The British Commonwealth of Nations

A bold overview of the British Commonwealth of Nations in the 1940s.

This strikingly colored map provides an overview of the complex reality of the ‘pieces’ of the British Empire that ultimately took the form of the Commonwealth of Nations. It was issued for a primarily American audience, and the content attempts to justify the continuation of international British presence and/or influence in the postwar world. A description of the various forms of government emphasizes local autonomy, where applicable. Principal products listed along the bottom of the sheet reflect the economic interdependence of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth. As described by the Map and Atlas Museum of La Jolla:

“Rare separately issued pictorial map of the world, published at the end of World War II by the British Information Services, but issued from their office at 30 Rockefeller Center, New York City. The British Information Services (BIS) was the New York based information department of the British Consulate in New York, an overseas post of the Foreign & Commonwealth Office, London. There were also offices of the BIS in Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles and in Ottawa.”

At the top of the map, an inset provides a key to the types of government in each country, including “Mandated Territories”, which were administered under the Mandate of the League of Nations, which was disbanded in 1946. A series of vignettes along the bottom edge of the map illustrates the resources, agriculture, and manufacturing specialties of countries throughout the British Commonwealth.

Source: La Jolla Map Museum;