrease. The subsequent part of the paper presents the demographic forecasts for Russia. They are pessimistic indeed, showing that the 50 years to come will see the population in Russia decreasing steadily. The author outlines the socio-economic consequences of this already persistent phenomenon, and shows that the demographic decline in Russia may have quite fundamental geopolitical repercussions. Indeed, this question has become the focus of a very broad scientific discussion in Russia, so the paper presents the views of numerous Russian demographers and politologists. Many of these opinions are of an alarmist character and sere to inflame the political atmosphere in Russia.

Keywords: population of Russian Federation, demographic forecasts, socio-economic consequences, demography and geopolitics

Piotr Eberhardt [p.ebe@twarda.pan.pl], Institute of Geography and Spatial Organization Polish Academy of Sciences, Twarda 51/55, 00‑818 Warszawa, Poland

Abstract

This article presents the demographic and ethnic situation of Central and Eastern Europe. For geographical, political and ethnic reasons the region was split up into five separate groups, namely:

• the Baltic countries (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Kaliningrad district),
• Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia,
• Belarus and Ukraine,
• Hungary, Romania and Moldova,
• Balkan countries (Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Yugoslavia, Macedonia),
• Bulgaria and Albania.

The article discusses the abundance and spatial distribution of ethnic minorities living in the region. Its aim is to show the political consequences of intricate ethnic structure.

Keywords: ethnic structure, minorities, Central-Eastern Europe

Piotr Eberhardt [p.ebe@twarda.pan.pl], Institute of Geography and Spatial Organization Polish Academy of Sciences, Twarda 51/55, 00‑818 Warszawa, Poland

Abstract

The work deals with demographic problems of the rural areas in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, the Kaliningrad District, Belarus, Ukraine, Poland, Czecho-slovakia, Hungary, Rumania, Moldavia, Bulgaria and Yugoslavia. In the text, the common term "Central Eastern Europe" is applied to these countries. A statistical analysis has been employed with regard to nine time intervals/time points: 1897/1900; 1910/1913; 1920/1921; 1939/1941; 1948/1950; 1960; 1970; 1980 and 1987/1990. For each of them the size of rural population and its density have been evaluated, and then, the dynamics of demographic evolution described. An important part of the analysis has been the comparison of rural population to total population. On the basis of this comparison, structural changes and demographic trends have been defined. Particular attention has been paid to the processes of depopulation as well as their range and intensity in rural areas of Central Eastern Europe.

Keywords: rural population, density, migrations towards urban areas, dynamics, depopulation of rural areas

Piotr Eberhardt [p.ebe@twarda.pan.pl], Institute of Geography and Spatial Organization Polish Academy of Sciences, Twarda 51/55, 00‑818 Warszawa, Poland

Abstract

This study is to present the dynamics of urban agglomerations from 1868/1871to tie latest data for 1975, or exactly for the past 105 years. Populationsize will be given for the agglomerations in eleven historical cross-sections:18681871, 1897/1900. 1910/1913, 1921/1925, 1931/1933, 1939, 1946, 1950, 1960,1970 1975. Over the last century, what is now Poland's national territory hadbelonged to different state organisms; hence, the differing statistics and thedifferent census years. Censuses had been carried out in different years bothin each of the three partitioning powers before the First World War and on theterritories belonging to the German state between 1918 and 1945, which accountsfor the double data given for some of the above time cross-sections. Data for1939 and 1975 rely on estimates rather than on census statistics. All that accountsfor the high differentiation of the statistics now available.

Piotr Eberhardt [p.ebe@twarda.pan.pl], Institute of Geography and Spatial Organization Polish Academy of Sciences, Twarda 51/55, 00‑818 Warszawa, Poland

Piotr Eberhardt [p.ebe@twarda.pan.pl], Institute of Geography and Spatial Organization Polish Academy of Sciences, Twarda 51/55, 00‑818 Warszawa, Poland

Kazimierz Dziewoński, Instytut Geografii i Przestrzennego Zagospodarowania PAN ul. Krakowskie Przedmieście 30, 00-927 Warszawa
Piotr Eberhardt [p.ebe@twarda.pan.pl], Institute of Geography and Spatial Organization Polish Academy of Sciences, Twarda 51/55, 00‑818 Warszawa, Poland
Jerzy Gażdzicki, Institute of Geography Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw
Elżbieta Iwanicka-Lyra, Institute of Geography Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw
Jacek Krolski, Institute of Geography Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw
Małgorzata Zeniewska, Institute of Geography Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw

Stanisław Leszczycki, Institute of Geography and Spatial Organization Polish Academy of Sciences, Twarda 51/55, 00‑818 Warszawa, Poland
Piotr Eberhardt [p.ebe@twarda.pan.pl], Institute of Geography and Spatial Organization Polish Academy of Sciences, Twarda 51/55, 00‑818 Warszawa, Poland
Stanisław Herman, Institute of Geography- Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw

Stanisław Leszczycki, Institute of Geography and Spatial Organization Polish Academy of Sciences, Twarda 51/55, 00‑818 Warszawa, Poland
Stanisław Herman, Institute of Geography- Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw
Piotr Eberhardt [p.ebe@twarda.pan.pl], Institute of Geography and Spatial Organization Polish Academy of Sciences, Twarda 51/55, 00‑818 Warszawa, Poland