Page:EB1922 - Volume 31.djvu/266

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232
GERMANY


surrender of territory in the N., Germany's northern limit was restricted to 55 18' N. The restoration of Alsace and Lorraine to France, however, only shifted the western frontier eastwards to an inconsiderable extent.

By the territorial alterations effected under the Treaty of Versailles, the extent of the German coast line, which previously amounted to not quite one-third of the entire frontier-line of the country, was diminished by the territories assigned to Denmark and Poland and by the districts apportioned to the free town of Danzig and the Memel district. In addition, the important seaports of Danzig and Memel were lost to Germany. As regards the frontiers dividing one country from another, the most important differences are that, in the W., since the separation of Alsace and Lorraine, the Rhine has become, to a great extent, the frontier-line between France and Germany, and that in the E., owing to the formation of the state of Poland and the establish- ment of the independence of the so-called border states, there is no longer any direct connexion between Germany and Russia. In the W., Germany is bounded by Holland, Belgium, Luxem- burg and France; in the S., by Switzerland, Austria and Czecho- slovakia; the eastern frontier is formed by Poland.

The extent of the reconstituted German Reich within these borders amounts to 473,314-9 sq. km., as compared with the 540,857-5 sq. km. of the German Empire before the conclusion of the Treaty of Versailles. The number of large towns (of over 25,000 inhabitants) had been diminished by 10, namely Strass- burg, Metz, Miilhausen, Danzig, Posen, Bromberg, Thorn, Graudenz, Hohensalza and Gnesen. The number of inhabitants of the ceded territories, according to the census of Dec. 1910, was 5, 579,912.

Of the self-contained river basins formerly belonging to the Empire (Rhine, Ems, Weser, Elbe, Oder, Vistula, Pregel, Memel and Danube), the basins of the Vistula and Memel, as well as the Rhine, were affected by the Treaty of Versailles. The Vistula was completely cut off from the waterways of the German Reich, and practically nothing but the mouth of the Memel remained in its possession.

Population. The pop. of the German Empire, which was 41,- 058,792 in 1871, had increased in 1910 to 64,925,993. Table I shows the distribution of area and population at the census of Dec. I 1910, among the 26 states:

TABLE I. States of the Empire,

State

Area

(sq. km.)

Population

Prussia ...

348,779

40,165,219

Bavaria . .

75,870

6,887,291

Saxony ...

14.992

4,806,661

Wiirttemberg

19-507

2,437.574

Baden ....

15,070

2,142,833

Hesse ....

7,688

1,282,051

Mecklenburg-Schwerin

13,126

639,958

Saxe-Weimar

3,610

417,149

Mecklenburg-Strelitz

2,929

106,442

Oldenburg ...

6,429

483,042

Brunswick ...

3,672

494.339

Saxe-Meiningen .

2,468

278,762

Saxe-Altenburg .

1,323

216,128

Saxe-Coburg-Gotha .

1,976

257,177

Anhalt ....

2,299

331,128

Schwarzburg-Sondershausen

862

89,917

Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt

941

100,702

Waldeck ...

1,121

61,707

Reuss (elder line)

316

72,769

Reuss (younger line) .

826

152,752

Schaumburg-Lippe

340

46,652

Lippe ....

1,215

150,937

Lubeck ...

297

116,599

Bremen ...

256

299,526

Hamburg ...

414

1,014,664

Alsace-Lorraine .

14,521

1,874,014

German Empire ....

540,857

64,925,993

In the middle of 1914 the pop. was estimated at 67,790,000. The war, however, broke this tale of progress. The number of males killed in the war during 1914-8 is estimated at 1,800,000. A de- crease in the birth-rate became more and more marked from the first quarter of 1915 onwards; and the death-rate of the civil popula- tion, notably in 1918-9 in consequence of the influenza pandemic, attained an alarming figure. By the loss of territory under the Peace Treaty a pop. of nearly 6 millions was separated from Germany.

The result was that, in the census of Oct. 8 1919, the pop. of the reconstituted German Reich was shown to be 60,837,579. Of these, 28,982,137 were male and 31,855,442 female. The abnormal dis- crepancy in the relative numbers of the sexes (1,000 men to 1,099 women) was due to the war. In 1910 there had been only 1,026 women to 1,000 men.

Under the new constitution of the German Reich, the German Republic was composed of 18 territories (Lander). The distribution of the population over these territories at the end of 1920, according to the 1919 census, is shown in Table II.

TABLE II. Population by Territories, 1920.


Territory

Male

Female

Total

Per sq.km.

Prussia

18,017,360

19,647,653

37,665,013

127

Bavaria

3,394,270

3,746,063

7-140,333

93

Saxony

2,168,065

2,495,233

4,663,298

3"

Wiirtteniberg

1,195,144

1,323,629

2,518,773

129

Baden

1,051,405

1,157,098

2,208,503

146

Thuringia .

712,474

795,551

1,508,025

128

Hesse ....

616,521

674,467

1,290,988

1 68

Hamburg .

493,260

557,099

!, 050,359

2,534

Mecklenburg-Schwerin

317,400

339,930

657,330

50

Oldenburg .

250,623

267,142

517,765

80

Brunswick .

226,400

254,199

480,599

131

Anhalt

I57,7io

173,548

331,258

144

Bremen

148,466

162,800

311,266

1,214

Lippe ....

7i,"7

83,201

154,318

127

Liibeck

57,539

63,029

120,568

405

Mecklenburg-Strelitz

51,170

55,224

106,394

36

Wafdeck . .

31,065

35,367

66,432

59

Schaumburg-Lippe .

22,148

24,209

46,357

136

German Reich

28,982,137

v, 855,442

60,837,579

128

In the same area which showed, in 1920, a pop. of 60,837,579 there had been, in 1910, one of 59,346,081. The increase, therefore, amounted to 2-5 %; but as regards males there was a decrease of I %. During this period the growth of the population as a whole was great- est in the towns and the industrial districts. Apart from the three cities of Hamburg, Bremen and Lubeck, and their territories, Saxony was in 1920 the most densely populated territory. The next TABLE III. Principal Cities, 1920.

Town

Territory

Population

Berlin ...

Prussia

1,902,509

Hamburg

Hamburg

985,779

Cologne ...

Prussia

633,904

Munich ...

Bavaria

630,711

Leipzig ...

Saxony

604,380

Dresden ...

Saxony

529,326

Breslau ...

Prussia

528,260

Essen ...

Prussia

439,257

Frankfort-on-Main

Prussia

433,002

Diisseldorf

Prussia

407,338

Niirnberg ...

Bavaria

352,675

Charlottenburg

Prussia

322,766

Hanover ...

Prussia

310,431

Stuttgart ...

Wiirttemberg

309,197

Chemnitz

Saxony

303,775

Dortmund

Prussia

295,026

Magdeburg

Prussia

285,856

Berlin-Neukolln .

Prussia

262,127

Konigsberg

Prussia

260,895

Bremen ...

Bremen

257,923

Duisburg ...

Prussia

244,302

Stettin ...

Prussia

232,726

Mannheim . .

Baden

229,576

Kiel ....

Prussia

205,330

Halle ...

Prussia

182,326

Berlin-Schoneberg .

Prussia

175,092

Altona _.

Prussia

168,729

Gelsenkirchen .

Prussia

168,557

Cassel ...

Prussia

162,391

Elberfeld ...

Prussia

157-218

Barmen ...

Prussia

156,326

Augsburg

Bavaria

'54,555

Aix-la-Chapelle

Prussia

145,748

Berlin-Lichtenberg

Prussia

144,643

Bochum ...

Prussia

142,760

Brunswick

Brunswick

I 39,539

Berlin-Wilmersdorf

Prussia

139,406

Karlsruhe

Baden

135,952

Erfurt ...

Prussia

129,646

Miilheim-on-Ruhr .

Prussia

127,027

Crefeld ...

Prussia

124,325

Lubeck ...

Lubeck

113,071

Hamborn

Prussia

110,102

Mainz

Prussia

107,930

Plauen im Vogtland

Saxony

104,918

Miinster in Westphalia

Prussia

100,452