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The article is devoted to the role of ethnographic maps in state boundary determination. The article shows the transformation of ethnographic borders into the state ones as a process caused by social and political needs.

http://doi.org/10.54544/724

The first Russian cartographic publications, which included the lands of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, reflected the administrative-territorial situation. The linguistic and ethnographic diversity studies of the Russian Empire began in the middle of the 19th century and were based on statistical data (mainly on the results of censuses).

These studies formed the basis for ethnographic maps of peoples or ethnic groups settlement. In essence, this work had scientific and economic goals, but naturally its results became the tool that led to the growth of self-identification of peoples.

As history has shown, tradition was of great importance for the self-proclamation and protection of statehood. For the nations that once made up the federal state of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, the memory of the former cultural and state separateness was preserved as evidenced by the extensive cartographic material of the late 16th – 18th centuries. It is difficult to say how the glorious cartographic tradition of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was felt by the fathers of the Belarusian (or, for example, Lithuanian) statehood at the beginning of the 20th century when they created their own national maps. It is likely that local cartographic material, original or republished in European atlases, was not perceived in a comprehensive manner and was a part of the common cultural heritage for them, despite the fact that the basis for the study of the history of cartography has already been created in the region [1].

The main stage of the construction of the territories inhabited by the peoples of the European part of the Russian Empire fell on the 1840 – 1870s. Publications of this period had a significant impact on the subsequently declared state borders in general.

The first ethnographic map of the European part of Russia was prepared in 1846 by the Russian scientist of German origin Piotr Köppen (1793–1864). The map was published in 1851 on behalf of the Russian Geographical Society [2]. It was based on the data of the eighth revision of the population in 1833–1835. 38 non-Slavic nations («foreigners») were marked on the map. The Lithuanians, Latvians, Estonians, Poles were indicated on the territories of the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Enclaves of the Jews, Tatars, Gypsies and other non-Slavic nations residence were also marked. The Belarusians, Ukrainians and Russians were not differentiated¹.

In his explanation of the map Köppen notes that «the most difficult thing was to have positive testimonies about the Lithuanians» [3, p.14]. The author requested additional data from the Catholic and former Uniate parishes of Koŭna, Viĺnia and Hrodna provinces «about the language they use with samples of their speech», which indicates the difficulties that have arisen in determining the border between the Lithuanians and Belarusians according to the confessional factor and the first attempts to use language differences.

Let us note the tense political situation in the region during this period and the increased number of publications on the ethnographic subject, not devoid of deliberate or caused by censorship ideological influence [4].

In 1863, the Ethnographic Atlas of Western Russian Provinces and Neighboring Regions was published by Roderich von Erckert (1821–1900), a German ethnographer and officer who served in Russia. The publication was intended to distinguish between the «Russians» (the Belarusians and Little Russians) and Poles in the former lands of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth [5]. In the same year the edition was published in French [6].

The first map from R. Erkert's atlas outlines the territories of the predominant residence of the Poles, Ukranians, Belarusians, Lithuanians (the Litvines and Samogites are highlighted), Latvians and other nations. It was done mainly on a confessional basis, though the author recognizes the relatively scientific nature of this approach and the possibility of different results depending on the focus shift between linguistic, confessional or sociopolitical approaches.

In his work «A Look at the History and Ethnography of the Western Provinces of Russia» R. von Erckert notices that the French edition should «resist the false and pretentious testimony of Polish writers» and actually gives an ethnographic picture of the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth lands. Indicating the territory of the Belarusian population, the author does not extend his research beyond the borders of Vitebsk, Mogilev and Minsk provinces in the eastern direction. The demarcation line between the Belarusians and Litvins runs approximately along the Lida – Ašmiany – Smarhoń line. Pružany, Kobryn and Brest-Litoŭsk are classified as Ukrainian territories.

R. von Erckert, like P. Köppen, encounters difficulties with constructing the ethnographic border between the «Russian» and the Polish peoples. He draws attention to the native speakers of the Belarusian or «Little Russian» language of the Catholic faith and, with some reservations, classifies them as the Poles.

In 1875, at the initiative of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society, the Russian military ethnographer Alexander Rittich (1831–1915) developed the «Ethnographic Map of European Russia» [7]. For the first time in the Russian Empire, nations were divided into groups and mapped according to linguistic criteria.

When developing the map, materials from the tenth revision of 1858 were used. The map delineates areas of 46 «dialects» that are identified with their speakers, including the Belarusians, Russians (Great Russians) and Ukrainians (Little Russians). The Belarusian «dialect» on the ethnographic map of A. Rittich is widespread in the territories designated by Sebezh, Nevel, Smolensk, Dorogobuzh, Roslavl, Homieĺ, Mazyr, Bialystok, Hrodna, Lida, Ašmiany, Viĺna, and Drysa. Brest, Pružany, Pinsk, and the right bank of the Prypiać are referred to as the territories of the predominant Ukrainian «dialect».

Rittich’s ethnographic map, and in some cases the maps mentioned above, formed the basis for subsequent reprints in atlases, books or separate sheets. A new map dedicated to this issue has not been created in the Russian Empire any more.

Ethnographic research in the Russian Empire was largely determined by the national policy aimed at creating a single Russian nation, hence the corresponding terminology: «dialects», «tribes», etc. However, it became the starting point for subsequent ethnographic publications of the peoples that were part of the Russian empire and began to demonstrate their political will. The borders declared in those publications were more likely to take into account the current political situation than strictly leaned on an ethnographic picture.²

In 1902, Jaŭchim Karski (1860–1931), an academician, an authoritative Slavic philologist, published a brochure «On the question of the ethnographic map of the Belarusian tribe» [8]. According to which in the following year was printed «Ethnographic map of the Belarusian tribe» [9].

The characteristic features of the Belarusian language (hard or soft «r», strong or moderate akanje, polonisms, clatter, etc.) were taken as a basis for determining the boundaries of residence of the Belarusians. In comparison with the Ethnographic map of A. Rittich in 1875, the border of the Belarusian «tribe» of J. Karski moved in the eastern direction, the rest of the border segment coincides with minor deviations.

In 1917, a second edition of this map was published under the same name, but with corrections: the legend was shortened, the boundaries of linguistic areas disappeared, but the outer boundaries were clearly delineated [10]. The map, drawn up on the language basis, acquired political significance.

World War I brought about tremendous changes in the world. As a result of the imperialist governments’ fall, the colonized peoples were able to assert their statehood. On March 9, 1918, the Belarusian People's Republic (BPR) was proclaimed in Minsk, and on March 25, its independence was declared.

The «Map of the Belarusian People's Republic / Carte de la République Democratique Blanche-Ruthénienne» [11] was prepared for the Paris Peace Conference of 1919. The BPR map was compiled on the basis of the Ethnographic map of J. Karski, but under the influence of Professor Mitrafan Doŭnar-Zapoĺski (1867–1934) the territories of the predominant residence of the Belarusians were expanded, Brest and Pinsk were attributed to Belarusian territories [12].

The BPR map was distributed as a separate publication, and also became a part of Mitrafan Doŭnar-Zapoĺski's brochure «Fundamentals of Belarus Statehood», published in Hrodna in several languages [13]. The delegation of the BPR government published a special petition for the participants of the Paris Peace Conference, to which the map was also attached [14]. In 1919, a book by the German officer Walter Jager «Weissruthenien. Land, Bewohner, Geschichte, Volkswirtschaft, Kultur, Dichtung ...» with the BPR map was published [15].

The map proclaimed the state borders of the BPR and was supposed to act as an additional foreign policy argument. Published and distributed in large numbers, it played an important role in the formation of the political consciousness of the Belarusians. Clarification of the border with neighboring states continued to be the subject of diplomatic discussions.

In the fall of 1919 the «Map of Belarus» [16] was published for «internal» use. The map is not signed, but its almost complete correspondence with the «Geography of Belarus» published in Viĺnia in the spring of 1919 by the Belarusian scientist Arkadź Smolič (1891–1938) allows us to assign confidently the authorship of the map to him. The map fixed the borders of Belarus exactly like on the BPR map, and also presented a new concept of the administrative division of Belarus [17].

The following cartographic publications have already fixed the borders of the Belorussian Soviet Socialist Republic. Publications of the interwar period often showed the territory of the western part of Belarus, transferred to the Polish Republic under the Treaty of Riga (1921) [18].

In September 1939, after the partition of Poland between Germany and the USSR, ethnic Belarusian lands returned to the BSSR. In general, these events, which marked the beginning of World War II, are regarded negatively in historiography, but the reunification of the Belarusian nation was a by-product of the political-military game of the two totalitarian regimes.

Representatives of the Belarusian people did not participate in the signing of agreements between Soviet Russia and Poland in 1921, between Germany and the USSR in 1939, and also could not influence the territorial agreements between the USSR and Poland after World War II.

The modern state border of Belarus was finally formed in 1945. The eastern border with Russia was established by 1926 (at that time between the BSSR and the RSFSR) and was close to the administrative borders of the Mahilioŭ province (somewhat curtailed in the areas of Mscislaŭ and Liozna), established in the Russian Empire at the beginning of the 19th century.

In the northeast, a part of Viciebsk province was included in the BSSR with the towns Drysa, Asveja, Rasony, Eziaryšča, Suraž, as well as Polack and Viciebsk, without taking into account ethnographic reconstructions or a visible link to the borders of the uyezds of Vitebsk province.

The southern border quite accurately coincides with the administrative borders of Minsk and Hrodna provinces, established at the beginning of the 19th century³. The western and northwestern borders were finally formed in 1944–1945 and were the result of political decisions without any connection with ethnographic publications.

Ethnographic maps of the second half of the 19th century constructed ethnographic boundaries and were a manifestation of not only scientific, but also, to a large extent, economic and political necessity. Since the beginning of the 20th century during the period of struggle for independence, these maps took on an ethnic (national) character and were used to declare the territories of residence, and were also an important means of political struggle. Since the 1920s, with the gradual establishment of boundaries, the role of maps as a means of political argumentation or propaganda has declined.

The concept of the ethnic border itself in the 19th century, as a rule, was blurred, strictly speaking, we could only talk about a certain border corridor, the location and width of which could differ significantly depending on the selected indicators, so the final decision was up to the political will, supported by real power.

 ¹ On the European ethnographic maps of that time, the Belarusians, the Ukrainians, and the Russians, although they belonged to the same Slavic group, were, as a rule, divided. For example, in 1842 the book «Slowanský národopis» of P. J. Shafarik (1795–1861) was published. There were «Slovanský zeměvid» map with the borders of BELORUSI, MALORUSI, LITVANE, LOTYSI and other nations residence in the book. In the H. Berghaus’s «Physikalischer Atlas oder Sammlung von Karten» (Gotha, Т.1. 1845, Т.2. 1848), which is considered the first comprehensive geographical atlas of the world, the Belarusians (weiss russen), Ukrainians (klien russen), Russians (gross russen) are listed separately on the maps «Ethnographische Karte von Europa» (1847), «Ubersicht von Europa; mit ethnograph…» (1847). On these maps, in comparison with the maps of P. J. Köppen, the area of predominant residence of Lithuanians is expanded eastward: along the line Suwalki – Hrodna – Lida – Smarhoń – Švenčionis (Sventyany) – Vidzy.

² For example publications of the Lithuanian politician Josas Gabris “Carte de la Lituanie” (Lausanne, 1917), «Carte ethnographique de l'Europ» (Lausanne, 1918); Ukrainian publications: «Оглядова карта українських земель» (Відень, 1915), «Загальна карта України» (New York, 1920?); Belarusian publications: «Map of the Belarusian People's Republic / Carte de la République Democratique Blanche-Ruthénienne» (1919?) and others.

³ The origins of the formation of the border between Belarus and Ukraine can be traced back to the time of the Union of Lublin, when the Ukrainian lands were included in the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland. The southern border of the Brest Voivodeship of the 17th-18th centuries was closely followed by the maps of the Hrodna and Minsk provinces. If P. J. Shafarik apparently relied on administrative division («Slowanský národopis» map, 1842), then R. von Erckert and A. F. Rittich, with some differences, attributed western Palessie to Ukrainian territories, what was later disputed by M. V. Doŭnar-Zapoĺski.

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