the fourteenth international geographical congress, warsaw, 1934

American Geographical Society

The Fourteenth International Geographical Congress, Warsaw, 1934Source: Geographical Review, Vol. 25, No. 1 (Jan., 1935), pp. 142-148Published by: American Geographical SocietyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/209220 .

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THE FOURTEENTH INTERNATIONAL GEOGRAPHICAL CONGRESS,

WARSAW, 1934

THE Fourteenth International Geographical Congress was held at Warsaw, August 23-31, I934. The total enrollment of delegates, including both resi- dent and foreign members, was 875, of whom 712, including 345 foreigners,

were in atterdance. Drawn by the advantages of a congress held in a capital so far east in Europe and in a country so recently reestablished, those present had the privilege of participating in a series of field excursions that alone were worth all the effort of the journey. Indeed, all the Congress arrangements speak well for those devoted few who, here as in every country where a congress is held, must bear a heavy load of administration. To organize and conduct a round of technical excursions, a week's intensive program by an international group of scholars, and a large number of social occasions is no small undertaking.

The opening session was held in the court of the Polytechnic School, beautifully decorated for the occasion. The Congress was honored by the presence of the head of the Republic, President Moscicki, and of the Minister of Religion and Education, as well as representatives of foreign embassies in Poland. After the opening address by Dr. Isaiah Bowman, President of the Congress, there was an address by the Minister of Religion and Education, and this was followed by brief salutations from the representatives of seven foreign delegations. Professor Eugene Romer, President of the Polish Executive Committee which managed the Congress, welcomed foreign guests. While the professional features of the Congress program will here receive chief attention, the cordial reception of official Poland must be mentioned. President Moscicki graciously received the members on the terrace of the former Royal Palace overlooking the Vistula and a visit to the palace itself followed. It was here that the Russian governors general had their residence until 1915 when Warsaw was evacuated by the Russian army. For Poland a state of war continued until 1921, and up to 1925 the city was still in disrepair. That its civic services are now so well organized over an area as large as that occupied by Paris and with a population of I,200,000 called forth much approving comment. Both the President of the Council of Minis- ters (Premier) and the Mayor of Warsaw received the Congress, and at the final banquet the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Professor Romer greeted the guests. The French and the American ambassadors received representatives of the official delegations.

During the past year there has been in preparation a memorial volume1 in honor of Professor Romer's forty years of professional work. Occasion was taken to present this well merited tribute to a geographer whose idealism has been a national asset and whose friendships include most of the active geographers of the day. To him and to Professor Henryk Arctowski, who edited the volume, and to Professor Stanis- law Pawtowski, who acted as Secretary of the Congress, all foreign guests will forever be grateful.

THE SECTION MEETINGS

As at the two preceding congresses, it was sought to confine the papers given at the section meetings to predetermined themes. Morning and afternoon sessions were devoted to the reading of papers on these specific themes and to the reports of commissions appointed by the International Geographical Union at the Paris Congress in 1931 for the continuing inter-Congress study of special subjects.

An analysis of the contents of the "Programme des Travaux du Congres," which

I Reviewed in this number of the Geographical Review.

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INTERNATIONAL GEOGRAPHICAL CONGRESS

lists about 300 papers, gives an approximate indication of the general character of the work. Naturally the Polish geographers were the chief participants, contributing nearly a third of the papers. France ranked second, and Italy third. The British

Empire, the United States, and the U. S. S. R. and Germany followed. The War- saw Congress, it should be noted, was more broadly international in its member-

ship than any of the four other congresses held since the World War. It is gratifying that all the former Central Powers with the regretted exception of Austria were

officially represented. Not only was there a large and influential delegation from

Germany but geographers from Hungary, Bulgaria, and Turkey were present at the Congress and took an active part in its work.

The six sections of the Congress listed according to the approximate number of

papers presented in each were:

Human Geography (III) .... xoo the History of Geography (IV) 34 Physical Geography (II) .... 88 Methods of Teaching Geography Cartography (I) ........ 43 (VI) ............ 6 Prehistorical and Historical Geography; The Geographical Landscape (V) Io

HUMAN GEOGRAPHY (SECTION III)

This most active section was under the presidency of C. B. Fawcett of London. Six "questions" were designated for discussion, and sessions were devoted to reports of two commissions appointed to consider special topics and to related communications.

The leading topic was "rural habitations," to which little attention has been given in the United States. Papers on this subject were delivered almost exclusively by French and Polish geographers (9 and 14 papers respectively). They dealt mainly with the forms and evolution of rural habitations in regions of limited extent in Poland and France. In a few cases broader syntheses were made, covering, for example, Southern Europe, the whole of Poland, and Japan. In nearly all the regional studies methodology received incidental treatment. In a discussion of rural habitations in the Lyonnais Andre Allix of Lyons offered constructive criticism of Deman- geon's well known formula for expressing the degree of dispersal and concentration of habitations. A. Zierhoffer of Lwow suggested a new and somewhat more complex formula. 0. Tulippe of Liege offered proposals regarding the cartographic representation of the facts of rural habitation, and Z. Goralowna of Lwow gave a critical resume of the bibliography of the subject for the period I793-I933.

Eleven of the twenty papers on the distribution of industries were the work of Italian scholars. Of these, eight gave detailed accounts of the distribution and evolution of industries in different parts of Italy. Ferdinando Milone of Bari set forth a dynamic geographical classification of the industries of Italy as a whole. Com- munications were also delivered on the distribution of industries in Great Britain and Bulgaria, on the sugar-beet industry in the United States (by Esther S. Anderson of Lincoln, Nebraska), and on centers of production and the means of transmission of electrical energy in Europe. Two papers dealt with theoretical questions. In one of these Vittorio Franchini of Trieste aimed to discover geographical laws govern- ing the distribution of industries particularly in relation to the economic mobilization of nations in case of war. Walenty Winid of Poznaii discussed the distribution of industries in more general terms, arriving at the conclusion that geography has hitherto contributed to the subject little more than uncoordinated data.

Most of the 14 communications relating to the delimitation of regions in economic geography had to do with matters of theory and method; for example, the concept of the economic region, the agricultural region, the classification of regional units, their boundaries, how they should be shown on maps, etc. Three important papers included under this heading dealt with land utilization, a problem of immediate

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THE GEOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

practical concern and one that geographers and economists in the Anglo-Saxon nations especially are approaching from somewhat different points of view but with common objectives. Isaiah Bowman reported on recent land-use studies in the United States; a paper by C. P. Barnes of the U. S. Department of Agriculture was read by title; and E. C. Willatts of London discussed the Land Utilisation Survey of Great Britain.

Several papers on urban geography dealt with individual cities-Toulouse, Strasbourg, Bucharest, Lisbon, Antioch, and Wilno. Others treated cities collec- tively-the cities of Switzerland, town distribution in Poland, health resorts, etc. Walenty Winid of Poznan in a suggestive paper endeavored to define the scope of urban geography, and E. E. Sviatlovsky of Leningrad submitted a proposal for the "centrographic analysis" of the geography of the modern metropolis. In the sessions devoted to the Commission for the Study of Overpopulation there was a lively discussion of population maps, and important papers were read on overpopulation in Belgium, the Netherlands, Japan, the Dinaric mountain region, Poland, and French West Africa.

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY (SECTION II)

That the geographical profession, in spite of the immense popularity that human geography has enjoyed in recent years, is not neglecting the physical phases of the subject is shown by the number of papers read (88). The presidents of the section were H. Baulig of Strasbourg and J. M. Schokalsky of Leningrad. In this section, as in the one devoted to human geography, communications by French (22), Polish (20), and Italian (14) members constituted more than two-thirds of the total number of papers delivered. The strength and reputation of the French school of geographie humaine should not obscure the equally valuable work that French scholars are conducting in other departments of geographical research.

Nearly half of the time of the section was given to the consideration of "Results of Geographical Researches on the Quaternary" and the closely allied work of the Commission on Pliocene and Pleistocene Terraces. The climatic changes that oc- curred during late-Tertiary and Quaternary times not only have left their record in the topography and soils of today but also have exerted a powerful influence on the early development of man, particularly in the plains and mountains of northern and northeastern Europe, where the Pleistocene glaciations and associated forces played so important a part in earth sculpture. This may account for the fact that no fewer than I7 of the 25 papers on the geography of the Quaternary emanated from this part of Europe.

In recent geological time what is now the Italian peninsula has been subjected to profound crustal movements-uplifts and subsidences of the earth's surface. In combination with the climatic changes of the Pliocene and the Pleistocene as they have affected the flow of streams, the formation and disappearance of lakes, etc., these movements have resulted in the production of terraces on a grand scale. Similar terraces are found in other parts of Europe, but their remarkable development in Italy may serve to explain why 8 of the I6 papers on the subject were contributed by Italians.

In addition to the 41 papers on the Pliocene and the Quaternary, most of which were essentially geomorphological in character, 28 of the remaining papers read before the section also had to do with problems in geomorphology. Thirteen of these, 6 of which emanated from France, were presented before the sessions of the Commission on Surfaces of Erosion. The concept of the surface of erosion, including that of the peneplain as developed by Davis, has been one of the most vital and also one of the most controversial concepts in geomorphological research. The growing number and refinement of field surveys and the intensive study of topographic maps have often disclosed the existence of many surfaces of erosion at different alti-

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tudes over tracts of country where earlier geographers recognized the presence of but one or two peneplain levels. Reports were presented on studies of this nature in particular regions-especially in France, Spain, Belgium, Rumania, and Poland- and there was some discussion of the technique of the cartographic analysis and the representation on maps of surfaces of erosion.

The remaining fifteen geomorphological papers dealt with the development of continental shelves and shore platforms; with coastal and submarine features in the vicinity of Istanbul and along the shores of Andalusia; with the influence of climates in the development of coasts; with cuestas; with physiographic studies in Greenland, Spitsbergen, and the Kola peninsula; and with the problem of the representation of slopes on maps.

Six papers treated of the classification of rivers in terms of their coefficients of water volume. Criteria and principles of classification were described and types of rivers differentiated.

In climatology four critiques of existing classifications of climates were offered and new systems proposed. Seven papers were read at the session of the Commission for the Study of Climatic Variations Especially in Historical Times, dealing, among other matters, with records of climatic variations over the North Atlantic and in France, Jugoslavia, Africa, and India.

Only two papers touched upon the subject of biogeography, one dealing with altitudinal limits of vegetation in the Alps and the Apennines and the other with pastoral life in the Carpathians. The relative neglect of biogeography and the complete omission from the program of oceanographic questions may be explained on the ground that these two highly specialized subjects have now assumed the character of independent sciences and are represented by international organizations of their own. It is to be hoped, however, that they will not be neglected by geographers and that time may be found in future international geographical congresses for the discussion at least of those phases of the subjects that bear most directly upon human life.

CARTOGRAPHY (SECTION I)

The section on cartography was presided over by Brigadier H. St. J. L. Winter- botham (Great Britain) and Brigadier General J. G. Steese (U.S.). Its communications, 43 in number, were more evenly distributed among the nations than those of the preceding sections. "Divers Cartographical Works and Publications" afforded scope for the discussion of a wide range of topics. Reports were rendered on important recent atlases and on distinctive recent maps. Of especial interest were Alfred Soderlund's (Stockholm) discussions of some new cartographical methods in Sweden and of recent population maps, Count Paul Teleki's (Budapest) paper on the technique of ethnographical maps, Wiktor Ormicki's (Krakow) on a dynamic map of the density of population, and 0. G. S. Crawford's (Southampton) report on the representation of archeological features on British government maps.

Resumes of the results of recent official topographical surveys were given covering France, Italy and the Italian colonies, the Belgian Congo, Jugoslavia, and Poland. In the session devoted to the Commission on Aerial Phototopography, General S. P. Boskovic (Belgrade) gave a critical estimate of the methods and potentialities of surveying from the air, and reports were also read on phototopographic work in France, Belgium and the Belgian Congo, Greece, and the southwestern United States. Other " questions " dealt with were the representation of terrain on maps and cartographic projections and their application to geographic maps.

Cartographical problems were discussed not only in the section on cartography but in each of the five other sections. Among the most distinctive and valuable features of the entire Congress were the exhibitions of maps, concerning which further details will be given below.

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PREHISTORICAL AND HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY; THE HISTORY

OF GEOGRAPHY (SECTION IV)

In this section, presided over by Roberto Almagia (Rome), 34 papers were presented. The "question" dealing with rare and unpublished cartographical documents afforded scope for a wide range of papers, some twenty in number. Ancient, medieval, and modern cartographical works were all discussed in scholarly papers. Albert Herrmann of Berlin reported on a new historical atlas of China and Central Asia that will soon appear under his editorship; D. B. Durand of Harvard University gave an account of striking new discoveries that he has made in the field of German cartography of the fifteenth century; J. K. Wright of the American Geographical Society interpreted geographical sectionalism in American history as illustrated by political maps in Dr. C. 0. Paullin's "Atlas of the Historical Geography of the United States."

Bolestaw Olszewicz of Warsaw brought before the section a proposal for the establishment of an international society to be devoted to studies of the history of geography, and steps are now being taken for the organization of such a society.

Most of the papers on the reconstruction of geographical conditions in prehistoric times and changes in the geographical landscape in historical times were contributed by Polish geographers. Mention may also be made of Otto Schliiter's (Halle) scholarly discussion of prehistoric and early historical areas of settlement in Central Europe, Vain6 Tanner's (Helsingfors) attempt to reconstruct the geographical conditions of prehistoric habitations in Fenno-Scandia, and a paper by S. A. S. Huzayyin of Cairo on historical changes in climate and landscape in southern Arabia.

METHODS OF TEACHING GEOGRAPHY (SECTION VI)

Sixteen papers were read in this section, which was presided over by P. Michotte (Louvain). The "questions" dealt with methods of instruction in regional geography; geographical workrooms, exercises, and excursions in school practice; and the application of the comparative method in the teaching of geography.

THE GEOGRAPHICAL LANDSCAPE (SECTION V)

The section on the geographical landscape was presided over by Ludwig Mecking (Miinster). Of the ten papers delivered in this section four dealt with the transforma- tion of the landscape. Roberto Almagia reported on transformations in the geographical landscape in the Pontine region of Italy, and Hermann Lautensach of Giessen compared the primitive landscape (Urlandschaft) of Portugal with that of Korea. The concept of the geographical region and bases for the delimitation of regions were also considered in six papers.

SPECIAL PAPERS

In addition to the papers read at the regular section meetings a series of special lectures was given as follows: H. St. J. L. Winterbotham, Population Maps; 0. J. Schmidt (read by Professor Schokalsky), New Researches in the Arctic Regions; L. J. Burpee, Animated Map of Canada (illustrated with film); H. J. Fleure, The Center of Dispersion of the Human Race; H. L. Shuttleworth, People of the Western Himalaya; Louise A. Boyd, Report on Two Expeditions to the Franz Josef and King Oscar Fiord Region of East Greenland (I93I and 1933). An unscheduled film of the Chelyuskin rescue off the Arctic coast of eastern Siberia was shown under the kind auspices of Dr. N. N. Baransky and Professor Schokalsky. An ad hoc meeting of official representatives heard a historical account, given by Brigadier Winterbotham of the British Ordnance Survey, of the development of the millionth-map idea and of progress on the map and the uses that it is already serving.

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A special feature of one of the regular morning sessions was a series of papers on Poland. The junction of three unlike territories, accustomed for more than a century to unlike administrations, created a series of cultural and economic problems with which both science and government are struggling unceasingly. The fact is deeply impressed upon the mind by the contents of the papers read at the Congress by Polish geographers. The Polish landscape and people still plainly show the effects of this long division. In Europe, to look at the present understandingly is to look back through the centuries as well as around at the life of today. The long and colorful history of Poland is reflected in the present to an extent that is astonishing when we remember that till I905 Polish was a forbidden language in the schools of Congress Poland, the formerly Russian portion of the Polish domain.

THE EXHIBITIONS

Six special exhibitions were organized by the Executive Committee of the Con- gress: (I) International Exhibition of Official Cartography; (2) Exhibition of Con- temporary Polish Cartography; (3) Exhibition of the Work of the Geographical Service of the Polish Army; (4) Exhibition of Early Maps (for the most part of Poland and adjacent regions) at the National Library; (5) Exhibition of Nineteenth Century Paintings Illustrating Polish Landscapes and Peoples; and (6) Ethnographi- cal Exhibition. The first three were held in one of the buildings of the Polytechnic School and constituted the most comprehensive display of modern maps ever brought together.

In the International Exhibition of Official Cartography, which was organized under the inspiration of Professor Romer and was the first undertaking of its kind and magnitude, the categories selected as a basis of organization were: (I) the present state of the official cartography of the several nations; (2) the historical evolution of the most important topographic map of each country; and (3) the morphological and demographic landscapes of the different countries as revealed on current topographical maps. Most of the maps were accompanied by explanatory labels, often written with skill and scholarship, and a printed catalogue of the exhibition was distributed to all members of the Congress. The exhibition provided those in attendance at the Congress the unique opportunity of seeing the results of the latest and best work that is being done in official cartography in nearly every civilized country. The catalogue, although unavoidably issued in haste and not wholly complete, will be useful to institutions or individuals interested in the collection of maps.

Professor Romer, in a post-Congress memorandum, expresses the wish that such a collection may be assembled long enough before the next Congress to permit a detailed analysis to be made of the "lessons" it furnishes. In illustration he remarks on the conclusions to be drawn from an analysis of the methods of representing relief on the maps shown at Warsaw, of which 70 per cent employ contours and hypsometric tints. He enumerates 30 participants in the Warsaw exhibition-more than 40 if the material of the British Geographical Service General Staff and the Millionth Map is included. The number of maps totaled I664-more than 2000 if the sheets of the Millionth Map are included-exclusive of 300 maps not conforming to the exhibition rules.

EXCURSIONS

The excursions held in connection with an international congress of geography serve two purposes of about equal importance. They enable the members of the congress to learn something of the country in which it is held, and they provide opportunities, lacking in the hurried atmosphere of the congress, for establishing intimate acquaintanceships.

The excursions in Poland were skillfully planned and efficiently conducted by

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geographers who have devoted many years to field work in the regions traversed. Large-scale topographical, geological, and other maps were furnished the members, and special guidebooks, constituting a series of concise monographs on the most

interesting parts of Poland, were prepared for the scientific excursions. A wide choice of regions of different character was offered. Each of the seven

longer excursions lasted about a week. Nearly all the many forms of conveyance used in Poland were employed, from railway trains, autobusses, automobiles, and river steamers to canoes, carriages, rustic wagons, and horses.

Three long excursions were made before the Congress. A party under the

leadership of Stanistaw Pawlowski of Poznain and Stanistaw Lencewicz of Warsaw visited the great plains and marshlands of Polesia and the forest of Bialowieia.

Special studies were made of the origin of bogs, the tectonics and geological structure of the terrain, and the influence of Quaternary glaciation upon the forms of the surface as well as of human settlements and life. A. Zierhoffer and J. Czyzewski of Lw6w conducted an excursion in which the regional geography of the Podolian

plateau and eastern Carpathians was interpreted. Krak6w and vicinity, the Dunajec Valley, and the High Tatra mountains were visited by a group under the guidance of

J. Smoleinski of Krak6w. The connection between the northern glaciation and the local glaciation of the Tatra as well as between types of settlement was made clear.

After the Congress M. Limanowski of Wilno conducted a group to Grodno, Wilno, Troki, and the lake district of Braslaw. Both physical and human geography was under consideration. Pomerelia and the Baltic coast, where glacial features, types of settlement, and problems of the new port of Gdynia were examined, were visited by a party led by Professor Pawlowski. J. Loth of the High School of Com- merce in Warsaw conducted an excursion, in which attention was devoted chiefly to problems of human geography, through the valley of the Vistula below Warsaw and to the industrial center of Lodz.

An investigation of the physical geography of the Holy Cross Highlands and neighboring regions under the vigorous leadership of Professor Lencewicz formed Part I of another excursion. Part II, to the industrial region of Polish Silesia, Cieszyn (Teschen), and the western Beskid Mountains, was conducted by the assist- ant leader, W. Ormicki of Krak6w, in the absence through illness of Professor Smolenfiski. About equal emphasis was laid on geomorphological, phytogeographic, and anthropogeographical questions.

In addition to these longer expeditions several one-day scientific excursions were held in the vicinity of Warsaw, and touristic groups were conducted about the city.

PLANS FOR THE NEXT CONGRESS

At the closing session of the Assembly of the Union Sir Charles Close was elected President, and in conformity with precedent Isaiah Bowman, the retiring President, was elected First Vice-President, and five additional Vice-Presidents were elected: Eugene Romer, H. St. J. L. Winterbotham, Ludwig Mecking, Giotto Dainelli, and W. E. Boerman. Professor de Martonne was reelected Secretary-General, the

Congress expressing deep appreciation for his unsparing efforts toward the general good of the profession, especially during the past six years as Secretary-General of the Union.

The next International Geographical Congress will be held in 1938 after a four-

year interval rather than three as heretofore. The official invitation of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to meet at Amsterdam, conveyed by E. J. Vofite, Secretary-Gen- eral of the Royal Netherlands Geographical Society, was unanimously accepted and acclaimed.

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the fourteenth international geographical congress, warsaw, 1934

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