| Halford Mackinder |
Article Index for Halford |
Shopping Halford |
Website Links For John |
Information AboutHalford Mackinder |
|
Sir Halford John Mackinder PC ( February 15 1861 - March 6 1947 ), was an English Geographer and Geopolitician . He was educated at Epsom College and Christ Church , Oxford , and specialised as a physical geographer, later branching into Economics and Political Theory , arguing that physical and human Geography should be treated as a single discipline. WORK AND ACHIEVEMENTS
Possibly disappointed at not getting a full Chair, Mackinder left Oxford and became director of the London School Of Economics between 1903 and 1908. After 1908, he concentrated on advocating the cause of imperial unity and only was involved in lecturing part-time. He was elected to Parliament in 1910 as Unionist Party member for the Glasgow Camlachie constituency and was defeated in 1922 . His next major work was in (as British High Commissioner he tried to unite the White Russian forces), the principal concern of his work was to warn of the possibility of another major war (a warning also given by Economist John Maynard Keynes ). ENTER THE NAZIS The Heartland Theory was enthusiastically taken up by the German Nazi regime in the 1930s , in particular by Karl Haushofer . Mackinder was always extremely critical of the German Exploitation Of His Ideas . The German interpretation of the Heartland Theory is referred to explicitly (wihout mentioning the connection to Mackinder) in The Nazis Strike , the second of Frank Capra 's '' Why We Fight '' series of American World War II Propaganda Film s. Although Mackinder was anti- Bolshevik (as British High Commissioner he tried to unite the White Russian forces), the principal concern of his work was to warn of the possibility of another major war (a warning also given by Economist John Maynard Keynes ). THE IMPORTANCE OF MACKINDER Mackinder's work paved the way for the establishment of geography as a distinct discipline in the United Kingdom. Oxford would not appoint a Chair until 1934, but Liverpool University and Aberystwyth University both appointed Chairs in 1917. Mackinder was given a personal chair at the London School Of Economics in 1923. His role in fostering the teaching of geography is probably greater than any single British geographer. MACKINDER ON GEOGRAPHY ''"The science whose main function is to trace the interaction of man in society and as much of his environment and as varies locally."'' ''"The science of distribution. The science, that is, which traces the arrangement of things in general on the Earth's surface."'' EXTERNAL LINKS |