CHANGES IN THE MAP

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 19893, 22 March 1939, Page 4

CHANGES IN THE MAP

EUROPEAN DEVELOPMENTS TRAILING HITLER'S DRIVE NAMES IN THE CABLE NEWS Following the cabled news of the German programme in Central Europe is net an armchair occupation. The reader who wishes/ to keep abreast of :the day-by-day developments must exutivate at least a passing rcquaintance with the geography of the Continent, and the aid of a modern gazetteer, at least, Is necessary for any close si'judy of the successive moves in the German drive through the central and south-central European democracies.

To the average reader the appearance of a new name in the cable messages 'is not of great significance. The re-alignment of national boundaries, which- followed the close of the Great War completely changed the map of Europe, and apart from, those whose business .demands a knowledge of the newer frontiers, comparatively few people have succeeded in familiarising themselves with the post-war situation. Now they can feel that there was some justification for avoiding that trouble, as 'live advance of the Third! Reich's programme already has wiped out many of the treaty barriers, and promises additional new developments in the near future. Not a Novelist's Dream Concentration of .international interest upon Ruthenia has at least dispelled the idea held by many older readers that this country was invented bv a novelist, as Ruri.tania was invented' by Anthony Hope for the locale of bis most popular story. Ruthenia is a province of Czechoslovakia, lying between I'he Theiss and the Forest Carpathians, the boundary on the west being the Ung River. The country is .frequently referred to as the Carpatho-U'k'i-aine, and has' joint boundaries with Hungary, Rumania and Poland. The population at last census was 725,350, and the country has an area of only 4886 square miles. For comparative, purposes, it should be remembered that New Zealand has an area of 103,569 square miles. Names which 'have become familiar to readers during the recent international controversies include _ Slovakia, Bohemia, Moravia, Silesia and Memel.

Slovakia is a province of the Czechoslovakian Republic, lying between Moravia and Ruthenia, and has an area of 18,895 square miles. Its population at the last census was 3,330,835, a substantial proportion of its people being in Bratislava, the capital city. Moravia, Bohemia, Silesia

Moravia is the central portion of the Czechoslovakian Republic, and formerly was a Crown land of Austria. It is bounded on the north by Silesia, on the south' by Austria, on the west by .Bohemia, and on the east by Slovakia. Its area is 8616 square miles, and its population is 2,840,167. The chief city is Brno. Bohemia, which was the first victim of the German drive, formed the western portion of Czechoslovakia, its chief city being Prague, the capital of the republic. Its .area is 20,102 square miles, and its population at the 1930 census was 7,106,766. The ancieni'; country of Silesia, concerning which there has been much controversy in recent months, was divided in 1919 between Prussia, Czechoslovakia and Poland. Prussian Silesia comprises Upper and Lower Silesia, both in the south-east, and lying between Czechoslovakia and Poland. Upper Silesia contains rich coal, iron and zinc deposits; Lower Silesia is mainly devoted to agriculture. They have a joint area of 14,023 square miles. The Czech province of Silesia covers 1708 square miles, and the Polish county of Silesia has an area of 1632 square miles. The town of Teschen, which figured prominently in the cable news during the September-October crisis of last year, was allotted to Poland during the revision of boundaries at the close of the Great War. Before 1919 it was in Austrian territory. Forecasts of the next moves in the development of (the programme of the Third Reich have thrown the spotlight upon Memel, a port on the Baltic Sea which "in 1919 was detached' from Germany and later awarded by the League of Nations to Lithuania, The settlement of its status was subject to a stipulation that Poland should have the right to use ithe port, which has a population of 36,988. Memel was renamed by the Lithuanians as Klaipeda, but in Western usage rthe older name has been retained.