[Western Europe from 1924 to 1939]

A Soviet perspective on the primary events of the Interwar Period.

This fascinating cartographic history of Europe was published in the mid-1960s as part of the education materials supplied to Soviet schools and universities. Major political changes between 1924 (Death of Lenin/Year of Recognition) and the outbreak of World War II (1939) are presented with a relatively rudimentary assortment of lines, cross-hatching, and coloration. Of particular note are the events of the Spanish Civil War, Germany’s aggression of the 1930s, and the proliferation of strikes and anti-fascist demonstrations (marked with red flags). The last is a deliberate celebration of the successes of the International Proletarian Movement.

The map was edited by E.P. Kuchborskaya and published in Moscow in 1964 by the Soviet Main Directorate of Geodesy and Cartography (GUGK). The GUGK was essentially the mapmaking arm of the U.S.S.R., following rigid ideological standards to establish the sanctioned curriculum for Soviet education.