The World On Mercator’s Projection

A snapshot of the world just a “moment” before all was lost.

This map of the world on Mercator’s projection looks similar enough to other publications issued in the first third of the 20th century. Bright splashes of color corresponding to various European imperial powers, with the distinctive red of the British Empire covering much of the Earth. Interestingly, these claims extend into Antarctica, where several “dependencies” can be seen (the Antarctic Treaty barring such claims wouldn’t be signed until 1961). Despite the vast territorial expanse, this was not the peak of English imperial expanse. That achievement occurred in 1921, prior to the independence of Iran and Egypt.

The inclusion of the Japanese in the list of colonial powers reflects the aggressive growth of the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere in the years leading to World War II. However, conflict with Japan remained centralized in a relatively limited theater of engagement. It was the fight in Europe that would propel the impending conflict into a truly global war.

Nazi expansion had approached the breaking point. The same year the map was published, Germany annexed Austria and portions of Czechoslovakia. The appeasement policies promoted by leading politicians in the Western democracies convinced Hitler they would not go to war, and the following year he continued his expansion into Poland and a worldwide catastrophe. This map disguises these underlying social and political forces, and is a powerful image of an organized world on the brink of utter and absolute disaster.