Historical European Regions: What are they now?

bob bobato

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There are a ton of old European regions which, if you look at a modern map of Europe, do not seem to exist any more. Many of them had distinct cultures and clear borders, and until relatively recently, where still part of the culture (Christopher Isherwood for example references Prussian strictness in the 1930s).
Whatever happened to them? Whatever happened to such places as Bohemia, Silesia, Pomerania, Prussia, Navarre, Grenada, Burgundy, Aquitania, or Dalmatia (among others)? Do these cultures still exist; will you find today people who identify as Bohemians, or Prussians? Or have they disappeared due to the border shifts and 'population transfers' of the last centuries?
 
Nope!
 
I know Bohemia eventually came to be Czechoslovakia, and now today just Czech Republic and Slovakia. I believe Navarre was a kingdom of Basque speaking people, the kingdom was either annexed or went into a personal union with Spain I forget how Spain got it, but Basque is still spoken in the region. Prussia lead the German unification and most of it is in modern Germany, but parts are now in Poland. Most places you mentioned have been annexed or evolved into modern nations.
 
And here I thought this had something to do with parts of the Netherlands sinking into the sea.
 
Burgundy is called Bourgogne and is a administrative region in France. Dalmatia is still there where it was for thousands of years, this time ruled by Croatians and split up in three or four administrative units. Pomerania is split up between Poland (Zachodniepomorskie, Pomerelia) and Germany (Mecklenburg - Vorpommern).

Wikipedia has them all.
 
OK, so the geographic areas of Pomerania and Dalmatia still exist. But do the inhabitants consider themselves 'Pomeranians' or 'Dalmatians' and identify with other people in parts of Pomerania and Dalmatia which are now in different countries? Is there still a distinct culture is what I'm asking (and wiki doesn't answer that).
 
Ah, that's a tricky one. Trying to be as brief as possible I'd say "Yes and No."
Obviously national borders are not some extreme uncrossable barrier, and so while Pommerania may be in another country, they may also be the next village, and so yes, the chances are you still identify by a regional identity in most of these places, at the same time, these places are not primary identities. Nation, Relgion, perhaps even class and profession might have a stronger tie, but most of these places still have a regional identity and probably accent.
 
This topic confounds me because (a) asking us to say something general about wildly different things is itchy, and (b) you can Wikipedia most of these topics.
 
You can Wikipedia anything (is that a verb now?) but that doesn't mean you'll find out anything that's actually true.

I think a lot of these old cultural borders still exist but are treated as little more than a joke or an excuse to drink more during certain sporting events. For example, I am a "man of Kent" (born east of the Medway), which supposedly puts me at odds with any "Kentish man" (born west of the Medway), but while I might be aware of this, it means nothing more than a joke I might make upon meeting one of my opposite numbers. I'm sure that some of them are still taken more seriously though.
 
Yes. If you want reliable knowledge, you should encyclopedia britannica them instead.

I know Bohemia eventually came to be Czechoslovakia, and now today just Czech Republic and Slovakia.

Isn't Bohemia just part of Czech (and not Slovakia at all)? The other part being Moravia.
 
Isn't Bohemia just part of Czech (and not Slovakia at all)? The other part being Moravia.
Yeah.
Czech Republic consists Bohemia, Moravia and (Czech) Silesia.
Kingdom of Bohemia developed from Duchy of Bohemia(region Bohemia alone), later consisted Bohemia, Moravia, Silesia and Upper Lusatia. After it Bohemian Crown became part of Habsburg empire. Majority of Silesia and Lusatia(only small parts remained) was lost in Austrian-Prussian wars to Prussians(18th century) and after 1945 divided between Germany and Poland.
Slovakia was never part of Bohemian Crown, Slovakia united with Czech lands in Czechoslovakia. Before it was part of Hungary, and was controlled by Czech king only when he was appointed as Hungarian King (Wenceslaus III).

Edit: About Bohemian identity, it doesnt work much nowdays, only in face of annoying Moravians.
 
Burgundy is called Bourgogne and is a administrative region in France.
That's only one of the many, many Burgundies in history...:crazyeye:
 
Regions can be whatever one wishes them to be and are simply used to measure or define certain characteristics. For example, race, national origin, religion, geographic areas, economic relationships, and even the spread of various diseases.
 
While many of these states have been absorbed into various states, much of their culture and languages have been slowly eradicated. Examples are Dalmatia (with local dialects almost none existant now a days) and Milanese (an offshoot of Lombard that is disapearing in favor of Italian).
 
I'd be surprised if Dalmatia didn't have some sort of distinctive cultural identity. East Prussia was divided between Poland and Russia after the Second World War and the Germans were driven out, so probably not much cultural identity there. Part of historic Navarre is in France, but most of it is the Basque region of Spain.
 
I'd say that the Prussians still exist in some ways. Nowadays, people living in Brandenburg and Berlin are refered to as Prussians. It's a bit similar like calling a New Yorker a Yankee, I suppose. Those Prussians are still thought to be strict and sort of harsh. Of course, often this is used as a joke, but I wouldn't call that plain invention, though. Of course, 'Prussians' won't found their own country independent from Germany, but they certainly have their own traditions and style. As well as Bavarians and Saxons and 'fishheads' (northern Germans ;)) and other Germans have. Although there is no officially recognized german people called Prussians, I suppose.

On the other side, what you might consider Prussia, might lead you to false conclusions. Sure, Prussia was quite large for a time, but that does not mean that all the land it controlled, were traditionally prussian. For example, those western german regions were more occupied then really prussian. In the east, there were Silesians. That's a group of Germans that's almost extinct nowadays. Furthermore most Germans left what is nowadays Poland after WW2 and the region has been re-inhabited by Poles. That's why 'Prussia' is nowadays considered to be Berlin and Brandenburg. So that's what happened to Prussians, I'd say.
 
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