Carta della Nostra Guerra: Dal Mediterraneo All’Oceano Indiano [Map of Our War: From the Mediterranean to the Indian Ocean]

Italian perspectives on WWII – “Our War” in the Mediterranean.

This colorful political map of the Mediterranean Theater of World War II was published in Novara in 1941 by the Istituto Geografico De Agostini. The stamp of Mussolini’s Ministry of Popular Culture in Rome indicates the map was intended for public distribution and dissemination; emphasizing to the Italians that the war they were fighting (then, against only Britain) was in their own backyard, and winning was in their best interests. British possessions are highlighted with the Empire’s distinctive pink hue, with contested borders in cross-hatching. Insets focus on important strategic areas like the Strait of Gibraltar, Central Africa, and the Nile Delta.