[Industry in the U.S.S.R.]

A hopeful image of a severely battered Russia, near its low point in the war.

Hitler’s invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941, nicknamed Operation Barbarossa, shocked leaders across the globe, including Joseph Stalin. Russian defenses were entirely unprepared and offered little resistance to the German onslaught. After the initial stupefaction, the industrial sector responded by dismantling and relocating many of the plants and factories hundreds of miles eastward, across the Ural Mountains. This Herculean task resulted in the preservation of significant capacity to make war, enabling strong Russian counterattacks the following winter.

This graphic poster presents the strategic overview in late 1941. German territorial gains in the west are shaded in black, while the primary industrial centers have retreated further into the heart of the nation. Important sources of raw materials, infrastructure, and manufacturing facilities are noted throughout the image. Other features of interest show the southern line of the Arctic ice, the latitude of New York City, the ‘cold pole’ of the world (at -94 F), and vital Allied supply lines.

The map was designed by Robert M. Chapin, Jr. and published as a supplement for the November 17 1941 issue of TIME Magazine. Chapin was a professionally trained architect who found jobs to be in low demand during the Great Depression. He took a job in the photo department at Newsweek in 1933, where he apparently picked up a knack for cartographic design. By 1937, he was hired by Time (a rival of Newsweek) as the head of the cartography department, a position he would hold until his retirement in 1970.

During his long tenure at Time, Chapin’s prolific output helped establish a pattern for 20th-century newsroom cartography. The use of bold colors, uncluttered design, and legible typography was immensely popular, and the maps were reprinted for distribution in classrooms and public spaces throughout the country. Despite their widespread appeal, the maps are uncommon on the market and often overlooked in institutional collections. This version is listed in only three examples in WorldCat as of May 2024 – Franklin & Marshall College, UC Santa Barbara, and the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities. OCLC# 526069254.