HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY, a complex discipline that studies the physical, socio-economic, cultural, political geography of past eras in historical dynamics. Formed at the intersection of history and geography. There are differences in the definition of the subject of historical geography by historians and geographers, as well as by various national scientific schools. AT historical science historical geography is defined as an auxiliary historical discipline that studies the spatial side historical process or the specific geography of the past of a particular country or territory. The tasks of historical geography include mainly the localization historical events and geographical objects in past eras. In particular, historical geography studies the dynamics of the internal and external borders of states and their administrative-territorial units, the location and topography of cities, villages and other settlements, fortresses, monasteries, etc., localization transport communications and trade routes in the historical past, the directions of historically significant geographical travels, expeditions, navigation, etc., determines the routes of military campaigns, places of battles, uprisings and other historical events.

In the understanding of most physical geographers, historical geography is a science that studies the "historical", that is, the last stage after the appearance of man, in the development of nature (the natural environment); within the framework of this research direction, a special sub-discipline has developed - the historical geography of landscapes (V. S. Zhekulin and others). Economic geographers consider historical geography as a discipline that studies mainly "time slices" (features that characterize a particular era). At the same time, historical geography also includes works focused on the study of the history of modern economic and geographical objects, as well as on the study of the evolution of national, regional and local settlement systems, territorial production clusters, spatial structures of the economy and other socio-spatial structures of various levels of hierarchy. (national, regional, local).

The main sources for historical geography are archaeological and written (chronicles, act materials, military topographic descriptions, travel materials, etc.) monuments, information on toponymy and linguistic data, as well as information necessary for the reconstruction of physical and geographical landscapes of the past. In particular, materials from spore-pollen and dendrochronological analysis are widely used in historical geography; Much attention is paid to the identification of relic and dynamic characteristics components of landscapes (biogenic, hydromorphic, lithogenic), fixing the "traces" of past anthropogenic impacts on the natural environment (sampling of soils formed on ancient structures, marking the boundaries of former land holdings, agricultural lands expressed in the cultural landscape). Historical geography uses both synchronic methods of research (“time slices”) and diachronic ones (when studying the history of modern geographical objects and the evolution of spatial structures).

Historical outline. Historical geography as a special field of knowledge began to take shape during the Renaissance and the Great Geographical Discoveries. The works of the Flemish geographers and cartographers A. Ortelius and G. Mercator, the Italian geographer L. Guicciardini, in the 17-18 centuries - the Dutch geographer F. Kluver and the French scientist J. B. d'Anville were of the greatest importance for its formation in the 16th century. In the 16-18 centuries, the development of historical geography was inextricably linked with historical cartography; special attention in historical and geographical works was paid to questions of the historical dynamics of the distribution of the population, the settlement of various peoples, and changes in state borders on the political map of the world. In the 19-20 centuries, the subject of historical geography expanded, the range of issues studied included the problems of the historical geography of the economy, the interaction of society and nature in the historical past, the study historical types nature management, etc.

The leading national schools of historical geography were formed at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. The closest connection between history and geography developed during this period in France. In line with geohistorical synthesis, the fundamental works of the French geographer J. J. E. Reclus, including the multi-volume work “New General Geography. Land and people" (volumes 1-19, 1876-94), which approved the role of historical geography in regional studies and regional studies. The historical and geographical traditions of the Reclus school were continued in the works of representatives of the French school of human geography (the head of the school was P. Vidal de la Blache). He and his followers (J. Brun, A. Demangeon, L. Gallois, P. Defontaine, etc.) formulated essential principles geographical possibilism, which for many decades became the methodological basis for the development of not only French, but also the entire Western historical geography. In the 20th century, the traditions of geohistorical synthesis in French science were also maintained within the framework of the historical "annals" of the school (especially in the works of L. Febvre and F. Braudel).

In Germany, an important impetus to the formation and development of historical geography was given by the works of F. Ratzel, the founder and leader of German anthropogeography. The German anthropogeographic school focused on the influence of natural factors on history different peoples. Also, the works of Ratzel and his students described in detail the spread of local and regional cultural complexes around the globe, the role of historical contacts in shaping the culture of peoples in close connection with the landscape features of the respective territories. At the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century, fundamental works on the historical geography of agriculture (E. Hahn), the settlement of peoples and the spread of civilization in Europe (A. Meizen) were published in Germany, and the foundations were laid for the historical and geographical study of cultural landscapes (O. Schlüter). The leading representatives of German historical geography of the 2nd half of the 20th century are H. Jaeger and K. Fen.

In the Anglo-Saxon countries (Great Britain, the USA, etc.), historical geography began to develop rapidly after World War I. Since the 1930s, G. Darby has become the leader of British historical geographers, whose works in the field of historical geography are considered classic example successful use of the time slice methodology. The work of Darby and the scientists of his school significantly advanced the source base of historical geography, which for the first time began to be involved on a large scale. written materials relating to the respective eras (historical chronicles, cadastral books of lands, other official documents). The emphasis was on comprehensive and thorough surveys of small areas, for which it was possible to collect detailed data. Along with local (large-scale) research, Darby and his students managed to prepare consolidated works on the historical geography of Great Britain. Similar views on the subject and content of historical geography were held by other leading British historical geographers of the 20th century - G. East, N. Pounds, K. T. Smith, who, like Darby, believed that the main task of historical geography is to reconstruct the geographical picture of past historical eras using a complex (integral) approach.

In the United States, historical geography during its formation experienced strong influence ideas modernized and adapted to the latest scientific trends of geographical determinism (environmentalism), the main conductors of which in the American scientific community at the turn of the 19th-20th centuries there were E. Huntington and especially E. Semple - a student of F. Ratzel, who accepted many of the provisions of his anthropogeography, the author of the fundamental work " American history and its geographical conditions" (1903). But already in the 1920s, most American historical geographers began to move away from environmentalism, which was replaced by the ideas of the possibilists, borrowed mainly from Western European geography. Leading representatives of American historical geography of the 20th century - K. Sauer, R. Brown, A. Clark, W. Webb. The works of Sauer, the founder of the Berkeley (California) cultural-landscape and historical-geographical school, were of the greatest importance for the development of world historical geography. In his opinion, the main task of historical geography is to study the interdependence of all the constituent components of the natural and cultural background allocated for each class of phenomena in historical dynamics. In the programmatic work "Morphology of the Landscape" (1925), the cultural landscape was defined by Sauer as "a territory distinguished by characteristic relationship natural and cultural forms»; at the same time, culture was interpreted as an active principle in interaction with the natural environment, the natural area - as an intermediary ("background") human activity, and the cultural landscape - as a result of their contact. This installation was accepted for the most part his followers from among the scientists of the Berkeley school.

Within the framework of the International Geographical Union, there is a Commission on Historical Geography, and a section of historical geography works at international geographical congresses (every 4 years). The International Historical and Geographical Seminar "Settlement - cultural landscape - environment» (founded in 1972 by the German historical geographer K. Fehn on the basis of working group at the University of Bonn, Germany).

In Russia, historical geography as a scientific discipline began to take shape in the 18th century. One of the earliest in domestic science works on historical geography were the articles by G. Z. Bayer “On the beginning and ancient abodes of the Scythians”, “On the location of Scythia”, “On the Caucasian wall” (published in Russian in 1728), as well as a number of his studies (in Latin) on Scythian and Varangian issues. The subject and tasks of historical geography were first defined in 1745 by V. N. Tatishchev. M. V. Lomonosov identified the most important problems of Russian historical geography - the history of the movement of peoples in the territory European Russia, the ethnogenesis of the Slavs and the origin Ancient Russia. I. N. Boltin was one of the first among Russian historians to raise the question of the role of climate and other geographical factors in history. Historical and geographical problems occupied a significant place in the works of V. V. Krestinin, P. I. Rychkov, M. D. Chulkov, and others, in geographical dictionaries, in the works of S. P. Krasheninnikov, I. I. Lepekhin, G. F. Miller, P. S. Pallas and others.

In the 1st half of the 19th century, the relationship between the formation of historical geography and the emergence and development of toponymic and ethnonymic studies can be traced in the works of A. Kh. "(1819), Z. Dolengi-Khodakovsky" Ways of communication in ancient Russia"(1838), N. I. Nadezhdina "The experience of the historical geography of the Russian world" (1837). The tendency of the interconnected development of historical geography, toponymy, ethnonymy, etc., manifested itself in the works of N. Ya. Bichurin.

In the 2nd half of the 19th century, the historical and geographical study of geographical objects, tribes and peoples mentioned in historical sources continued. of Eastern Europe. The most significant were the works of K. A. Nevolin, N. P. Barsov, N. I. Kostomarov, L. N. Maykov, P. O. Burachkov, F. K. Brun, M. F. Vladimirsky-Budanov, toponymic and ethnonymic studies by M. Veske, J. K. Grot, D. P. Evropeyus, I. A. Iznoskov, A. A. Kochubinsky, A. I. Sobolevsky, I. P. Filevich and others. In the works of V. B. Antonovich, D. I. Bagalei, N. P. Barsov, A. M. Lazarevsky, I. N. Miklashevsky, N. N. Ogloblin, E. K. Ogorodnikov, P. I. Peretyatkevich, S. F. Platonov, L. I. Pokhilevich, P. A. Sokolov, M. K. Lyubavsky studied the history of colonization and, accordingly, changes in borders individual regions and localities during the 13th-17th centuries. Theoretical aspects of the problem of colonization were considered in the works of S. M. Solovyov and V. O. Klyuchevsky, as well as in a number of works by A. P. Shchapov. Materials on historical geography were included in general, regional and local geographic, statistical and toponymic dictionaries (I. I. Vasiliev, E. G. Veidenbaum, N. A. Verigin, A. K. Zavadsky-Krasnopolsky, N. I. Zolotnitsky, L. L. Ignatovich, K. A. Nevolin, P. P. Semenov-Tyan-Shansky, A. N. Sergeev, I. Ya. Sprogis, N. F. Sumtsov, Yu. Yu. Trusman, V. I. Yastrebova and others).

At the end of the 19th century, the first fundamental historical and demographic studies appeared: “The beginning of censuses in Russia and their progress until late XVI in." N. D. Chechulina (1889), “Organization of direct taxation in the Muscovite state from the Time of Troubles to the era of transformations” by A. S. Lappo-Danilevsky (1890). At the same time, Russian scientists began to study the problems of changes in the physical and geographical landscapes of the historical past (V. V. Dokuchaev, P. A. Kropotkin, I. K. Pogossky, G. I. Tanfilyev, and others). For production methodological foundations historical geography was influenced by the interpretation of the environment and the role of its individual factors in the works of N. K. Mikhailovsky, L. I. Mechnikov, P. G. Vinogradov, the geopolitical ideas of N. Ya. Danilevsky, V. I. Lamansky, K. N. Leontiev .

At the beginning of the 20th century, the most important sections of historical geography were historical toponymy and ethnonymy (the works of N. N. Debolsky, V. I. Lamansky, P. L. Mashtakov, A. F. Frolov, and others). The problem of colonization was considered by V. O. Klyuchevsky, A. A. Shakhmatov, G. V. Vernadsky, A. A. Isaev, A. A. Kaufman, P. N. Milyukov. The classic work in this area was the work of M. K. Lyubavsky "The Historical Geography of Russia in Connection with Colonization" (1909). New trends in historical geography developed (Thoughts on the Arrangement of Waterways in Russia by N.P. Puzyrevsky, 1906; Russian Waterways and Shipbuilding in Pre-Petrine Russia by N.P. Zagoskin, 1909). Thanks to the works of V. V. Bartold (“Historical and geographical review of Iran”, 1903; “On the history of irrigation of Turkestan”, 1914), G. E. Grumm-Grzhimailo (“Materials on the ethnology of Amdo and the Kuku-Nora region”, 1903) , L. S. Berg (“Aral Sea”, 1908) and others. Central Asia. At the same time, a corpus of materials on the history of the land cadastre, taxation, surveying, demography, and statistics was systematized and studied (works by S. B. Veselovsky, A. M. Gnevushev, E. D. Stashevsky, P. P. Smirnov, G. M. Belotserkovsky, G. A. Maksimovich, B. P. Weinberg, F. A. Derbek, M. V. Klochkov and others). A significant contribution to the system of knowledge of historical geography was made by geographers - specialists in general problems of geography (A. I. Voeikov, V. I. Taliev, and others). In 1913-14, N. D. Polonskaya's "Historical and Cultural Atlas of Russian History" (volumes 1-3) was published.

At the beginning of the 20th century, scientific schools of historical geography were formed. M. K. Lyubavsky, who lectured at Moscow University and the Moscow Archaeological Institute, emphasized that "the presentation of the historical geography of Russia ... is necessarily associated with the history of the colonization of our country by the Russian people." S. M. Seredonin, who taught historical geography at the St. Petersburg Archaeological Institute, put forward his concept of the subject of historical geography, defining it as “the study mutual relations nature and man in the past. A. A. Spitsyn, who taught historical geography at St. Petersburg (since 1914, Petrograd) University, understood historical geography as “a department of history aimed at studying the territory of the country and its population, that is, the physical and geographical nature of the country and the life of its inhabitants, otherwise in other words, the establishment of its historical landscape. V. E. Danilevich, who taught a course in historical geography at the University of Warsaw, adhered to the same ideas about historical geography.

The works of V. K. Yatsunsky and his followers (O. M. Medushovskaya, A. V. Muravyov, and others) received the greatest recognition in Russian historical geography in the mid-second half of the 20th century. Considered the leader of the Soviet school of historical geography, Yatsunsky singled out 4 subdisciplines in its composition: historical physical geography, historical geography of the population, historical and economic geography and historical and political geography. In his opinion, all elements of historical geography "should not be studied in isolation, but in their mutual connection and conditionality", and the geographical characteristics of previous periods should not be static, but dynamic, that is, showing the process of changing spatial structures. "Yatsunsky's scheme" was repeatedly reproduced in the 2nd half of the 20th century in many works Soviet historians who turned to historical and geographical issues. Questions of historical geography were developed in the works of many domestic historians, among them - A. N. Nasonov ("Russian Land" and the formation of the territory of the Old Russian state. Historical and geographical research, 1951), M. N. Tikhomirov ("Russia in the 16th century", 1962), B. A. Rybakov (“Herodot’s Scythia: Historical and geographical analysis”, 1979), V. A. Kuchkin (“Formation of the state territory Northeast Russia in the X-XIV centuries”, 1984), etc. The historical geography of waterways in Russia was studied in the works of E. G. Istomina. In the 1970s, textbooks on historical geography were published: "The Historical Geography of the USSR" by V. Z. Drobizhev, I. D. Kovalchenko, A. V. Muravyov (1973); "Historical geography of the period of feudalism" A. V. Muravyov, V. V. Samarkin (1973); "Historical geography Western Europe in the Middle Ages” by V. V. Samarkin (1976).

Historical and geographical studies carried out in the USSR and Russia within the framework of geographical science were carried out both by physical geographers (L. S. Berg, A. G. Isachenko, V. S. Zhekulin) and representatives of the Russian school of anthropogeography (V. P. Semyonov -Tyan-Shansky, A. A. Sinitsky, L. D. Kruber), and later - economic geographers (I. A. Vitver, R. M. Kabo, L. E. Iofa, V. A. Pulyarkin, etc.) . In the middle of the 20th century, a significant number of major historical and geographical works of a regional orientation were published in the USSR (R. M. Kabo “Cities Western Siberia: essays on historical and economic geography, 1949; L. E. Iof "Cities of the Urals", 1951; V. V. Pokshishevsky “Population of Siberia. Historical and geographical essays”, 1951; S. V. Bernstein-Kogan "Volga-Don: historical and geographical essay", 1954; and etc.). In the second half of the 20th century, historical-geographical research occupied a prominent place in the works of leading Russian geourbanists (G. M. Lappo, E. N. Pertsik, Yu. L. Pivovarov). The main directions of the historical and geographical study of cities are the analysis of changes in their geographical position, functional structure, and the dynamics of the urban network within a particular country or territory over a certain historical period. An important impetus to the development of historical geography in the USSR in the second half of the 20th century was given by the publication of specialized collections under the auspices of the All-Union Geographical Society (Historical Geography of Russia, 1970; History of Geography and Historical Geography, 1975, etc.). They published articles not only by geographers and historians, but also by representatives of many related sciences- ethnographers, archaeologists, demographers, economists, specialists in the field of toponymy and onomastics, folkloristics. Since the end of the 20th century, in fact, a new direction, revived in Russia several decades later, has become the historical geography of culture (S. Ya. Present, A. G. Druzhinin, A. G. Manakov, etc.).

A relatively isolated position among the areas of Russian historical geography is occupied by the works of L. N. Gumilyov (and his followers), who developed his own concept of the relationship between ethnos and landscape and interpreted historical geography as the history of ethnic groups. General problems of the relationship between nature and society in their historical dynamics are considered in the works of E. S. Kulpin. In the late 20th and early 21st centuries, the interdisciplinary connections historical geography with economic geography, social geography, political geography, cultural geography, as well as with research in the field of geopolitics (D. N. Zamyatin, V. L. Kagansky, A. V. Postnikov, G. S. Lebedev, M. V. Ilyin, S. Ya. Existing, V. L. Tsymbursky, etc.).

An important center for the development of historical geography is the Russian Geographical Society (RGO); there are departments of historical geography in its parent organization in St. Petersburg, the Moscow Center of the Russian Geographical Society, and in some regional organizations.

Lit .: Barsov N.P. Geographic Dictionary of the Russian Land (IX-XIV centuries). Vilna, 1865; he is. Essays on Russian historical geography. 2nd ed. Warsaw, 1885; Seredonin S. M. Historical geography. SPb., 1916; Freeman E.A. Historical geography of Europe. 3rd ed. L., 1920; Vidal de la Blache P. Histoire et geographie. R., 1923; Lyubavsky M.K. Formation of the main state territory of the Great Russian nationality. Settlement and consolidation of the center. L., 1929; he is. Review of the history of Russian colonization from ancient times to the XX century. M., 1996; he is. Historical geography of Russia in connection with colonization. 2nd ed. M., 2000; Sauer C. Foreword to historical geography // Annals of the Association of American Geographers. 1941 Vol. 31. No. 1; Brown R. H. Historical geography of the United States. N.Y., 1948; Yatsunsky VK Historical geography as a scientific discipline // Questions of Geography. M., 1950. Sat. twenty; he is. Historical geography. The history of its origin and development in the XV-XVIII centuries. M., 1955; Clark A. Historical geography // American geography. M., 1957; Medushevsky O. M. Historical geography as an auxiliary historical discipline. M., 1959; Iofa L.E. On the significance of historical geography // Geography and economy. M., 1961. No. 1; Vitver I. A. Historical and geographical introduction to economic geography foreign world. 2nd ed. M., 1963; Smith S. T. Historical geography: current trends and prospects // Frontiers in geographical teaching. L., 1965; Gumilyov L.N. Concerning the subject of historical geography // Bulletin of Leningrad State University. Ser. geology and geography. 1967. No. 6; Shaskolsky IP Historical geography // Auxiliary historical disciplines. L., 1968. T. 1; Darby H.C. Historical geography of England before A.D. 1800. Camb., 1969; Beskrovny L. G., Goldenberg L. A. On the subject and method of historical geography // History of the USSR. 1971. No. 6; Goldenberg L.A. On the subject of historical geography // Proceedings of the All-Union Geographical Society. 1971. T. 103. Issue. 6; Progress in historical geography. N.Y., 1972; Jäger H. Historische Geographie. 2. Aufl. Braunschweig, 1973; Piellush F. Applied historical geography // Pennsylvania Geographer. 1975 Vol. 13. No. 1; Zhekulin V.S. Historical geography: subject and methods. L., 1982; Problems of historical geography of Russia. M., 1982-1984. Issue. 1-4; Studies in Russian historical geography. L., 1983. Vol. 1-2; Norton W. Historical analysis in geography. L., 1984; Historical geography: progress and prospect. L., 1987; Present S. Ya., Druzhinin A. G. Essays on the geography of Russian culture. Rostov n/D., 1994; Maksakovskiy V.P. Historical geography of the world. M., 1997; Perspektiven der historischen Geographie. Bonn, 1997; Bulletin of historical geography. M.; Smolensk, 1999-2005. Issue. 1-3; Shulgina O. V. Historical geography of Russia in the XX century: Socio-political aspects. M., 2003; Historical geography: theory and practice. St. Petersburg, 2004; Shvedov VG Historical political geography. Vladivostok, 2006.

I. L. Belenky, V. N. Streletsky.

Historical geography

Community Edited: Story

Historical geography - an auxiliary historical discipline that studies the spatial localization of the historical process.

Historical geography is interdisciplinary. According to the object of study, it is close to geographical science. The difference lies in the fact that geography studies its object in the present state, but it also has a historical point of view. Historical geography studies an object in its historical development, and it is also characterized by an interest in current state object, since one of its tasks is to explain the formation of the object in its current state.

It is also wrong to confuse historical geography with the history of geography. The history of geography studies the history of geographical discoveries and travels; the history of geographical representations of people; the concrete geography of states, population, economy, nature, created by society, in which these people of the past lived.

Sources of historical geography

Methods of historical geography

The history of the emergence and development of historical geography

Sources of historical geography

Historical geography uses as a source base the entire set of historical sources: written, material, pictorial, as well as data from other sciences.

The most complete information on historical geography is provided by written sources, and above all historical and geographical descriptions, expedition materials, and maps. Information of a historical and geographical nature contains chronicles, scribes, customs, boundary census books, materials of revisions and censuses, act and legislative monuments, office documentation of institutions in charge of industry, agriculture, etc. A special place among written sources occupied by sources containing toponyms - the names of geographical objects.

Material sources are important for historical geography, since accurate conclusions can be drawn by using information from written sources in conjunction with others, including materials from archaeological finds. With the help of material archaeological materials, it is possible to establish the place of a settlement that has not survived to our time, the boundaries of the settlement of ethnic groups, etc.

Methods of historical geography

Historical geography uses methods adopted in history, geography, archeology, toponymy, ethnology, etc. One of the main methods is the analytical-synthetic method, the use of which is advisable when studying the territorial growth of the country, its administrative structure, demographic problems, as well as political and economic geography. The comparative-historical method, the method of retrospective analysis, statistical and cartographic methods are used. AT last years more and more often they talk about a new method of historical and geographical research - the method of relative space, i.e. determining the place of an object in space relative to the landmarks established in science.

The history of the emergence and development of historical geography

In Russia, historical geography as a special discipline dates back to the 18th century. Its founder was V.N. Tatishchev. He outlined the tasks associated with the study of the natural factors of economic life, ancient geography peoples and states, the history of settlements. In his "Proposals on Composing the History and Geography of Russia", he pointed out that history without geography cannot give "perfect pleasure in knowledge." His "Lexicon of Russian Historical, Geographical, Political and Civil" clarified the tasks of historical geography, which is divided into ancient, middle and new, or present. In the "History of the Russian" the scientist laid the foundations for studying the migration of peoples in Eastern Europe, focusing on the Slavs.

In his views on the place of historical geography in general historical works, Tatishchev is joined by M.V. Lomonosov. In the work “On the Layers of the Earth”, the scientist spoke about the connection between the historiography of historical and modern geography: “Visible bodily things on earth and the whole world were not in such a state from the beginning from creation, as we now find ... which is shown by history and ancient geography, demolished with the current ... ".

Directly related to historical geography is the theory of the role of climate in the development of human society. Detailed judgments on this topic are available from the enlighteners Montesquieu and Herder. Less detailed, but more harmonious statements on this topic belong to the Russian historian, who was under their undoubted influence, I.I. Boltin. He outlined his views on the role of climate in the history of human society in the first volume of his Notes on the History of Ancient and Present Russia by G. Leclerc. According to I.N. Boltin, climate is the main reason that determines "human mores", and other reasons either strengthen or restrain its effect. He considered climate "the primary cause in the dispensation and education of man."

In general, in the XVIII century. the content of historical geography was reduced to determining on the map the places of historical events and geographic objects that ceased to exist, the study of changes in political boundaries and the resettlement of peoples.

In the first half of the XIX century. the most interesting historical and geographical studies were the works of N.I. Nadezhdina, Z.Ya. Khodakovsky, K.A. Nevolin.

In the second half of the XIX century. - the beginning of the XX century. historical geography began to take shape as a branch of historical science. At the beginning of the XX century. several consolidated courses of historical geography appeared, read at the St. Petersburg and Moscow archaeological institutes. Their authors were S.M. Seredonin, A.A. Spitsyn, S.K. Kuznetsov, M.K. Lyubavsky. Seredonin believed that the task of historical geography is to study the problems of the relationship between man and nature in past historical periods. A.A. Spitsyn saw the main significance of historical geography in creating a background "for understanding ongoing events and the development of historical phenomena."

As a general task of historical geography, scientists put forward the study of the relationship between man and nature in different historical periods. Deterministic tendencies are noticeable in the approach to this problem. In this regard, it is necessary to mention the concept of geographical determinism, the founders of which are Montesquieu and Ratzel. This naturalistic doctrine ascribes a paramount role in the development of society and the peoples of their geographic location and natural conditions. The concept played a negative role, since according to it, exclusively natural and geographical features determine the history of the people.

The role of the geographical factor, due to the objective conditions in Russia, is much greater than in the West. Therefore, Russian historians paid great attention this problem, but the role of the geographical factor was often exaggerated. For the first time in Russia, the concept of geographical determinism was defended by representatives of " public school» in the historiography of B.N. Chicherin and K.D. Kavelin. S.M. most fully brought it to life. Solovyov. They were influenced, of course, by the concept of L.I. Mechnikov, who connected the main periods of development of world civilizations with the influence of rivers (Egypt - Nile, etc.).

Historical geography at this time becomes the most popular and dynamically developing historical discipline. Among other researchers, Yu.V. Gauthier. In the book Zamoskovny Krai in the 17th century. he emphasized the close relationship between natural conditions and economic life of the population. P.G. Lyubomirov was one of the first to attempt to outline the economic regions of Russia in the 17th and 18th centuries. The problem of economic-geographical zoning was posed by him, but was not solved (before him, they were limited to division into historical regions).

At the turn of the XIX - XX centuries. mainly problems of historical political geography and historical geography of the population were studied. Historical and geographical research played an auxiliary role in relation to historical science: the places of historical events were localized, trade routes etc. Clearly insufficient attention was paid to the historical geography of the economy and the development of historical cartography. Historical maps were mainly educational and military and reflected the history of political borders and wars. Pre-revolutionary science did not create a consolidated outline of the historical geography of Russia. There was no unity in understanding the tasks of historical geography. There was constant interest in the problem of the influence of the natural environment (geographical environment) on the development of society.

In the 1920-1930s. historical geography as a science was forgotten, and for many years the term "historical geography" was not used.

The turning point for the development of historical geography was 1941, when an article by V.K. Yatsunsky "The subject and tasks of historical geography". Within a few years there was a breakthrough in the study of the main problems of science. The teaching of the course of historical history in universities was resumed. By the second half of the XX century. historical geography has taken its place among the auxiliary historical disciplines, but scientific work in the field of historical geography, according to Yatsunsky, "handicraftsmen-loners" were engaged - M.N. Tikhomirov, B.A. Rybakov, S.V. Bakhrushin, A.I. Andreev, A.N. Nasonov, I.A. Golubtsov, L.V. Cherepnin. Work intensified in the field of historical cartography .

The development of Soviet historical geography proceeded in two main directions: the development of traditional themes continued, and the study of the problems of the geography of production and economic relations began.

The greatest merit in the revival of historical geography, in its formation as a science belongs to V.K. Yatsunsky. His name is associated with the development theoretical foundations historical geography and the study of historical and geographical sources. Great importance he gave the methodological basis of historical geography, the solution of the question of its position at the intersection of history and geography and the use of information obtained by historians and geographers of science using the scientific methods of each of the sciences. The scientist not only developed the theory of science, but also carried out case studies historical and geographical nature, created a number of cartographic aids on the history of the national economy of Russia with explanatory texts. His contribution to the study of the history of historical geography is significant.

VC. Yatsunsky proposed the structure of historical geography. He singled out four elements of the content of historical geography:

historical physical geography;

historical economic geography, or historical geography of the economy;

historical geography of the population;

historical political geography.

This structure is reflected in many reference and educational publications, although a number of researchers, while generally supporting the definition of "historical geography" given by Yatsunsky, did not agree with him in everything. For example, in 1970 there was a discussion about the definition of the concept of "historical geography". During the discussion, it was proposed to exclude V.K. Yatsunsky, for example, physical geography. In the 1970s much attention was paid to the content of the course "Historical Geography" and its teaching. New tutorials have arrived. Such a manual was the “Historical Geography of the USSR”, published in 1973 by I.D. Kovalchenko, V.Z. Drobizhev and A.V. Muravyov. Until now, it remains the only manual of such a high level. It was the first to give a generalized description of the historical geographical conditions development of Russia from ancient times to the present day. The authors defined historical geography in the same way as V.K. Yatsunsky. The material was presented in chronological order by historical periods.

V.S. Zhekulin, who dealt with theoretical problems and specific issues of historical geography. He, in particular, announced the existence of two scientific disciplines under the same name, which have nothing in common with each other: historical geography as a geographical science and historical geography, related to the cycle of historical disciplines.

Interest in historical geography in recent decades was promoted by L.N. Gumilyov, who developed the theory of ethnogenesis and passionary impulse and applied it in historical research. The theory tied together ideas about a person as biological species Homo sapiens and driving force of history. According to L.N. Gumilyov, the ethnos is "inscribed" in the surrounding landscape, and natural forces are one of the engines of history.

AT last decade A significant study revealing the influence of climate and soils on the Russian historical process was the monograph by L.V. Milov "Great Russian plowman and features of the Russian historical process" (1st ed.: M., 1998; 2nd ed.: 2001).

On the whole, historical geography could not develop as a purely independent science. A number of works created in the 20th century were of an auxiliary nature; they mainly studied local problems, and more often medieval history Russia. The use of new sources, for example, geographical descriptions, must be recognized as a merit of Russian historical geography.

1. Averyanov K.A. On the subject of historical geography // Problems of historical geography and demography of Russia. Issue 1. M., 2007.

2. Goldenberg L.A. To the question of cartographic source study

3. Drobizhev V.Z., Kovalchenko I.D., Muravyov A.V. Historical geography of the USSR

4. Kovalchenko I.D., Muravyov A.V. Works on the interaction of nature and society

5. Milov L.V. Natural and climatic factor and features of the Russian historical process // Questions of history. 1992. No. 4-5.

6. Petrova O.S. Problems of historical geography in the "Proceedings of Archaeological Congresses" (second half of the 19th - early 20th centuries) // Problems of Methodology and Source Studies. Materials of the III scientific readings in memory of academician I.D. Kovalchenko. M., 2006.

7. Shulgina O.V. Historical geography of Russia in the XX century: socio-political aspects. M., 2003.

8. Yatsunsky V.K. Historical geography: the history of its origin and development in the XIV - XVIII centuries. M., 1955.

Lomonosov M.V. Selected Philosophical Works. M., 1950. S.397. one

Detailing concepts:

Geographic environment

historical map; Toponym; .

Geography; Natural resources and nature management;

Detailing concepts:

historical map; Map; Economic-geographical zoning.

Historical geography is a historical discipline that studies history through the "prism" of geography; it is also the geography of any territory at a certain historical stage of its development. most difficult part task of historical geography is to show the economic geography of the study area - to establish the level of development of productive forces, their placement.

Subject

In a broad sense, historical geography is a branch of history that aims to study a geographical territory and its population. In a narrow sense, it is engaged in the study of the topographic side of events and phenomena: "defining the boundaries of the state and its regions, populated areas, communication routes, etc."

The sources for Russian historical geography are:

• historical acts (spiritual wills of the Grand Dukes, statutory letters, boundary documents, etc.)
• scribe, sentinel, census, revision books
• Records of foreign travelers: Herberstein (Notes on Muscovy), Fletcher (), Olearius (Description of the travel of the Holstein embassy to Muscovy and Persia), Pavel Allepsky (in 1654), Meyerberg (in 1661), Reitenfels (Tales of the Most Serene Duke Tuscan Cosmas the Third about Muscovy)
• archeology, philology and geography.

On the this moment 8 sectors of historical geography are distinguished:

1. historical physical geography (historical geography) - the most conservative branch, studies landscape changes;
2. historical political geography - studies change political map, political system, routes of conquests;
3. historical geography of the population - studies the ethnographic and geographical features of the distribution of the population in the territories;
4. historical social geography - studies the relationship of society, the change of social strata;
5. historical cultural geography - studies spiritual and material culture;
6. the historical geography of the interaction between society and nature - direct (human influence on nature) and reverse (nature on human);
7. historical economic geography - studies the development of production, industrial revolutions;
8. historical and geographical regional studies.

Notable research scientists

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Notes

Literature

• Spitsyn A. A. Russian historical geography: a training course. - Petrograd: Type. Ya. Bashmakov and Co., 1917. - 68 p.
• Yatsunsky V.K. Historical geography: The history of its origin and development in the XIV-XVIII centuries. - M .: Publishing house of the USSR Academy of Sciences, 1955. - 336 p. - 4,000 copies.
• Gumilyov L. N.// Bulletin of the Leningrad University. No. 18, no. 3. - L., 1965. - S. 112-120.
• Historical geography of Russia: XII - early XX centuries. Collection of articles dedicated to the 70th anniversary of prof. L. G. Beskrovny / Ed. ed. acad. A. L. Narochnitsky. - M .: Nauka, 1975. - 348 p. - 5 550 copies.
• Zhekulin V.S. Historical Geography: Subject and Methods. - L.: Nauka, 1982. - 224 p.
• Maksakovskiy V.P. Historical Geography of the World: Textbook: Recommended by the Ministry of General and vocational education RF for higher education students educational institutions/ Ed. E. M. Goncharova, T. V. Zinicheva. - M .: Ekopros, 1999. - 584 p. - ISBN 5-88621-051-2.
• Historical geography of Russia IX - early XX centuries: Territory. Population. Economics: essays / Ya. E. Vodarsky, V. M. Kabuzan, A. V. Demkin, O. I. Eliseeva, E. G. Istomina, O. A. Shvatchenko; Rep. ed. K. A. Averyanov. - M .:, 2013. - 304, p. - 300 copies. - ISBN 978-5-8055-0238-6.

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An excerpt characterizing Historical Geography

He is needed for the place that awaits him, and therefore, almost regardless of his will and despite his indecision, in spite of the lack of a plan, in spite of all the mistakes that he makes, he is drawn into a conspiracy aimed at seizing power, and the conspiracy is crowned with success. .
He is pushed into the meeting of the rulers. Frightened, he wants to run, believing himself dead; pretends to faint; says meaningless things that should have ruined him. But the rulers of France, who were formerly sharp-witted and proud, now, feeling that their role has been played, are even more embarrassed than he is, they say the wrong words that they should have spoken in order to retain power and destroy him.
Accident, millions of accidents give him power, and all people, as if by agreement, contribute to the establishment of this power. Accidents make the characters of the then rulers of France subordinate to him; accidents make the character of Paul I, recognizing his authority; chance makes a conspiracy against him, not only not harming him, but asserting his power. Chance sends Enghiensky into his hands and inadvertently forces him to kill, thereby, stronger than all other means, convincing the crowd that he has the right, since he has the power. What happens by chance is that he exerts all his strength on an expedition to England, which, obviously, would destroy him, and never fulfills this intention, but inadvertently attacks Mack with the Austrians, who surrender without a fight. Chance and genius give him victory at Austerlitz, and by chance all people, not only the French, but all of Europe, with the exception of England, which will not take part in the events that are about to take place, all people, despite their former horror and disgust for his crimes, now they recognize him for his power, the name that he gave himself, and his ideal of greatness and glory, which seems to everyone to be something beautiful and reasonable.
As if trying on and preparing for the upcoming movement, the forces of the west several times in 1805, 6, 7, 9 years tend to the east, growing stronger and stronger. In 1811, the group of people that had taken shape in France merges into one huge group with the middle peoples. Along with an increasing group of people, the power of justification of the person at the head of the movement further develops. In the ten-year preparatory period of time preceding the great movement, this man comes into contact with all the crowned heads of Europe. The unmasked rulers of the world cannot oppose any rational ideal to the Napoleonic ideal of glory and greatness, which has no meaning. One before the other, they strive to show him their insignificance. The King of Prussia sends his wife to seek favors from the great man; the emperor of Austria considers it a mercy that this man receives the daughter of the Caesars in his bed; The pope, guardian of the holy things of the nations, serves with his religion to exalt the great man. Not so much Napoleon himself prepares himself for the performance of his role, but everything around him prepares him to take upon himself the entire responsibility of what is being done and has to be done. There is no deed, no crime or petty deception that he would commit and which would not immediately be reflected in the mouths of those around him in the form of a great deed. The best holiday that the Germans can come up with for him is the celebration of Jena and Auerstät. Not only is he great, but his ancestors are great, his brothers, his stepsons, sons-in-law. Everything is done in order to deprive him of the last power of reason and prepare him for his terrible role. And when he is ready, the forces are ready.
The invasion is heading east, reaching ultimate goal- Moscow. The capital is taken; Russian army more destroyed than the enemy troops were ever destroyed in previous wars from Austerlitz to Wagram. But suddenly, instead of those accidents and genius that have so consistently led him up to now continuous row success towards the intended goal, there are countless reverse accidents, from a cold in Borodino to frost and a spark that ignited Moscow; and instead of genius there are stupidity and meanness, which have no examples.
The invasion is running, coming back, running again, and all accidents are now constantly not for, but against it.
A countermovement from east to west takes place, with a remarkable resemblance to the previous movement from west to east. The same attempts to move from east to west in 1805-1807-1809 precede the great movement; same clutch and group huge size; the same pestering of the middle peoples to the movement; the same hesitation in the middle of the journey and the same speed as it approaches the goal.
Paris - the ultimate goal achieved. The Napoleonic government and troops are destroyed. Napoleon himself has no more sense; all his actions are obviously pathetic and vile; but again an inexplicable accident happens: the allies hate Napoleon, in whom they see the cause of their disasters; deprived of strength and power, convicted of villainy and deceit, he should have appeared to them the way he seemed to them ten years ago and a year after, a robber outside the law. But by some strange chance, no one sees it. His role is not over yet. A man who ten years ago and a year after was considered an outlaw robber is sent on a two-day journey from France to an island given to him for possession with guards and millions who pay him for something.

The movement of nations is beginning to take its course. The waves of great movement have receded, and circles form on the still sea, along which diplomats rush about, imagining that it is they who produce the lull in the movement.
But the calm sea suddenly rises. It seems to diplomats that they, their disagreements, are the cause of this new onslaught of forces; they expect war between their sovereigns; their position seems insurmountable. But the wave they feel rising is not coming from where they are waiting for it. The same wave rises, from the same starting point of movement - Paris. The last splash of movement from the west is being made; a splash that should solve the seemingly insoluble diplomatic difficulties and put an end to the militant movement of this period.

The activity of human society takes place within certain geographical limits, in a certain territory. The nature of this area, climate, soil, precipitation, minerals, vegetation, surface profile, rivers, lakes, seas, natural ways messages, etc., set the framework for the activities of human society, its occupations and development. With the development of technology, the dependence of human society on geographical conditions is weakening, but due to economic considerations, it remains, albeit in a truncated form. For example, at present we can cultivate rice in greenhouses on the islands Arctic Ocean, but it is hardly economically feasible to use these islands for rice crops; communication routes make it possible to set up oil refineries and iron foundries where not a single pood of oil or iron ore; It is possible to imagine that oil production is carried out where there is none, with the current state of technology, but such oil production (by chemical processes) is not economically viable. As for the consumption of products, at the present time wherever there is rail, air or steamship communication, we can, with appropriate social conditions, to consume the products of the most remote countries.

In remote times, the dependence of human society on geographical conditions was incomparably greater. Geographical conditions determined to a greater extent not only the occupations of people (mining and manufacturing industries), but also the consumption of products, trade relations of a given society with other societies (depending on the means of communication) and even a social organization (for example, the so-called "Asiatic mode of production"). Therefore, the historian cannot bypass the geographical conditions, not only in the study of the history of more distant times, but also of recent decades. For example, when studying the history of Azerbaijan in the 20th century, we cannot ignore its oil-bearing areas, which made it possible to create the Baku oil industry with tens of thousands of workers.

But at the same time, we should not exaggerate the role of geographical conditions. When studying the same history of Azerbaijan, we must keep in mind that only with a certain social formation, industrial capitalism, began the development oil industry and this development took giant strides under a different social formation, transitional to socialism. Thus, the main factor in the historical process is not geographical conditions, but the development of the productive forces and the relations of production corresponding to them.

The historian finds a general description of a certain territory in physical geography, which deals with the consideration of a given territory in relation to its geology, geophysics, meteorology, paleontology, flora, fauna, etc. The division of the globe at the moment between existing state organizations, the division of states into administrative units , the location of the last and existing settlements in space, the historian finds in political geography studying existing states, their borders, population, cities, etc.

What is the current state of industry, trade, agriculture, transport, etc. in individual states ah and areas, the historian learns from economic geography, which bases its conclusions on statistics. But in all these areas, the principle “everything flows, everything changes” is especially applicable. State borders are now completely different than they were in 1914; economic development makes jumps up or down every year; where 50 years ago there was a votskaya village, there is now a Russian village without a single votyak; where there was a forest, there may be a bare steppe, and in the place of the latter - a beautiful grove; the river may be in a different direction, etc., etc.

Which of these changes should be considered by history, which by historical geography?

Until now, historical geography, which most scientists define as a science that studies the relationship between people and nature in the past, deals with the settlement of people and individual societies on the globe, establishing the location of individual settlements (cities, fortresses, villages, etc.), boundaries between states and their administrative divisions, means of communication, the distribution of individual crafts and occupations, etc. in the past. Some historians propose to create another special, cultural-historical geography, dealing with questions about the distribution of individual cultures, for example, Muslim culture.

If we understand the relationship between man and nature broadly, then any difference between historical geography and history disappears. Usually, settlements appear where there are more favorable natural conditions ( drinking water, convenient means of communication, soil, vegetation), or, less often, where it is necessary for political reasons (protection of borders, places of exile, etc.). But also in last case natural conditions matter. If we take the production activity of people, then it all consists of the relationship between people and nature, from the impact of people on nature. Should therefore all this activity (production, socio-political and cultural) be studied by historical geography? If so, then history should simply turn into historical geography.

So it used to be. History and geography were one general science. But gradually there was a separation from history, due to the rapid development natural sciences, physical geography; due to the development economic sciences economic geography emerged. Political geography has retained the greatest connection with history, but since bourgeois historians often did not want to touch on the history of recent decades, leaving this area to politicians, sociologists and economists, political geography also received an independent existence from history.

Can we create independent historical and geographical sciences corresponding to listed parts geography? Can we also single out cultural-historical geography as a separate science?

We now have a number of courses in historical geography, which may be called courses in historical political geography. They consider the changing boundaries between individual states, regions, nations, the location of cities and settlements, the development of trade routes, etc. over the centuries. But can these questions be considered outside the historical development of individual social units (states, nations, etc.)? It is forbidden. Pointing out that the border between the two states in the XV century. took place here, and in the 16th century there, the student of the change of boundaries must indicate the causes of this phenomenon. But this means that he must give the history of individual states. On the other hand, the historian, considering the history of individual public organizations, cannot but consider their borders, the location of cities, trade routes, and so on. Consequently, we cannot separate historical political geography from history. Still less can we separate historical economic geography and cultural-historical geography from history, for economic and cultural development in a certain territory cannot be separated and considered in isolation from the general historical process of public organizations that existed in this territory.

The sources for history and historical political, economic and cultural geography are the same: chronicles, annals, state acts, travel descriptions, etc. nomenclature and geographic Maps, but these sources must inevitably be used by the historian of a particular era.

The inextricable connection between historical, political, economic, and cultural geography and history also explains to us the fact that there is not a single specialist in these disciplines. They were dealt with exclusively by historians of the respective epochs. Seredonin, Lyubavsky, Barsov, Belyaev, Kipert, Freeman and others, who gave courses and essays on historical geography, are all historians.

What then explains the emergence of a special discipline of political historical geography and the desire to create an economic and cultural historical geography? Partly, of course, by the transfer to more distant eras of the existing independent political and economic geography. The main reason is the view that history is concerned with the simple establishment of facts. If one takes this point of view, then one can create specific political, economic and cultural historical geography that determine changes in borders, etc., without setting out to explain the causes of these changes. But it will not be science, because the latter considers phenomena in their causal dependence. As soon as historical political, economic and cultural geography begins to explain the causal dependence of facts, they turn into history.

Thus, the existence of scientific historical political, economic and cultural geography is impossible. Any such attempt will either be a collection of facts or political, economic or cultural history.

Historical geography, as an auxiliary historical science, will and must exist. But her scientific content should be completely different. By historical geography, we must mean the science of geophysical changes in a given territory under the influence of human society and the forces of nature. Such a science, determining the changes that have taken place over the centuries in the surface profile, in the qualities of the soil, in the amount of precipitation, in fauna and flora, in rivers, lakes, seas, etc., and establishing the causes of these changes, should be a natural science and be one of the branches of physical geography. Only such a historical geography is useful to the historian and makes sense of existence. The political, economic and cultural historical geography must become what they can only be - an inseparable integral part history - and stop their independent, though short-lived, existence.

From scientific (physical) historical geography, the historian could draw information that is very useful for his work about the soil, forests, meadows, natural routes of communication and other geographical conditions in which the activity of the history under consideration proceeded. public organization in a certain era. But, unfortunately, such a historical geography has not yet been developed, and the historian, when studying more distant epochs, has to use certain indications of general historical sources, unverified by natural scientists, under certain geographical conditions. The development of historical geography is a matter for the future.

REFERENCES A:

D. Gettner. Geography, its history, essence and methods. Translation by E. Ya. Torneus. edited by N. Baransky. 1930 N. Barsov. Essays on Russian historical geography. 1885 Y. Gauthier. Materials for the historical geography of Muscovite Rus. 1906 Kuznetsov. Russian historical geography. 1910 Lubavsky. Historical geography. A N. Maikov. Notes on ancient geography. 1874

With M. Seredonin. Historical geography. 1916 Spitsyn. Russian historical geography. 1917 G. V. Plekhanov. Basic questions of Marxism. 1928 K. Marx. Capital, vol. 1. 1930. P. Ivanov. Experience of historical research of land boundary in Russia. 1846 R. Kötzshke. Quellen und Grundbegriffe der istorischen Geographie Deutschlands und seiner Nachbarländer. R. Sieger. Zur Behandlung

der historischen Landerkunde. "Mitteilungen des Instituts für österreichische Geschichtsiorschung", B. 28, 1907 H. Beschorner. Wesen und Autgaben der historischen Geographie. „Geographer. Historische Vierteljahrsschrift", B. 9, 1906. O. Redlich. Histor.-Geograph. problem. "Mitteilungen des Instituts für österreichische Geschichtsforschung" B. 27, 1905. E. Freemann. Historical geography of Europe 1903 K. Lamprecht. Zur

Organization der Grundkartenforschung. 1900 A. Westren-Doll. Urkundliche livische und kurische Ortsnamen. "Sitzungsberichte der Gelehrten Estnischen Gesellschaft" 1924 A. Westren-Doll. Grundworter in estnischen Siedlungsnamen. "Sitzungsberichte der Gelehrten Eastnischen Gesellschaft", 1926

Historical geography - an auxiliary historical discipline that studies the spatial localization of the historical process.

Historical geography is interdisciplinary. According to the object of study, it is close to geographical science. The difference lies in the fact that geography studies its object in the present state, but it also has a historical point of view. Historical geography studies an object in its historical development, and it is also characterized by an interest in the current state of the object, since one of its tasks is to explain the formation of an object in its current state.

It is also wrong to confuse historical geography with the history of geography. The history of geography studies the history of geographical discoveries and travels; the history of geographical representations of people; the concrete geography of states, population, economy, nature, created by society, in which these people of the past lived.

Directly related to historical geography is the theory of the role of climate in the development of human society. Detailed judgments on this topic are available from the enlighteners Montesquieu and Herder. Less detailed, but more harmonious statements on this topic belong to the Russian historian, who was under their undoubted influence, - I.I. Boltin. He outlined his views on the role of climate in the history of human society in the first volume of his Notes on the History of Ancient and Present Russia by G. Leclerc. According to I.N. Boltin, climate is the main reason that determines "human mores", and other reasons either strengthen or restrain its effect. He considered climate "the primary cause in the dispensation and education of man."

In general, in the XVIII century. the content of historical geography was reduced to determining on the map the places of historical events and geographic objects that ceased to exist, the study of changes in political boundaries and the resettlement of peoples.

In the first half of the XIX century. the most interesting historical and geographical studies were the works of N.I. Nadezhdina, Z.Ya. Khodakovsky, K.A. Nevolin.

In the second half of the XIX century. - early XX century. historical geography began to take shape as a branch of historical science. At the beginning of the XX century. several consolidated courses of historical geography appeared, read at the St. Petersburg and Moscow archaeological institutes. Their authors were S.M. Seredonin, A.A. Spitsyn, S.K. Kuznetsov, M.K. Lyubavsky. Seredonin believed that the task of historical geography is to study the problems of the relationship between man and nature in past historical periods. A.A. Spitsyn saw the main significance of historical geography in creating a background "for understanding ongoing events and the development of historical phenomena."

As a general task of historical geography, scientists put forward the study of the relationship between man and nature in different historical periods. Deterministic tendencies are noticeable in the approach to this problem. In this regard, mention should be made of the concept geographical determinism, whose founders are Montesquieu and Ratzel. This naturalistic doctrine ascribes a primary role in the development of society and peoples to their geographical position and natural conditions. The concept played a negative role, since according to it, exclusively natural and geographical features determine the history of the people.

The role of the geographical factor in effect objective conditions Russia is much larger than in the West. Therefore, Russian historians paid great attention to this problem, but often exaggerated the role of the geographical factor. For the first time in Russia, the concept of geographical determinism was defended by representatives of the “state school” in the historiography of B.N. Chicherin and K.D. Kavelin. S.M. most fully brought it to life. Solovyov. They were influenced, of course, by the concept of L.I. Mechnikov, who connected the main periods of development of world civilizations with the influence of rivers (Egypt - Nile, etc.).

Historical geography at this time becomes the most popular and dynamically developing historical discipline. Among other researchers, Yu.V. Gauthier. In the book Zamoskovny Krai in the 17th century. he emphasized the close relationship between natural conditions and the economic life of the population. P.G. Lyubomirov was one of the first to attempt to outline the economic regions of Russia in the 17th and 18th centuries. The problem of economic-geographical zoning was posed by him, but was not solved (before him, they were limited to division into historical regions).

At the turn of the XIX - XX centuries. mainly problems of historical political geography and historical geography of the population were studied. Historical and geographical research played an auxiliary role in relation to historical science: the places of historical events were localized, trade routes were clarified, etc. Clearly insufficient attention was paid to the historical geography of the economy and the development of historical cartography. Historical maps were mainly educational and military and reflected the history of political borders and wars. pre-revolutionary science did not create a consolidated outline of the historical geography of Russia. There was no unity in understanding the tasks of historical geography. There was constant interest in the problem of the influence of the natural environment (geographical environment) on the development of society.

In the 1920-1930s. historical geography as a science was forgotten, and for many years the term "historical geography" was not used.

The turning point for the development of historical geography was 1941, when an article by V.K. Yatsunsky "The subject and tasks of historical geography". Within a few years there was a breakthrough in the study of the main problems of science. The teaching of the course of historical history in universities was resumed. By the second half of the XX century. historical geography took its place among the auxiliary historical disciplines, but scientific work in the field of historical geography was carried out, in the words of Yatsunsky, by “single handicraftsmen” - M.N. Tikhomirov, B.A. Rybakov, S.V. Bakhrushin, A.I. Andreev, A.N. Nasonov, I.A. Golubtsov, L.V. Cherepnin. Work intensified in the field of historical cartography .

The development of Soviet historical geography proceeded in two main directions: the development of traditional themes continued, and the study of the problems of the geography of production and economic relations began.

The greatest merit in the revival of historical geography, in its formation as a science belongs to V.K. Yatsunsky. His name is associated with the development of the theoretical foundations of historical geography and the study of historical and geographical sources. He attached great importance to the methodological basis of historical geography, the solution of the question of its position at the intersection of history and geography and the use of information obtained by historians and geographers of science with the help of the scientific methods of each of the sciences. The scientist not only developed the theory of science, but also conducted specific studies of a historical and geographical nature, created a number of cartographic manuals on the history of the national economy of Russia with explanatory texts. His contribution to the study of the history of historical geography is significant.

VC. Yatsunsky proposed the structure of historical geography. He singled out four elements of the content of historical geography:

1. historical physical geography;
2. historical economic geography, or historical geography of the economy;
3. historical geography of the population;
4. historical political geography.

This structure was reflected in many reference and educational publications, although a number of researchers, while generally supporting the definition of "historical geography" given by Yatsunsky, did not agree with him in everything. For example, in 1970 there was a discussion about the definition of the concept of "historical geography". During the discussion, it was proposed to exclude V.K. Yatsunsky, for example, physical geography. In the 1970s great attention was paid to the content training course"Historical geography" and its teaching. New tutorials have arrived. Such a manual was the “Historical Geography of the USSR”, published in 1973 by I.D. Kovalchenko, V.Z. Drobizhev and A.V. Muraviev. Until now, it remains the only manual of such a high level. It was the first to give a generalized description of the historical and geographical conditions of Russia's development from ancient times to the present day. The authors defined historical geography in the same way as V.K. Yatsunsky. The material was presented in chronological order by historical periods.

V.S. Zhekulin, who was involved theoretical problems and specific questions of historical geography. In particular, he stated that there are two scientific disciplines under one name, which have nothing in common: historical geography as a geographical science and historical geography, related to the cycle of historical disciplines.

Interest in historical geography in recent decades was promoted by L.N. Gumilyov, who developed the theory of ethnogenesis and passionary impulse and applied it in historical research. The theory linked together ideas about man as a biological species of Homo sapiens and driving force stories. According to L.N. Gumilyov, the ethnos is "inscribed" in the landscape surrounding it, and natural forces are one of the engines of history.

In the last decade, the monograph by L.V. Milov "Great Russian plowman and features of the Russian historical process" (1st ed.: M., 1998; 2nd ed.: 2001).

In general, historical geography could not develop as a purely independent science. A number of works created in the 20th century were of an auxiliary nature; they mainly studied local problems, and more often on the medieval history of Russia. The use of new sources, for example, geographical descriptions, must be recognized as a merit of Russian historical geography.

Recommended reading

1. Averyanov K.A. On the subject of historical geography // Problems of historical geography and demography of Russia. Issue 1. M., 2007.

2. Goldenberg L.A. To the question of cartographic source study

3. Drobizhev V.Z., Kovalchenko I.D., Muravyov A.V. Historical geography of the USSR

4. Kovalchenko I.D., Muravyov A.V. Works on the interaction of nature and society

5. Milov L.V. Natural and climatic factor and features of the Russian historical process // Questions of history. 1992. No. 4-5.

6. Petrova O.S. Problems of historical geography in the Proceedings of Archaeological Congresses (second half of the 19th - early 20th centuries) // Problems of Methodology and Source Studies. Materials of the III scientific readings in memory of academician I.D. Kovalchenko. M., 2006.

7. Shulgina O.V. Historical geography of Russia in the XX century: socio-political aspects. M., 2003.

8. Yatsunsky V.K. Historical geography: the history of its origin and development in the XIV - XVIII centuries. M., 1955.