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ABSTRACT
The geographical environment and its influence on the development of society has remained a dominant theme in Soviet geography for several decades. The ideas of the 19th century Russian historians, such as Mechnikov, on the role of the geographical environment influenced early Marxist scholars, in particular Plekhanov, whose theories formed the basis for Baranskiy's early philosophy of geography. Attemps by Baranskiy and others to develop a balanced assessment of the relationship between man and the physical environment were negated in the 1930's by a dogmatic pronouncement by Stalin which denied any environmental influence on the development of society. However, since the end of World War II a group of geographers led by Baranskiy, Saushkin and Anuchin have attempted to reintroduce the theme of the geographical environment as an object of study for geography, while opposing the Stalinist underemphasis on the natural environment. The arguments of this group have been strengthened by a pronouncement by the Communist Party in 1963, rejecting Stalin's earlier ruling and recognizing that the geographical environment, although not a determining factor, does exercise a certain influence on the development of society. The environmentalist debate is thus far from dead in the Soviet Union and its outcome may result in significant changes in Soviet geographical methodology.
