With regard to Transylvania, conditions may be summarized as follows: the region is scantily populated, valleys constituting centers of human habitation almost exclusively. The inhabitants are overwhelmingly Rumanians.[277] The dominating Hungarian element inhabits isolated communities in their midst. This separation of the rival peoples is of the utmost interest in boundary revision, for which it provides a reliable geographical basis. Wallis has ingeniously shown[278] that a line separating the majority of Hungarians from Rumanians can be obtained by taking language as a guide and that this is possible because there exists no mixing of peoples in the eastern borderland of Hungarian language. In reality, throughout Hungary the only element that has insinuated itself in the midst of Hungarian, Rumanian or Slav populations is the German. This element is generally absorbed except where present in large numbers. The Magyar, however, has never mingled with his neighbors. One is almost led to seek the reason for his aloofness in his Asiatic origin.
Poland also has its natural place in the European political system. The majority of Poles live in Russian Poland. Out of a total of over 20,000,000 Poles about 12,000,000 are found in the “governments” or administrative districts created by Russia in the sections of Poland within Russia’s boundaries. These districts are ten in number and adjoin each other. Geographically they form a unit—the westernmost appendage of the vast united Russian territory which aggregates between one-sixth or one-seventh of the total land surface of the world. Detachment of this Polish section from Russia and its creation into part of an autonomous Poland is practicable without serious loss to Russian unity. Slavic solidarity would in fact be consolidated if Poland were constituted a sovereign state.
To Germany, however, an autonomous Poland which would encompass the million Poles living in the Kaiser’s empire implies abandonment of a territory which reaches far into the heart of the country. The Polish strip ends less than a hundred miles east of Berlin. The province of Posen, a considerable portion of Silesia, a narrow strip of West Prussia reaching the Baltic west of Danzig and the Masurian Lakes district are peopled by Poles. Furthermore, and this is of capital importance in German eyes, East Prussia which is German by language and tradition, as well as Prussian to the core, would become isolated from the main mass of the German-speaking people. It is improbable that such a cession of territory will take place as long as Germany has the power to prevent it. It need only be remembered that the first partition of Poland was engineered by Frederick the Great merely to join East Prussia to the rest of his kingdom. Against this last fact, however, the imperative necessity for an independent Poland to obtain an outlet on the Baltic will always prevail in anti-German circles.
Nature therefore points to the existence of a real German menace to Polish autonomy. It is needless to minimize the significance of the points at issue. Prussia, the dominant state in the German nation, will never consent to the impairment of her territorial unity by the surrender of her Polish sections. On the other hand the reconstruction of Poland must be complete if the creation of a Balkanic state of affairs west of the Gulf of Danzig is to be avoided. A partial reunion of Polish-speaking groups under an autonomous government would be the prelude to irredentist questions. This however is precisely what an enlightened world is seeking to prevent.
In reality the German nation would be the gainer by the creation of a reunited Polish state. No better barrier to Russia’s westerly advance in Europe could be devised. Conversely Teutonic encroachments on Slavic territory—bound as they inevitably are to be attended by bloodshed—would be effectively arrested. A buffer state between Russia and Germany is the safest guarantee of peace between the two nations. All the inextricable tangles in which Europe has been involved by Polish problems can be unraveled by the restoration of Polish national entity. The problem requires solution for the sake of the peace of the world.
The problems arising along the remaining linguistic boundaries have been exhibited in earlier chapters and require but little mention here. In Schleswig an extension of Denmark’s political frontier as far south as the Danish language prevails would be welcomed as the harbinger of lasting harmony between Danes and Germans. The historical frontier between the Danish duchy and Holstein could be utilized to advantage in this change. In this, as in other cases, the principles of geography, modified by national aspirations and economic needs, must in the last resort be recognized as practical and applicable. Bohemia, which has been shown to be splendidly laid off on a physical map, deserves political independence because it is endowed with geographic individuality. This method of solving the problems which for centuries have burdened Europe with strife would, like the splitting of Austria into national fragments, mark an improvement in the lot of a notable proportion of the population of Europe. New impetus would be granted to the development of national sentiment. Humanity owes much to the free play of this feeling. The claims of world brotherhood have received greater attention through its existence. The energies of submerged nationalities have hitherto been absorbed by the struggle for survival. Relief from this stress will be accompanied by respect for alien rights instead of hatred of the oppressor.
Throughout the nineteenth century, as well as in the beginning of the twentieth, reconstruction of nationalities was effected on a linguistic basis. The part played by language during that period is of tantamount importance to the religious feeling which formerly caused many a destructive war. Practically all the wars of the last hundred years are the outcome of three great constructive movements which led to the unification of Germany and of Italy as well as to the disentanglement of Balkan nationalities. These were outward and visible signs of the progress of democratic ideals. The Congress of Vienna failed to provide Europe with political stability because popular claims were ignored during the deliberations. At present, inhabitants of linguistic areas under alien rule are clamoring for the right to govern themselves. The carrying out of plebiscites under international supervision can often be relied upon to satisfy their aspirations and serve as a guide to frontier rearrangements.
All told, the growing coincidence of linguistic and political boundaries must be regarded as a normal development. It is a form of order evolved out of the chaos characterizing the origin of human institutions. The delimitation of international frontiers is as necessary as the determination of administrative boundaries or city lines. Human organization requires it and there is no reason why it should not be undertaken with fair regard to the wishes and feelings of all affected. For nations, like individuals, are at their best only when they are free, that is to say when the mastery of their destiny is in their own hands.