The beginning of the history of geography in Lithuania is reaching as far as the times of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (12-18th century) and is mostly connected with one of the oldest Universities in Northern Europe - Vilnius University, established in 1579. For this reason geography as a science has deep traditions in Lithuania. One of the most influential organizations to the development of modern geography in the country is the Lithuanian Geographical Society, which was established in 1934 and, despite various turmoil, has managed to survive until today. The history of geography in Lithuania can be divided into four stages: the birth of geography science, the formation of the modern geography, geography during the Soviet occupation period and the geography after regaining the independence. Each of these stages will be further elaborated below.
The Birth of Geography Science
As a science, geography in Lithuania was developing in accordance to the general tendencies of Europe. On the other hand, it was influenced by various historic circumstances and the cultural and scientific advancement of the country (Česnulevičius, 2007).
The first known geographic works in Lithuania could be traced back to the maps drawn by Anton Wied, who was the painter at the palace of the Grand Duke of Lithuania - Žygimantas Augustas. One of his best known works – „Moscovia“, was the map of Moscow‘s Grand Duchy, which was made in Vilnius and published in Sebastians Münsters „Cosmography“ in 1544 (Vilnius University, 1994). Another, famous work during those times, was the map of the Grand Duchy of Lithuanian (further GDL), which in 1613 was published by W. J. Blaeu in Amsterdam (Samas, 1997). The preparation of it was led by the GDL nobleman and cartog...
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John Merriman, A History of Modern Europe, Volume 1, (London, New York). Class Notes Class Documents HI 4712 Class Readings HI 4712
I have chosen to write my response paper on our course’s monograph Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin, by Timothy D. Snyder published by Basic Books in 2010. This text is considered revisionist history and has been very well received, even earning the 2013 Hannah Arendt Prize for Political Thought. Snyder’s was considerably unconstrained in his research. He has a reading knowledge of eleven European languages allowing him utilize a wide range of primary and secondary sources. These widespread sources allowed him compile a book containing many groundbreaking perspectives and conclusions.
The seventeenth century was undeniably a period of great division, war and turmoil for Hungary. After the events of the previous century, Hungary remained divided into three distinct areas. The largest was Ottoman Hungary, under the direct control of Constantinople, which encompassed the south and south-east of Hungary. Second, there was the Eastern Hungarian Kingdom founded by János Zápolyai in 1526, who after the defeat of the Hungarian forces at the First Battle of Mohács sought the support of Sultan Suleiman I to be crowned King of Hungary by a rival faction of the nobility and became the Sultan’s vassal. After 1571, with the coronation of István Báthory, this Kingdom became the Principality of Transylvania which was semi-autonomous with Habsburgs and Ottomans vying for control. Lastly there was Royal Hungary, the only part of Hungary still under Habsburg control in this period. It consisted of the western and north-western areas that had been secured by Ferdinand I after being declared King of Hungary by the pro-Habsburg part of the noblity in 1526. This division remained the status quo into the seventeenth century. In this essay, it will be argued that due to this division the Habsburgs found it impossible to consolidate power in Hungary as well as a variety of other factors such as, confessional divisions in Hungary opposed to the Catholic dynasty, Habsburg priorities resting in religious conflict in Germany and securing influence in the Mediterranean from Ottoman and French fleets, Habsburg involvement in the Thirty Years War and the revived Franco-Ottoman Alliance. All these factors together ensured that the Habsburg would not gain control of Hungary until 1699.
1) The author of this book, Alan Palmer, is a reliable historian educated at Oxford University. He is an expert in European History and even headed the History Department in Highgate School. He left his post of sixteen years to concentrate on historical writing and research. He went on to publish eighteen books on numerous leaders and empires of Europe. His work includes, Napoleon in Russia, Alexander I: Tsar of War and Peace, The Decline and Fall of the Ottoman Empire and many more.
Gale Group . Encyclopedia of European Social History From 1350 to 2000. Ed. Peter N. Stearns. Vol. 4. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons , 2001.
satisfied and in doing so, they created a new and improved Poland. Previous to the formation of
Nationalism is regarded the pride of place and of the many traditions that have evolved in the geographies. One way of visually capturing this phenomenon is through the architecture, which will boast features that are unique to the culture’s identity in either form, technological innovations or in function. All of the three examples that were explored in this paper express a sense of national pride through their individual technological advances that lead to the greatest possible representation of their philosophical and cultural ideologies.
The main ideas presented in “Why Geography Matters…More Than Ever!” revolve around what exactly geography is, and the implications of the subject. Geography is the study of the physical world and human actions, it also covers the affects of human actions. Geography influences a plethora of topics and geographers do research on numerous subjects. “Geographers do research on glaciations and coastlines, on desert dunes and limestone caves, on weather and climate, even on plants and animals”(7). The author stresses how underrated geography is the present times, and how the introduction of social studies have doomed the subject of geography for future generations. In a section detailing the teaching of geography
Ukraine is the largest nation to come from the former Soviet satellite states and like the rest of the former communist nations, has a large ethnic division between its citizens. To know why Ukraine is so divided and so passionate in regards to its political views we must look back to the basis of ethnic diversity throughout Ukraine’s history.
"Russian Art." The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia with Atlas and Weather Guide. Abington: Helicon, 2013. Credo Reference. Web. 25 April 2014.
Human activity has major effects on geography. When studying the earth you can come to several conclusions about the geography of any particular civilization. Distribution of life in the civilization allows you to analyze whether their geography is their own destiny. Do people control their own destiny? Is geography something that people can control? Technology is really the key to why geography can be overcome by any people.
The Hereford World Map is the world’s oldest surviving map of the world; it was made in 1300, during the beginning of the Renaissance in Europe. There was a wider range of influences on mapping during the later medieval period. With an increase in exploration, Europe began to evolve into an international continent; widespread travel can be seen by the influences of the Islamic world on architecture. While map making in China had flourished in the 11th C, mapping was beginning to evolve in Europe. By around 1400 there was a peak in map making in Europe. There is evidence of the influence of Roman mapping on medieval maps in Europe. The Medieval world maps but together information from Roman sources to make the world maps in the middle ages known as the mappa mundi, meaning cloth of the world. These were cloth maps, and the name mappa mundi was widely used for them. These world maps were understood by historians as an attempt to show where countries were located, quite often they were not just geographical representations but they were also stories of the world. As knowledge of map making increased during the Renaissance, was a move for wider representations of information on maps. The map became a source of information on the animals and history of the different countries. This can be seen in The Hereford World Map, a map that gives a geometrical representation of the locations of the known countries of the world and also acted as an encyclopaedia of information on various types of animals and where in the world they came from.
I did my research on the country of Lithuania for this former communist paper. The country of Lithuania is located in the north eastern part of Europe. Lithuania borders the countries Poland and Belarus which are to the south of Lithuania and then Latvia to the north. Lithuania became a communist country in October of 1918, the communist party of Lithuania (2). There was several different leaders of this party but the one that was in power the longest throughout the years was Antanas Sniečkus (2). On March 11th 1990 Lithuania declared their independence but it was not till almost a year and a half later that the country’s independence would be recognized by the Soviet Union on September 6th 1991 (1).
Greece is a country with an interesting geography that is diverse in many senses. The location of Greece itself, as well as the lithosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere come together to form the cumulative geography of the country. These categories of geography interact with each other to form Greece as it is. The location, its longitude and latitude, effects the country’s climate, or its atmosphere. Likewise, the country’s relationship to water, the hydrosphere also effects the climate. This is just one example of how the different categories and characteristics of a place’s geography can effect it.
Ed. John Merriman and Jay Winter. "Slovakia." Europe Since 1914: Encyclopedia of the Age of War and Reconstruction. Vol. 4. Detroit: Charles Scribner's Sons, 2006. 2358-2359. World History in Context. Web. 11 Mar. 2014.