Superpower in the Pacific

Announcing the Allied assault in the Pacific in the Spring of ’44.

This bold map serves as a declaration of America’s arrival – both in the Pacific Theater on their advance towards Japan and on the global stage as a world superpower. It was designed by R.M. Chapin, Jr. as a supplement to Time Magazine late spring of 1944, just as the Allied ‘island hopping’ campaign was picking up steam and breaching the outer ring of Japan’s Pacific empire.

The changing tides are represented by shading across the map, with only isolated outposts across the Marianas and Caroline Islands preventing further incursion into the ‘Jap Inner Defense’ (as labeled on the sheet). Major military strongholds are identified with the Rising Sun, but otherwise, details are relatively limited. The efforts of Claire Lee Chennault, leader of the ‘Flying Tigers’ are noted across the Chinese mainland, while MacArthur’s thrust into New Guinea can be seen in the lower right.