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Space, Großraum and Mitteleuropa in Some Debates of the Early Twentieth Century

2008; SAGE Publishing; Volume: 11; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1177/1368431007087473

1461-7137

Patricia Chiantera-Stutte,

European history and politics

The idea of Mitteleuropa began to gain momentum in the German geopolitical science of the beginning of the twentieth century. German geopolitics, which became famous through the works of Karl Haushofer, had set out a geographical and political notion of Mitteleuropa that supported a political project based on German expansion. As such, Mitteleuropa developed as both a political and scientific concept, a project and a `reality'. With an analysis of the core elements defining the term Mitteleuropa one can begin to appreciate the characteristics that differentiate it from other geographical concepts, as well as the features which some conservative authors have promoted following the geopolitical scientists. As a `geopolitical idea', Mitteleuropa can be shown to designate a way of understanding politics, nature and culture, or more specifically, their relationship.