Choć wielu wieszczyło mu upadek, państwo jako zjawisko polityczne, społeczne i gospodarcze ciągle istnieje. Pozostaje ono elementarnym przedmiotem zainteresowań wielu dyscyplin naukowych i to od początku ich istnienia. Zazwyczaj państwo opisuje się trzema cechami – terytorium, organizacją polityczną i społeczeństwem. Szczególnie w Europie państwo utożsamia się z państwem narodowym – ideą, zgodnie z którą każdy naród tworzy swoje własne państwo. Artykuł ma cel głównie dydaktyczny. Stanowi przegląd najważniejszych, ze względu na zakres zjawiska zdecydowanie nie wszystkich, teorii dotyczących państwa. Autorka starała się przedstawić koncepcje mieszczące się nie tylko w nurcie politologicznym, ale także z socjologii politycznej i oczywiście geografii politycznej. Zaczyna więc od Platona by skończyć na współczesnych geografach P. Taylorze i P. Coxie, nie zapominając o Polakach – J. Barbagu i M. Sobczyńskim.
EN
Although many people used to believe it collapsed, state, as a political and social phenomenon still exists. It remains the subject of interests for various academic disciplines from the very beginning of academic researches. It is usually described as the form of political and social organisation with its territorial basis. It is also the subject of international law. Particularly in Europe people seem to be strongly attached to one of the modern states form – nation state. Even European Union and tens of years of PanEuropean and federalist movements’ activities could not purge it. The article has strict didactic aim. It is review of the most significant theories, and consequently writings on the notion of state. The author starts from ancient era and Plato to end with political geographers who published today such as P. Taylor or P. Cox and Polish geographers – J. Barbag and M. Sobczyński. Additionally notions such as citizenship, state organisation, nation, territory, etc. are discussed.
As some has attempted to prove, both “titular” disciplines have different origins. They differ in their development trends and, thus, in the contents, scope and place in the system of sciences. However, different paths of development do not preclude them from tackling the same issues, especially considering that historical geography and political geography both refer, the former in a literal sense, to the unique bond between history and geography. Specific topics, that may seem familiar to both disciplines today, were discussed as far back as the 18th century, when political geography was still defining its identity and attempting to become a valid subject of geography. However, in the case of this discipline, its interests shared with its historical counterpart (concerning such issues as heraldry and toponymy) were mostly incidental and marginal. On the other hand, the issue of territorial divisions (nations, regions, borders), described by historians (or historical geographers) as “historical and political landscapes”, was discussed by both geographies since the very beginning. The main difference between the two – geo- -political and geo-historical – approaches was the temporal perspective they assumed. While the present was most important for political geography, historical geography was more concerned with “former territorial divisions” (thus the term “historical and political landscapes” is apt). Each of the disciplines also treated the research subject differently. Political geography considered “the area described by borders and characterised by some organisation, i.e. above all a state” or region as central, while historical geography acknowledged its importance as one of many elements, apart from the transformed (cultural) environment, settlement, elementary disasters, formed communication network, the history of geographical horizons, toponymy and historical cartography, while referring it, as mentioned earlier, the reconstructed image of the past. With the development of the methodological foundations of both sciences, the belief that “what is today includes what was yesterday, so in order to understand the presence, we have to study the past” grew. This reflection was aided by the deepening relations between historical geography and anthropogeography, which influenced not only the expansion of tasks of the former, but also lead to the inclusion of the “historical element” in the scope of geo-political discussion. Reaching into the past to reveal spatial differences and similarities of a political nature, more and more boldly practised by political geography, was also caused by the references to human history (human “fate”) construed in the spirit of mechanistic determinism, as well as the changes in the political map of the world at the break of 19th and 20th centuries. As their eyewitness, political geography could not close itself in a narrow, quickly dating formula of the present. The explanation of interrelations between political entities and their physical-geographical surrounding attempted at the time required constant references to the historical context. The contemporary political map was quickly becoming, if we can paraphrase Barbag, a strictly historical map. The practice of reaching into the past to interpret contemporary phenomena and political systems caused the historical context to become an immanent element of political geography. The discipline was becoming more and more bold in interpreting the political map and the territorial characteristics of political formation and development of states and regions, not only in the presence, but also in the future. This research field saw the formation – in reference to the bond between history and geography – of a unique relationship between historical geography and political geography. Significantly, by exposing the past, political geography sometimes lost view of the presence, i.e. the element that defined its existence and distinguished it from historical geography. Thus, we can say that M. Kulesza (2009) was right when he observed, as mentioned above, that the development of political geography after World War II and, especially in the 1990s, resulted in the “internal” expansion and the emergence of new research fields, which was caused by, among other things, taking some of them from historical geography.
PL
W artykule dokonano uzasadnienia tytułowego powiązania geografii politycznej i historycznej. W tym celu przeprowadzono analizę relacji między obiema dyscyplinami, podejmującą kwestie ich genezy, kierunków rozwojowych, treści, zakresu i miejsca w systemie nauk, a także ustanowienia ram organizacyjnych dla rozwoju tych dyscyplin w łódzkim ośrodku geograficznym.
W artykule rozważana jest kwestia zróżnicowania wyznaniowego społeczeństwa polskiego ujęta na tle struktury narodowościowej Polski. Kwestionowane są przy tym, funcjonujące w świadomości społecznej stereotypy, wiążące przynależność do grupy narodowościowej z konkretnym, jakoby immanentnym temu etnosowi wyznaniem. Ukazano także nowe dla naszej tradycji nurty wyznaniowe, powoli znajdujące swe miejsce w naszym społeczeństwie. Badania problematyki mniejszości religijnych i narodowych w naszym kraju, z racji braku wiarygodnych statystyk, od lat już muszą się opierać na szacunkach i analizach badań o charakterze przyczynkowym.
W artykule przedstawiono drogę życiową i dokonania twórcze polskiego geografa Romana Umiastowskiego (1893–1982). Był on w okresie międzywojennym oficerem sztabowym wojska polskiego w stopniu pułkownika. Równocześnie był z zamiłowania geografem i autorem wielu książek i artykułów naukowych. W części wprowadzającej omówiono jego szlak bojowy na frontach I wojny światowej i walk o niepodległość Polski (1918–1920). Następnie zaprezentowano jego osiągnięcia, jako uczonego, publicystę i wykładowcę w wyższych szkołach wojskowych. Na początku lat 20. ubiegłego wieku napisał m.in. dwie książki – Terytorium Polski pod względem wojskowym oraz Geografia wojenna Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej i ziem ościennych. Były to, nie tylko w polskiej literaturze geograficznej, ale i w światowej, pozycje nowatorskie poświęcone geografii militarnej. Zostały omówione w nich założenia metodyczne oraz walory merytoryczne. Zaznaczono ponadto, że Umiastowski był także autorem opracowań z zakresu geografii politycznej, m.in. rozpatrywał stosunki polsko-rosyjskie i polsko- -niemieckie. Po agresji niemieckiej, a później sowieckiej na Polskę we wrześniu 1939 roku znalazł się we Francji, a później dotarł do Wielkiej Brytanii, gdzie nadal prowadził aktywną działalność publicystyczną. Po wojnie, aż do śmierci pozostał na emigracji, gdzie zajmował się działalnością kolekcjonerską zbierając stare mapy i ryciny, głównie dotyczące historii Polski w XVII i XVIII wieku.
EN
The paper presents the life and the creative deeds of the Polish geographer, Roman Umiastowski (1893–1982). During the inter-war period Umiastowski was a staff officer of the Polish army in the grade of a colonel. At the same time, he indulged very much in geography and authored numerous books and scientific articles. In the introductory part of the article the military deeds of Umiastoswki’s during the World War I and the struggle for the sovereignty of Poland (1918–1920) are outlined. Then, his achievements are presented as a scholar, a journalist and a lecturer of the higher military schools. Umiastowski wrote, in particular, at the beginning of the 1920s, two books. The first of those was entitled The territory of Poland in military terms, and the second – The military geography of the Polish Commonwealth and of the neighbouring countries. These books were definitely novel, not only in Polish literature, but also in the world literature, as devoted to the military geography. The two books are commented upon in the paper, along with their methodological prerequisites and the substantive qualities. The paper notes, as well, that Umiastowski authored also the reports concerning the political geography. Thus, in particular, he considered the Polish-Russian and the Polish-German relations. After the German and then the Soviet aggressions against Poland in September 1939, Umiastowski landed in France, to thereafter reach the United Kingdom, where he still conducted the journalist activity. After the WWII, until his death, he remained emigrant, while collecting old maps and engravings, mainly those concerning the history of Poland in the 17th and 18th centuries.
Podlasie, a historical and geographical region in eastern Poland, has been for centuries a political and national borderland where Polish, Lithuanian, Belorussian and Ukrainian ethnic elements intermingled. This resulted in a very durable ethnic, religious and cultural borderland in Podlasie. It was formed by a number of ethnic and religious communities that have inhabited this region since a remote past and influenced each other thus making the region a maze of nations, religions, languages and cultures. The ethnic and religious diversity of the region was determined by frequent changes in political linking of Podlasie and several waves of various settlers – a usual phenomenon in the region that was, particularly in the Middle Ages, a kind of frontier of Poland, Lithuania and Russia. Ethnic borderland in Podlasie is the most diversified region in Poland in respect of nationality, culture and religion. It forms both an interstate borderland between Poland and Belarus and an internal ethnic, religious, cultural and linguistic borderland. Predominent nations are Poles and Belorussians but the presence of Ukrainians, Lithuanians, Tatars, Romanies, Russians and Karaites, which makes the region a maze of nations. The religious mosaic is not so striking, nevertheless it is the only province of Poland where the Roman Catholics are outnumbered by followers of another religion, namely the Orthodox. The national and religious borderland in Podlasie is a zone with many transitory areas where different national, religious, linguistic and cultural groups overlap. There are hardly any clear dividing lines separating particular national and religious groups. In Podlasie various communities, in many cases closely related to each other, coexist side by side. Borderland zone are usually extensive areas where ethnic divisions tend to fade away. The whole area of north-eastern Poland, including Podlasie can be considered to be such a borderland zone. Here, several nationalities and religions are separated by more or less vast transitory belts rather than definite dividing lines. Sometimes such transitory areas gave rise to some new derivative communities.
PL
W artykule przedstawiono wieloaspektowy wymiar pełnienia przez Podlasie funkcji pogranicza politycznego, cywilizacyjnego, narodowościowego, wyznaniowego, języko-wego i kulturowego. Poza omówieniem cech i procesów typowych dla obszarów pograniczy oraz przedstawieniem historycznych, geograficznych i politycznych uwarun-kowań uformowania się na Podlasiu szerokiej strefy zróżnicowanego pogranicza, poddano także analizie współczesne przemiany struktury etniczno-religijnej mieszkań-ców tego regionu oraz konsekwencje zmian sytuacji geopolitycznej (zwłaszcza w kon-tekście rozszerzenia Unii Europejskiej) dla postrzegania Podlasia w kategoriach regionu pogranicza.
Mniejszości narodowe i etniczne, mimo niewielkiego udziału w strukturze ludności współczesnej Polski, przyczyniły się do powstania wyjątkowego pod względem narodowo-konfesyjnym dziedzictwa polskiej przestrzeni. Stosując podejście geograficzno- -polityczne dokonano próby uchwycenia, zrozumienia i wyjaśnienia procesu przemian narodowościowo-etnicznych ludności Polski, prowadzącego do ukształtowania się jej współczesnego oblicza.
EN
The preponderance of people of Polish nationality who are followers of the Roman Catholic Church does not make Poland a state of one nation and denomination. In addition to the national and religious majority, Poland also includes national, ethnic and Mniejszości narodowe i etniczne w Polsce z perspektywy geografii politycznej religious minorities. Their presence is stressed not only because in democratic countries such as Poland the protection of these groups is very important. In the case of Poland, it is crucial that throughout its history it has been a multicultural country with representatives of various national and religious groups living together. Minorities occurring in contemporary Poland, despite their numerically small share in the overall population, are a testament to the unique national and religious heritage of Polish land. The general aim of this article is to present the communities that kept their national and ethnic identity in this special cultural context, differing from the majority of Poles in their national (partially coincident with denominational) affiliation. This general objective will be achieved through several detailed objectives including: a retrospective analysis of the recognition of ethnic issues (including minorities) by the political geography, the identification, determining the number and location, as well as an analysis of legal positions of national and ethnic minorities in contemporary Poland.
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