At the end of the 19th century, Friedrich Ratzel dominated the geographical scene of Germany. First of all, he was engaged in the natural sciences, and the science of the Earth became the link between them and the study of man. He received his doctorate in zoology, geology and comparative anatomy, and became the founder of anthropogeography.
Ratzel Friedrich: biography
Born in 1844, Ratzel was educated at several German universities. In 1872 he visited Italy, and the United States and Mexico in 1874-75. He traveled to Eastern Europe and worked at the universities of Munich and Leipzig. Darwin's contemporary was greatly influenced by the theory of evolution. Ratzel applied these concepts to human society. Before him, the foundation of systematic geography was laid by Alexander von Humboldt, and the regional by Karl Ritter. Pachel and Richthofen outlined the basic principles for a systematic study of the features of our planet.
Friedrich Ratzel was the first to compare the lifestyle of different tribes and peoples, and thus laid the foundation for systematic research in the field of socio-economic geography. He had a keen interest in tribes, races and nations, and after completing field research, he coined the term "anthropogeography", characterizing it as the main area of ​​study of the Earth. Ratzel developed the geography of Ritter, dividing it into anthropological and political.
His organic theory of the state (living space or lebensraum), in which he compared his evolution with a living organism, became widely known.
Patriot of Germany
Ratzel, a scholar of diverse scientific interests, was a staunch patriot. At the beginning of the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, he joined the Prussian army and was wounded twice during the fighting. After the reunification of Germany in 1871, he devoted himself to studying the lifestyle of Germans living abroad. To do this, he visited Hungary and Transylvania. He continued his mission, and in 1872, crossing the Alps, visited Italy.
Work in America
In the years 1874-75, Friedrich Ratzel visited the United States and Mexico, thereby expanding the scope of his research. In the United States, he studied the economy, social structure, and habitat of indigenous people and tribes, especially the life of the Indians. In addition, he focused on blacks and Chinese living in the central United States, the Midwest, and California. Based on his research, he tried to formulate some general concepts regarding geographical patterns caused by contact between aggressively expanding and retreating groups of people.
Friedrich Ratzel: Anthropogeography
In 1875, after completing his studies in the USA and Mexico, he returned to Germany, and in 1876 he was appointed professor at the University of Leipzig. In 1878 and 1880, he published two books about North America regarding its physical and cultural geography.
The book, thanks to which the German scientist became known throughout the world, was completed between 1872 and 1899. Friedrich Ratzel drew basic ideas from an analysis of the influence of various physical characteristics and terrain on people's lifestyles. The first volume of Anthropogeography is a study of the relationship between man and the earth, and the second is a study of its impact on the environment. Ratzel’s work was based on the concept that human activity is determined by his physical environment. In the work, the author considers the geography of man in terms of individuals and races. In his opinion, society cannot remain suspended in the air. Subsequently, he dispelled some determinism of his theory, saying that man is involved in the game of nature, and the environment is a partner, not a slave to human activity.
Ratzel applied Darwin's concept to human society. This analogy suggests that groups of people must fight to survive in certain environmental conditions, like plants and animal organisms. This approach is called "social Darwinism." Ratzel’s basic philosophy was “survival of the fittest” in the physical environment.
Militarism Propaganda
In the 1890s, he actively advocated the seizure by Germany of overseas territories and the building up of its navy, capable of challenging Britain. His ideas expressed the spatial consequences of the Darwinist struggle for existence. In accordance with the "laws" of territorial growth, in order to flourish, states must expand, and "higher forms of civilization must expand at the expense of lower ones." These laws were supposedly natural, given the recent reunification of Germany, interstate rivalry in Europe (General Schlieffen had already devised a plan to invade France) and the growth of empires (Africa was divided at the Berlin Conference in 1884-85). Ratzel’s views met the territorial claims of the country. After his death and World War I, German geopolitics revived the ideas of the anthropogeographer to satisfy their own ambitions and, as a result, his works were condemned by Anglo-American scientists.
Right to living space
In 1897, Friedrich Ratzel wrote Political Geography, in which he compared the state with an organism. The scientist claimed that it, like some simple organisms, must either grow or die, and can never stand still. Friedrich Ratzel’s theory of “living space” has sparked controversy about higher and lower races, arguing that highly developed nations have the right to expand their territory (“living space”) at the expense of less developed neighbors. He expressed his views, saying that the state’s expansion of its borders at the expense of the weak is a reflection of its internal strength. Higher nations ruling backward nations fulfill a natural need. Thus, Friedrich Ratzel, whose geopolitics dominated Germany in the thirties, contributed to the outbreak of World War II.
Stages of development of society
Discussing the effect of the physical environment on humans, the German anthropogeographer argued that human society progressed in stages. These steps are:
- hunting and fishing;
- hoeing culture;
- tillage;
- mixed farming, in which agriculture and livestock are mixed;
- un mixed cattle breeding;
- plant growing.
He, however, argued that it was not necessary for all societies to go through the same economic stages.
Unity in Diversity
In those days there was a huge increase in knowledge and information; data came in large volumes from different parts of the earth. Each region, characterized by its own physical environment, was distinguished by various production methods and lifestyles. Ratzel tried to build a "fundamental unity in diversity."
The German scientist witnessed the emergence of a discussion regarding the dichotomy between physical and socio-economic geography. Scientists such as George Gerald believed that this science is studying the earth as a whole without reference to man. They believed that exact laws can be established only if a person is excluded from it, because his behavior is extremely unpredictable. Ratzel put forward a radical point of view, declaring physical geography a field of science in which man is an important element. He put forward the principle of unity in diversity, saying that in different environmental conditions a person has always adapted, and therefore, for a complete picture of the geographical shell of the Earth, it is necessary to synthesize a variety of physical and cultural phenomena.
To summarize, we can say that Ratzel’s work was fruitful, especially considering the number of intellectual disputes they generated on both sides of the Atlantic. Thanks to his teaching and scientific abilities, the scientist's worldview has dominated for many decades.