Democratic Ideals and Reality: The Geographical Pivot of History

2022 Reprint of the 1919 Edition. Exact facsimile of the original edition and not reproduced with Optical Recognition Software. Studying the prerequisites for a stable peace settlement during World War I, the author developed a thesis in political geography that he had first outlined in a paper read to the Royal Geographical Society in 1904, "The Geographical Pivot of History." In it he argued that interior Asia and eastern Europe (the heartland) had become the strategic center of the "World Island" as a result of the relative decline of sea power as against land power and of the economic and industrial development of southern Siberia. His extended views were set out in a short book, Democratic Ideals and Reality, published early in 1919 while the Paris Peace Conference was in session. The role of Britain and the United States, he considered, was to preserve a balance between the powers contending for control of this heartland. As a further stabilizing factor, he urged the creation of a tier of independent states to separate Germany and Russia, much along the lines finally imposed by the peace treaty. The book included, apart from the main theme, many farsighted observations-e.g., his insistence on the "one world" concept, the need for regional organizations of minor powers, and the warning that chaos in a defeated Germany would inevitably lead to dictatorship. The book attracted little attention in Britain but rather more in the United States.

Contents: Perspective. -- Social momentum. -- The seaman's point of view. -- The landsman's point of view. -- The rivalry of empires. -- The freedom of nations. -- The freedom of men. -- Postscript. -- Appendix: Note on an incident at the Quai d'Orsay, 25th January, 1919. -- Index.