Geographica 44/2 (2013)

Acta Universitatis Palackianae Olomucensis Facultas Rerum Naturalium December 2013 Geographica 44 | 2
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Reconstruction of the discussion on the final delimitation of regions in the year 1949: a contribution to the development of the regional administrative division of the Czech lands

Jan Daniel

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Received: October 26, 2013
Accepted: December 12, 2013

Abstract
The paper deals with the re-enactment of the discussion on the final version of the Czechoslovak regional reform of 1949. On the basis of the archival research, we can conclude that the original idea of the delimitation of the regions is fundamentally different from the final version, in terms of both the number of regions and the selection of the regional centres, as well as regarding the definition of the regional boundaries. This article briefly introduces seven basic working definitions of the delimitation of the regions that were evaluated prior to the approval of the final version. The first three variants (the so-called Plan A, the larger regions plan, and Plan B) were based on different theoretical and methodological foundations and represent different concepts of the delimitation of the regions. The subsequent variants were created by successive corrections to Plan B. The approval process itself can be simply divided into two main phases. During the first phase the discussions on Plans A to D took place and resulted in a rough framework for the delimitation of the regions that was based on the final determination of the regional capitals and an approximate delimitation of the regional borders. In the second phase, the partial territories that were subject to dispute, mainly situated on the borders of regions, were discussed.

Key words
regional administrative division, 1949 regional reform, archival research, Czech lands