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That the history of Corsica has been influenced by its strategic position at the heart of the western Mediterranean and its maritime routes, only from Sardinia, from the Isle of Elba, from the coast of Tuscany and from the French port of Nice, was first proposed by the 19th-century German theorist, Friedrich Ratzel. To him is often attributed the description "mountain in the sea". Regardless of whether he used that particular phrase〔The reference is never given. Guy de Maupassant is alternatively proposed; however, the phrase has become in effect proverbial.〕 the idea is expressed in his magnum opus, ''Anthropogeographie'',〔.〕 which calls Corsica and especially in his monograph on Corsica, ''La Corse'', also published in 1899.〔.〕 The ''Anthropogeographie'' presents an overall view of Ratzel's method of analysis but the 25-page monograph is perhaps the most relevant, applying the method in detail to Corsica. The "sea" part of the proverb refers to the easy accessibility by great powers to Corsica across the narrow waters from neighboring lands. Once they arrive the "mountain" provides a wall of defense against which invaders can make no easy headway. A central spine running north–south right along its length, which makes travel from (and communication between) one side to the other difficult, isolates Corsicans even from themselves. This spine and strategic position go some way to explaining the island's unique history. At , it is the fourth largest island in the Mediterranean, after Sicily, Sardinia and Cyprus. Ratzel portrays a society never able either to be conquered or to rule itself but in the perpetual struggle for freedom and sovereignty producing "numberless champions". On this last point Ratzel admits to an unbridled admiration for his friend and associate Ferdinand Gregorovius, an advocate of Corsican culture, and joins him in portraying Pasquale Paoli and Napoleon Bonaparte, as larger than life. In 1762, Jean-Jacques Rousseau wrote in his opus, ''The Social Contract'', that Corsica would one day astonish Europe.〔Rousseau, J–J., ''The Social Contract'', Chapter 10: "There is still in Europe one country capable of being given laws – Corsica. The valour and persistency with which that brave people has regained and defended its liberty well deserves that some wise man should teach it how to preserve what it has won. I have a feeling that some day that little island will astonish Europe."〕 This was written some seven years before Napoleon was born. ==Prehistory== (詳細はUpper Paleolithic to the first historical event, the founding of Aléria by the ancient Greeks in 566 BC. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「History of Corsica」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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