Sir Halford John Mackinder PCHer Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council is a body of advisors to the British Sovereign. Its members are largely senior politicians, who were or are members of either the House of Commons or House of Lords of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.The Privy Council, the...
(15 February 1861 – 6 March 1947) was an
EnglishEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
geographerA geographer is a scientist whose area of study is geography, the study of Earth's physical environment and human habitat.Though geographers are historically known as people who make maps, map making is actually the field of study of cartography, a subset of geography...
and is considered one of the founding fathers of both
GeopoliticsGeopolitics is the art and practice of using political power over a given territory. Traditionally, the term has applied primarily to the impact of geography on politics, but its usage has evolved over the past century to encompass a wider connotation....
and
GeostrategyGeostrategy, a subfield of geopolitics, is a type of foreign policy guided principally by geographical factors as they inform, constrain, or affect political and military planning...
.
Early life and education
He was born in
Gainsborough, LincolnshireGainsborough is a town within the West Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England.-History:One of the best preserved manor houses in Britain, Gainsborough Old Hall is a large 15th century timber-framed medieval strong . Sir Thomas Burgh built it between 1460 and 1480. It boasts a magnificent Great...
, the son of a doctor, and educated at Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School, Gainsborough (now
Queen Elizabeth's High SchoolQueen Elizabeth's High School is an 11-18 co-educational grammar school, based in Gainsborough in northern Lincolnshire. It is well known within the local area as an institution of extremely high academic excellence....
),
Epsom CollegeEpsom College is a co-educational Public School in Epsom, Surrey, England for pupils aged 13 to 18. Founded in 1853 to provide support for poor members of the medical profession such as pensioners and orphans , Epsom's long-standing association with medicine was estimated in 1980 as having helped...
and
Christ Church, OxfordThis article is about the Oxford college. For other uses, see Christ Church or Christchurch .Christ Church , is one of the largest constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England...
. At Oxford he started studying natural sciences, specialising in
zoologyZoology, also spelled zoölogy, is the branch of biology that focuses on the structure, function, behavior, and evolution of animals. The zoologist's pronunciation of "zoology" is , though a common spelling pronunciation is .-Systems of classification:...
under
Henry Nottidge MoseleyHenry Nottidge Moseley was a British naturalist. He went on the expedition of HMS Challenger 1872-1876. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1879....
, who had been the naturalist on
Challenger expeditionThe Challenger expedition of 1872-77 was a scientific expedition that made many discoveries to lay the foundation of oceanography, named after the mother vessel, HMS Challenger....
. When he turned to the study of history, he remarked that he was returning "to an old interest and took up modern history with the idea of seeing how the theory of evolution would appear in human development". He was a strong proponent of treating both
physical geographyPhysical geography is one of the three major subfields of geography, as opposed to the cultural or built environment, the domain of human geography...
and
human geography-Scope:Human geography broadly differs from physical geography in that it has a greater focus on studying intangible or abstract patterns surrounding human activity and is more receptive to qualitative research methodologies. It encompasses human, political, cultural, social and economic aspects of...
as a single discipline. Mackinder served as President of the Oxford Union in 1883.
Career
In 1887, he published "On the Scope and Methods of Geography", a manifesto for the
New Geography. A few months later, he was appointed as Reader in Geography at the
University of OxfordThe University of Oxford , located in the UK city of Oxford, is the oldest surviving university in the English-speaking world and is regarded as one of the world's leading academic institutions. Although the exact date of foundation remains unclear, there is evidence of teaching there as far back...
, where he introduced the teaching of the subject. As Mackinder himself put it, "a platform has been given to a geographer." This was arguably at the time the most prestigious academic position for a British geographer.
In 1892, he was the first Principal of University Extension College, Reading, which later became the
University of ReadingThe University of Reading is a red-brick university in the English town of Reading, Berkshire. Established in 1892, receiving its Royal Charter in 1926, the University has a long tradition of research, education and training at a local, national and international level. It was awarded the Queen's...
. The following year, he was one of the founders of the
Geographical AssociationThe Geographical Association is a Sheffield, United Kingdom-based organisation that aims to further the teaching of geography and to communicate the value of learning geography for all.-Membership:...
, which promoted (and promotes) the teaching of
geographyGeography is the study of the Earth and its lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena. A literal translation would be "to describe or write about the Earth". The first person to use the word "geography" was Eratosthenes...
in schools. He later became chairman of the GA from 1913 to 1946 and served as its President from 1916.
In 1895, he was one of the founders of the
London School of EconomicsThe London School of Economics and Political Science, commonly referred to as the London School of Economics or LSE, is a specialist constituent college of the University of London in London, England....
. At Oxford, Mackinder was the driving force behind the creation of a School of Geography in 1899. In the same year, he led an expedition which was the first to climb
Mount KenyaMount Kenya is the highest mountain in Kenya and the second highest in Africa, after Kilimanjaro. The highest peaks of the mountain are Batian , Nelion and Point Lenana...
.
In 1902 he published
Britain and The British Seas, which included the first comprehensive
geomorphologyGeomorphology is the scientific study of landforms and the processes that shape them...
of the
British IslesThe British Isles are a group of islands off the northwest coast of continental Europe that include Great Britain, Ireland and numerous smaller islands. There are two sovereign states located on the islands: the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and Ireland...
and which became a classic in regional geography.
He was a member of the
Coefficients dining club The Coefficients was a dining club founded in 1902 at a dinner given by the Fabian campaigners Sidney and Beatrice Webb. It was a forum for the meeting of British socialist reformers and imperialists of the Edwardian era...
, set up in 1902 by the
FabianThe Fabian Society is a British intellectual socialist movement, whose purpose is to advance the principles of social democracy via gradualist and reformist, rather than revolutionary means. It is best known for its initial ground-breaking work beginning late in the 19th century and continuing up...
campaigners Sidney and
Beatrice WebbMartha Beatrice Webb was an English sociologist, economist, socialist and reformer, usually referred to in association with her husband, Sidney Webb...
, which brought together social reformers and advocates of national efficiency.
In 1904 Mackinder gave a paper on "
The Geographical Pivot of HistoryThe Geographical Pivot of History was an article submitted by Halford John Mackinder in 1904 to the Royal Geographical Society that advanced his Heartland Theory...
" at the
Royal Geographical SocietyThe Royal Geographical Society is a British learned society founded in 1830 with the name Geographical Society of London for the advancement of geographical sciences, under the patronage of King William IV...
, in which he formulated the Heartland Theory . This is often considered as a, if not the, founding moment of
GeopoliticsGeopolitics is the art and practice of using political power over a given territory. Traditionally, the term has applied primarily to the impact of geography on politics, but its usage has evolved over the past century to encompass a wider connotation....
as a field of study, although Mackinder did not use the term. Whilst the Heartland Theory initially received little attention outside geography, this theory would later exerce some influence on the
foreign policiesA country's foreign policy, also called the international relations policy, is a set of goals outlining how the country will interact with other countries economically, politically, socially and militarily, and to a lesser extent, how the country will interact with non-state actors...
of world powers.
Possibly disappointed at not getting a full Chair, Mackinder left Oxford and became director of the
London School of EconomicsThe London School of Economics and Political Science, commonly referred to as the London School of Economics or LSE, is a specialist constituent college of the University of London in London, England....
between 1903 and 1908. After 1908, he concentrated on advocating the cause of imperial unity and lectured only part-time. He was elected to Parliament in January 1910 as Unionist Party member for the
Glasgow CamlachieGlasgow Camlachie was a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1885 until 1955.-Boundaries:...
constituency and was defeated in 1922. He was
knightedThe rank of Knight Bachelor is a part of the British honours system. It is the rank of a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not as a member of one of the organised Orders of Chivalry...
in the 1920 New Year Honours for his services as an MP.
His next major work,
Democratic ideals and reality: a study in the politics of reconstruction, appeared in 1919 . It presented his theory of the Heartland and made a case for fully taking into account geopolitical factors at the Paris Peace conference and contrasted (geographical) reality with
Woodrow WilsonThomas Woodrow Wilson was the 28th President of the United States. A leading intellectual of the Progressive Era, he served as President of Princeton University from 1902 to 1910, and then as the Governor of New Jersey from 1911 to 1913...
's idealism. The book's most famous quote was:
"Who rules East Europe commands the Heartland; Who rules the Heartland commands the World Island; Who rules the World Island commands the World." This message was composed to convince the world statesmen at the Paris Peace conference of the crucial importance of Eastern Europe as the strategic route to the Heartland was interpreted as requiring a strip of buffer state to separate Germany and Russia. These were created by the peace negotiators but proved to be ineffective bulwarks in 1939. the principal concern of his work was to warn of the possibility of another major war (a warning also given by
economistAn economist is an expert in the social science of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy...
John Maynard KeynesJohn Maynard Keynes, 1st Baron Keynes, CB was a British economist whose ideas have been a central influence on modern macroeconomics, both in theory and practice...
).
Mackinder was anti-
BolshevikThe Bolsheviks, originally also Bolshevists were a faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party which split apart from the Menshevik faction at the Second Party Congress in 1903...
, and as British High Commissioner in Southern Russia in late 1919 and early 1920, he stressed the need for Britain to continue her support to the
White RussianThe White movement , whose military arm was the White Army aka the White Guard , and as the Whites comprised some of the politico-military Russian forces who unsuccessfully fought the Bolsheviks after the October Revolution and...
forces), which he attempted to unite.
Significance of Mackinder
Mackinder's work paved the way for the establishment of geography as a distinct discipline in the United Kingdom. His role in fostering the teaching of geography is probably greater than that of any other single British geographer.
Whilst Oxford did not appoint a professor of Geography until 1934, both the
University of LiverpoolThe University of Liverpool is a university in the city of Liverpool, England. It is a member of the Russell Group and the N8 Group for research collaboration, and founded in 1881 it is also one of the six original "red brick" civic universities...
and
University of Wales, AberystwythAberystwyth University is a university located in Aberystwyth, Wales. Aberystwyth was a founding Member Institution of the former federal University of Wales. As of late 2006, the University has over 12,000 students spread across seventeen academic departments.The University was founded in 1872 as...
established professorial chairs in Geography in 1917. Mackinder himself became a full professor in Geography in the University of London (
London School of EconomicsThe London School of Economics and Political Science, commonly referred to as the London School of Economics or LSE, is a specialist constituent college of the University of London in London, England....
) in 1923.
Mackinder is often credited with introducing two new terms into the English language : "manpower", "
heartland- Titled expressive works :Moving-image works* Heartland , a 1994 Australian television series starring Cate Blanchett* Heartland with John Kasich a.k.a...
".
Influence on Nazi strategy
The Heartland Theory was enthusiastically taken up by the German school of
GeopolitikGeopolitik is the branch of uniquely German geostrategy. It developed as a distinct strain of thought after Otto von Bismarck's unification of the German states but began its development in earnest only under Emperor Wilhelm II...
, in particular by its main proponent
Karl HaushoferKarl Ernst Haushofer was a German General, geographer and geopolitician. Through his student Rudolf Hess, Haushofer's ideas may have influenced the development of Adolf Hitler's expansionist strategies, although Haushofer denied direct influence on the Nazi regime.- Biography :Haushofer belonged...
. Whilst
GeopolitikGeopolitik is the branch of uniquely German geostrategy. It developed as a distinct strain of thought after Otto von Bismarck's unification of the German states but began its development in earnest only under Emperor Wilhelm II...
was later embraced by the
GermanGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium,...
NaziNazism, known officially in German as National Socialism , is the totalitarian ideology and practices of the Nazi Party or National Socialist German Workers’ Party under Adolf Hitler, and the policies adopted by the dictatorial government of Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945.Nazism is often considered...
regime in the 1930s, Mackinder was always extremely critical of the
German exploitation of his ideasGeopolitik is the branch of uniquely German geostrategy. It developed as a distinct strain of thought after Otto von Bismarck's unification of the German states but began its development in earnest only under Emperor Wilhelm II...
. The German interpretation of the Heartland Theory is referred to explicitly (without mentioning the connection to Mackinder) in
The Nazis StrikeThe Nazis Strike was the second film of Frank Capra's Why We Fight propaganda film series. It introduces Germany as a nation whose aggressive ambitions began in 1863 with Otto von Bismarck and with the Nazis as their latest incarnation....
, the second of
Frank CapraFrank Russell Capra was an American film director and a creative force behind a number of films of the 1930s and 1940s, including It Happened One Night , Mr. Deeds Goes to Town , You Can't Take It With You , Mr...
's
Why We FightWhy We Fight is a series of seven propaganda films commissioned by the United States government during World War II to demonstrate to American soldiers the reason for U.S. involvement in the war. Later on they were also shown to the general U.S...
series of
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
propaganda filmA propaganda film is a film, either a documentary-style production or a fictional screenplay, that is produced to convince the viewer of a certain political point or influence the opinions or behavior of people, often by providing deliberately misleading, propagandistic content.-History:The...
s.
Influence on American strategy
The Heartland theory and more generally classical geopolitics and geostrategy were extremely influential in the making of US strategic policy during the period of the Cold War.
Mackinder on geography
"...the science whose main function is to trace the interaction of man in society and so much of his environment as varies locally."
"The science of distribution. The science, that is, which traces the arrangement of things in general on the Earth's surface."
Works
- Mackinder, H.J. On the Scope and Methods of Geography On the Scope and Methods of Geography, Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society and Monthly Record of Geography, New Monthly Series, Vol. 9, No. 3 (Mar., 1887), pp. 141-174.
- Mackinder, H.J. Sadler, M.E. University extension: has it a future?, London, Frowde, 1890.
- Mackinder, H.J. “A Journey to the Summit of Mount Kenya, British East Africa”, The Geographical Journal, Vol. 15, No. 5 (May, 1900), pp. 453-476.
- Mackinder, H.J. Britain and the British Seas. New York: D. Appleton and company, 1902.
- Mackinder, H.J. "The geographical pivot of history". The Geographical Journal, 1904, 23, pp. 421–37. Available online as Mackinder, H.J. "The Geographical Pivot of History", in Democratic Ideals and Reality, Washington, DC: National Defence University Press, 1996, pp. 175-194.
- Mackinder, H.J. “Man-Power as a Measure of National and Imperial Strength”, National and English Review, XIV, 1905.
- Mackinder, HJ. "Geography and History", The Times. 9 February 1905.
- Mackinder, H.J. Our own islands, an elementary study in geography, London: G. Philips, 1907
- Mackinder, H.J. The Rhine: its valley & history. New York: Dodd, Mead. 1908.
- Mackinder, H.J. Eight Lectures on India. London : Waterlow, 1910.
- Mackinder, H.J. The modern British state : an introduction to the study of civics. London: G. Philip, 1914.
- Mackinder, H.J. Democratic Ideals and Reality. New York: Holt, 1919. Available online as Democratic Ideals and Reality, Washington, DC: National Defence University Press, 1996.
- Mackinder, HJ. 1943. "The round world and the winning of the peace", Foreign Affairs, 21 (1943) 595-605. Available online as Mackinder, H.J. "The round world and the winning of the peace", in Democratic Ideals and Reality, Washington, DC: National Defence University Press, 1996, pp. 195-205.
External links