Europa: Ein Französisches Arsenal. Die Verbindungen der französischen Rüstungsfabriken über Europa als Zeichen politischer Abhangigkeiten. [Europe: A French arsenal. The compounds of the French armament factories in Europe as a sign of political dependency.]
Europa: Ein Französisches Arsenal. Die Verbindungen der französischen Rüstungsfabriken über Europa als Zeichen politischer Abhangigkeiten. [Europe: A French arsenal. The compounds of the French armament factories in Europe as a sign of political dependency.]
While the title refers to the "French Arsenal," the map itself shows the location of some 90 alleged arms manufacturers (identified in the margins) not only in France, but in other countries surrounding Germany: Italy, Belgium, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia and Rumania. The obvious purpose was to justify German rearmament by emphasizing the implicit threat to the country. For other maps making similar points, see Subjects > Between the Wars.
Rupert von Schumacher was a leading practitioner of German "suggestive cartography," and undertook in the 1930s "to develop a theory of design and a grammar of geopolitical symbology." Herb 2015, 541. He published "a framework for designing geopolitical maps for two different audiences," those scientifically trained and the general public, along with "a catalog of 130 symbols classified under eleven subject headings." Ibid. See also Herb 1997, 154-57.
von Schumacher, Rupert & Hans Hummel. N.d. [1937]. Vom Kriege zwischen den Kriegen: Die Politik des Völkerkampfes [Of War between the Wars: The International Policy Struggle]. Stuttgart: Union Deutsche Verlagsgesellschaft. P. 301.
Cite As:
P.J. Mode collection of persuasive cartography, #8548. Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library.