Land expansion

In political science and history, land expansion is the term used to describe the process of opening up and settling areas that were previously empty or poorly settled within areas or countries that have already been populated. These are Europe-wide processes since the Middle Ages . By means of clearing and reclamation , the agricultural areas were expanded and settlement space was created for the construction of new towns and villages . This led to a large-scale change in the natural and cultural landscape.

The terms internal colonization and internal colonization (or internal colonization ) are used synonymously . Sometimes the internal colonization (the development of the country) goes hand in hand with an external settlement movement, as was the case during the time of German settlement in the East in the High Middle Ages . This form of colonization is to be distinguished from modern colonialism .

Even in the early modern period there was a state expansion in Germany, for example under Frederick the Great in Prussia . On that day they also often spoke in this context of Peuplierung .

Bog colonization describes the reclamation and settlement of people in bog areas. The land reclamation is often the creation of settlements.

literature

• Robert Bartlett : The Birth of Europe from the Spirit of Violence. Conquest, colonization and cultural change from 950 to 1350. Translated from the English by Henning Thies. Kindler-Verlag, Munich 1996, ISBN 3-463-40249-1 .

Web links

• Literature on land development in the Opac of the Regesta Imperii