LINGUISTIC AEEAS IIST EUROPE DOMINIAN. 433 



of Bohemian forms of style in writing. The numerical inferiority^ of 

 the Slovaks ^ found strength in this alliance. 



The Bohemian linguistic area presents homogeneity of composition 

 which is seldom encountered in other parts of Austria-Hungary. 

 Intermingling of Slav and Teuton elements has been slight in this 

 advanced strip of Slavdom. Overlap of German occurs in banded 

 stretches generally parallel to the political divide. It is particu- 

 larly noticeable in the eastern angle formed by the junction of the 

 Bohmerwald and Erzgebirge, where it almost attains the town of 

 Pilsen.2 Beyond in a northerly direction the volcanic area charac- 

 terized by thermal springs lies within the German line. Keichen- 

 berg, the strenuous center of Teutonism, maintains easterly and 

 westerly prongs of German in the Iser-Riesen uplifts and the Elbe 

 valley, respectively. The German of Silesia spreads into Moravia 

 along the Zwittau-Olmiitz-Neu Titschen line. 



A short stretch of the southern linguistic area coincides with 

 the political frontier in the neighborhood of Taus, but the balance 

 of the southern Bohmerwald overlooking Bohemian levels is German 

 in speech from its crests to the zone in which widening of the valleys 

 becomes established. The disappearance of this mountainous chain 

 in southern Moravia coincides with a southerly extension of Bo- 

 hemian in the valle}^ of the March. Contact with Slovak dialects 

 begins in the Beskid area. 



Celts, Teutons, and Slavs have occupied in turn the Bohemian 

 lozenge. The appellation of Czechs first appears in the 6th century. 

 National consolidation begins with the country's conversion to 

 Christianity three hundred years later and is maintained with vary- 

 ing fortunes until 1620. Bohemian political freedom suffered anni- 

 hilation in that year on the battlefield of the ^^^lite Mountain. 

 After this defeat the land and its inhabitants lapsed into a state of 

 historical lethargy. Half a century ago Bohemian was almost ex- 

 tinct. Fortunately, the high cultural attainment of some modern 

 Bohemians succeeded in rousing their countrymen to a sense of 

 national feeling. In particular, the fire of Bohemian patriotism 

 has been kept alive by literary activity. 



Successful attempts on the part of Hungarians to assimilate the 

 Slovaks have caused these mountaineers to turn to their Bohemian 

 kinsmen for assistance in the preservation of race and tradition. 

 Merging of national aspirations has been facilitated by close lin- 

 guisitc affinity. A Bohemian-Slovak body consisting of 8,410,998 

 individuals^ thus came into being within the Dual Monarchy in 



1 Official Austrian figures estimate the number of Slovaks at slightly over 2,000,000. 

 Slavic authorities generally give higher figures. 



2 J. Zemmich, Deutsche und Slawen in den osterreichischen Siidetenlandern, Deut. Erde, 

 2, 1903, pp. 1-4. 



* Census returns for 1910. New Inter. Encyc, Dodd, Mead & Co., New York, 1914. 



18618°— SM 1915 28 



