The coast cities of northern Germany still maintain a large commerce in the Baltic, but no longer hold the pre-eminence of the old Hanse Towns.

The glory of the Venetian Adriatic is gone; but that the sea has still a local significance is proven by the vast sums spent by Austria and Hungary on their hand-made harbors of Trieste and Fiume.[11] The analytical geographer, therefore, while studying a given combination of geographic forces, must be prepared for a momentous readjustment and a new interplay after any marked turning point in the economic, cultural, or world relations of a people.
[Sidenote: Interplay of geographic factors.] Skepticism as to the effect of geographic conditions upon human development is apparently justifiable, owing to the multiplicity of the underlying causes and the difficulty of distinguishing between stronger and weaker factors on the one hand, as between permanent and temporary effects on the other.

We see the result, but find it difficult to state the equation producing this result.

But the important thing is to avoid seizing upon one or two conspicuous geographic elements in the problem and ignoring the rest.

The physical environment of a people consists of all the natural conditions to which they have been subjected, not merely a part.