‘Hasty observations’? - Geographical field research and intercultural encounters in the Austro-Hungarian occupied Western Balkans, 1916 – 1918

Abstract

This article examines geographical field research in Albania and Montenegro under Austro-Hungarian occupation, which lasted from 1916 to 1918. It focusses on one of the most important Germanspeaking geographers of the early 20 th century, Eugen Oberhummer , a pupil of Friedrich Ratzel, the founder of German geopolitics. In 1917 and 1918, Oberhummer went on two expeditions to Montenegro and Albania during the First World War. He already had travelled in four continents and vaguely knew the Western Balkans from an expedition in 1907. It will be argued that the actual situation in Albania and Montenegro did not alter, but did rather reinforce Oberhummer's attitudes and opinions on the 'other' he encountered. Thus, the two war expeditions -Oberhummer primarily met highranking Austro-Hungarian officials and only few localsconfirmed his expectations basing on his 'Ratzelian' theoretical conceptions. It will further be argued thatin contrast to the much younger and less experienced 'scholars-at-arms' of the expedition of 1916war and violence were of secondary relevance for the well-travelled and renowned professor of geography in his late 50s. Neither in Oberhummer's articles nor in his diaries the war and the occupation of Albania and Montenegro made up an important part. In Oberhummer's 'Ratzelian' view, humans could not change or overcome the basic features of geography, as humans were clearly subordinated to the elemental forces of geography. People, over generations, adapted to geography, not the other way round. The on-going First World War was an opportunity for Oberhummer to travel to Albania and Montenegro, but the guerrilla warfare in large parts of Montenegro, the violence against the civilian population, and the fighting at the Albanian front were of secondary relevance and interest for him. Nevertheless, what Oberhummer observed offers great insights into the Austro-Hungarian occupation of Montenegro and Albania from the perspective of a renowned andgiven the general circumstancespleasantly relaxed Ratzelian geographer at the height of his academic career.