Armin Hajman Koller

“ Alexander von Humboldt, on the other hand, declares in the first volume of his Cosmos that “The views of comparative geography have been specially enlarged by that admirable work, Erdkunde im Verhältnis zur Natur und zur Geschichte, in which Carl Ritter so ably delineates the physiognomy of our globe and shows the influence of its external configuration on the physical phenomena on its surface, on the migrations, laws, and manners of nations, and on all the principal historical events enacted upon the face of the earth.” ”

“ Charles Comte fully recognises that the same physical medium has a very different influence on different generations; and that institutions and laws, education and manners, and, in a word, all the constituents of the social medium, have as real an influence on the development of history as those of the physical medium. ”

“ The stream of thought commences to broaden on both sides as we approach the eighteenth century, and broadens still further, and deepens, in the nineteenth, when specialization occurs or continues in anthropo-geography, biology, jurisprudence and economics, anthropology, sociology, and literature, and latterly in physics. ”

“ Unter politischen und moralischen Einflüssen, die nicht von der Natur bedingt werden, verstehen wir solche Kräfte, solche Volkstalente und Eigentümlichkeiten des Charakters, die nicht der Boden, die Luft und das Klima dem Volke geben. ”

“ Social phenomena can no more be understood apart from their environment than those of individual life. [248] The study of social evolution presupposes a relation to the physical milieu: “Das Studium der sozialen Entwicklung setzt eine Beziehung zwischen der Menschheit, welche den Vorgang vollführt, und der Gesamtheit der äußeren Einflüsse voraus, welche letztere man auch die sogenannte Umgebung heißen könnte.” ”

“ And its immediate outcome has been to throw into the strongest possible relief the dependence of the form and, still more, of the actual content of all human societies on something which is not in the human mind at all, but is the infinite variety of that external Nature which Society exists to fend off from Man, and also to let Man dominate if he can. ”

“ The saying, which now seems trivial, that every nation and every man in the nation is “ein Kind seiner Zeit,” is said to be Hegel’s. [80] Hegel, however, distinctly rejected the idea of explaining “die Geschichte und den Geist der verschiedenen Völker aus dem Klima ihrer Länder.” [81] The implication would be that one single factor might satisfactorily be held responsible for all progress in human history. As climate can not explain everything to Hegel, it seems not to explain anything at all to him. Hegel, then, is excessive in his denial of the power of environment. ”

“ Primitive Peoples and Environment Karl Ritter, in the essay “Über das historische Element in der geographischen Wissenschaft” (1833) , declares that the forces of nature which at the commencement of human history exerted a very decisive influence were bound to recede 70more and more, and their action had to diminish, in proportion to man’s progress. Civilized mankind extricates itself gradually, like single man, from the immediately conditioning fetters of nature and of its place of abode. ”

“ The three climatic zones of moderate temperature are described in detail, and the distinctive features of the social condition and civilisation of their inhabitants dwelt upon. The influence of the atmosphere, heat, &c., on the physical and even mental and moral peculiarities of peoples is maintained to be great. Not only the darkness of skin of the negroes, but their characteristics of disposition and of mode of life, are traced to the influence of climate. ”

“ The preponderance of European nations is by no means attributable, as some arrogantly and self-conceitedly fancied, to any racial endowment; on the contrary, it is due to the favoring conditions of the physical environment prevailing in Europe: “Man weiß, wie mächtig der Einfluß des geographischen Milieu auf die Fortschritte der europäischen Nationen gewesen ist. ”

“ In our view of biology we saw that the human being cannot be modified indefinitely by exterior circumstances; that such modifications can affect only the degrees of phenomena, without at all changing their nature ”

“ The romanticist Ernst Curtius is sometimes referred to as one of those historians who give adequate expression to the action of the physical milieu upon the course of history. But Vallaux declares that Curtius, like Michelet, has made of human geography and of political geography merely a preliminary and introductory science to history: “une science auxiliaire ou plutôt liminaire, sorte de portique d’entrée [the italics are ours] pour leurs brillantes constructions,” [154] lending thus 49support to Kapp’s contention. ”

“ In general, the lower types of life, or the lower forms of activity, seem to reach their optima at higher temperatures than do the more advanced types and the more lofty functions such as mentality. The whole trend of biological thought is toward the conclusion that the same laws apply to all forms of life. They differ in application, but not in principle. The law of optimum temperature apparently controls the phenomena of life from the lowest activities of protoplasm to the highest activities of the human intellect” (pp. 109–110) . ”

“ Die zivilisierte Menschheit entwindet sich nach und nach, ebenso wie der einzelne Mensch, den unmittelbar bedingenden Fesseln der Natur und ihres Wohnortes. Die Einflüsse derselben Naturverhältnisse und derselben tellurischen Weltstellungen der erfüllten Räume bleiben sich also nicht durch alle Zeiten gleich. ”

“ He postulates, then, reason as the absolute part of the mind, not subject to surrounding influences, whereas the unfolding of the human faculties is relative to the environment. By taking this middle course concerning the effect of nature on man, Bodin escapes the extreme views of nature’s compelling influence over man, on the one hand, and of man’s total independence of nature, on the other. ”

“ Denn der Mensch steht in fester Abhängigkeit, in engstem Verbande zu der Natur, aus und an welcher er sich entwickelt hat, zur Natur der Erde, welcher letzteren kleiner, aber integrierender Teil er ist. Auch seine Entwicklung ist noch im Steigen, aber nur im Bereiche seines inneren, geistigen Lebens ... je höher der Mensch steigt, um so mehr macht er sich von dem zwingenden Einfluß der Erde frei; und wenn er demselben auch nie ganz entgehen wird, da er Nahrung braucht, von der Schwere sich nicht loslösen kann, so ist dennoch diese immer wachsende Freiheit ... eine stärkende ... ”

“ The eloquent example of these four grand ancient civilizations sufficiently 57proves to him that no important historical expansion could ever occur in any country of the world, unless the milieu condemned its inhabitants to that excessive solidarity which he shows to have been brutally imposed everywhere at the shores of these great historical rivers; a milieu is conceivable, however, where this condition, rigorously required by history, may be fulfilled by an environmental factor other than a river or a system of rivers. ”

“ The sole cause of the external as well as the internal history of peoples, is, in his opinion, the geographical Milieu. [177] To Mougeoulle, the Milieu is the author, whereas man is the actor of the Drama of history. [178]
Léon Metchnikoff, in La Civilisation et Les Grands Fleuves Historiques, [179] pays some attention to the influences (astronomic, physical—the geosphere, 55the hydrosphere, and the atmosphere—, vegetal, animal, anthropological) of the milieu on man and society; yet his main care is with the action of parts of the hydrosphere on human progress. ”

“ Temperament varies according to climate. Language, the generative power, diseases likewise depend indirectly on climate. [46] Man’s talents and capacities do so no less. [47] The climate in each region 17always favors the development of some special aptitude; on this basis he groups the peoples of the earth. [48] Although the nexus between human abilities and the physical milieu is thus intimate, yet reason, common to all men and invariable, is per se independent of physical environment. ”

“ Nature exercises greater influence over peoples than over individual men: “Die Eigentümlichkeit des Volkes kann nur aus seinem Wesen erkannt werden, aus seinem Verhältnis zu sich selbst, zu seinen Gliedern, zu seinen Umgebungen, und weil kein Volk ohne Staat und Vaterland gedacht werden kann, aus seinem Verhältnis zu beiden und aus dem Verhältnis von beiden zu Nachbarländern und Nachbarstaaten. Hier zeigt sich der Einfluß, den die Natur auf die Völker, und zwar in einem noch weit höheren Grade, als auf den einzelnen Menschen ausüben muß ... ”

“ The sociologists themselves, “bien que leur science soit jeune, n’ont pas toujours oublié le cadre naturel et la position terrestre des agrégats qu’ils étudient. Par tous ces chercheurs de tendances diverses, la géographie humaine et la géographie politique ont progressé tout autant que par les efforts des géographes proprement dits.”—Ibid. ”

“ Unverkennbar ist es, daß die Naturgewalten in ihren bedingenden Einflüssen auf das Persönliche der Völkerentwicklung immer mehr und mehr zurückweichen mußten, in demselben Maße wie diese vorwärts schritten. Sie übten im Anfange der Menschengeschichte als Naturimpulse über die ersten Entwicklungen in der Wiege der Menschheit einen sehr entscheidenden Einfluß aus, dessen Differenzen wir vielleicht noch in dem Naturschlage der verschiedenen Menschenrassen oder ihrer physisch verschiedenen Völkergruppen aus einer gänzlich unbekannten Zeit wahrzunehmen vermochten. ”

“ The curves (p. 105) on Mean Temperature and Vital Processes in Plants, Animals and Man show physical energy to be at the optimum at the mean temperature of 60° F., mental energy at 38°, mental and physical energy combined at from 40° to 60°. Of this last mentioned curve he says: “It may be taken as representing man’s actual productive activity in the things that make for a high civilization. The resemblance of the human curves to those of the lower organisms is obvious. ”

“ The leading point of view in H. F. Helmolt’s The History of the World, a Survey of Man’s Record, [192] is the treatment of man’s relation to his physical environment, the relation of geography to history, the dependence of man on his geographical surroundings. “It [Helmolt’s History] deals with history in the light of physical environment.... Its ground plan, so to speak, is primarily geographical....” [193] It was conceived in the spirit of Ratzel; [194] it is said to have brought for the first time “die Länder- und Völkerkunde in den Dienst der Weltgeschichtsdarstellung.” ”

“ In the past the same type seems to have prevailed wherever a great civilization arose. Therefore, such a climate seems to be a necessary condition of great progress. It is not the cause of civilization, for that lies infinitely deeper. Nor is it the only, or the most important condition. It is merely one of several, ...” (p. 9.)
Huntington mentions (p. 7) Lehmann and Pedersen’s “Das Wetter und unsere Arbeit” and Berliner’s “Einfluß von Klima, Wetter und Jahreßeit auf das Nerven- und Seelenleben,” without the date or place of publication. ”

“ Denn durch eine höhere Ordnung bestimmt, treten die Völker wie die Menschen zugleich unter dem Einfluß einer Tätigkeit der Natur und der Vernunft hervor aus dem geistigen wie aus dem physischen Elemente in den Alles verschlingenden Kreis des Weltlebens. ”

“ So groß nämlich auch die Gewalt des Bodens, des Klimas und der Natur ist, so sehr die Zonen, die Gebirge, die Sümpfe, die Wälder, die Wüsten u.s.w. alle Bevölkerung, die in ihre Gebiete fällt, auf einerlei Weise zu bilden und zu modeln streben, so sehr behauptet doch immer noch nebenher der ursprüngliche Charakter des Stammes und die Erziehung, welche das Volk sich gibt, ihre eigenen Rechte. ”

“ They show, in the first place, how the occupation of different groups of mankind depends on their geographical surroundings, and how these occupations in turn affect not only the material life, the houses, food, clothing, etc., but also family life, notions of property, progress in trade and manufactures, power of expansion, 66and ideals of government. All these are classified, not according to race, which is often an accident, but according to those permanent influences by which all races are affected. ”

“ That civilization is a result of adaptation to environment, physical as well as political, is the view entertained by Bryce, Strachey, and Geikie. [265]
80 Climate and Man’s Characteristics There are “certain broad, distinguishing characteristics of man in the temperate and tropical zones, in determining which it is reasonable to believe that climate has played a part. Similarly, there has been a natural tendency to attribute certain differences between northerners and southerners in the temperate zones to a difference in climate.... ”

“ Hippocrates dwells upon the regularity of climatic effect on man. Aristotle notes the action of physical environment on government and national character. Eratosthenes, Strabo, and other Greek thinkers, relate man causally to surrounding nature. Villani says that the fine air of Arezzo produces great minds. Ibn Khaldūn explains, especially Arabic history, by the circumambient physical and social medium. Michelangelo credits Arezzo’s fine air with his mentality. Man is subject to the “skyey influences” hourly (Shakespeare) . ”