Untitled [The Air Offensive Against Germany]
- Title:
- Untitled [The Air Offensive Against Germany]
- Alternate Title:
- The Air Offensive Against Germany
- Collection:
- Persuasive Maps: PJ Mode Collection
- Creator:
- Air Ministry of Britain
- Date:
- 1941
- Posted Date:
- 2017-04-14
- ID Number:
- 1295.01
- Collection Number:
- 8548
- File Name:
- PJM_1295_01.jpg
- Style/Period:
- 1940 - 1959
- Subject:
- World War II
Pictorial - Measurement:
- 32 x 27 (centimeters, height x width)
- Notes:
- During the height of the Blitz, the British Air Ministry published a number of maps and other materials reassuring the English public that the RAF was striking back at Germany. "During the Second World War, maps helped to bolster home support for the war effort." Murray 2008. The collection includes three examples: ID #1294 (article in the Illustrated London News); ID # 1295 (pamphlet with maps and detailed supporting data); and ID #1296 (large poster).
This detailed, 28-page publication, begins: "Some idea of the persistence and precision of the bombing attacks made on Germany by the Royal Air Force is given in the maps and the facts contained herein. The maps show the vast web of destruction woven day after day and night after night by the British bombers, who have struck at over 270 target areas of military and strategic importance in Germany; the detailed facts indicate how this web is clogging Hitler's industrial and war machine." The publication includes a list of "major" bombing attacks on Germany by the RAF from September 3, 1939 through February 1, 1941, with the date and place of the attack and the objectives. The map of bombing the Ruhr Valley industrial area, normally shown as an inset to the larger map, is here presented separately. See ID #1295.02.
Note that these maps enhance the apparent effectiveness of the English offensive by using relatively large bomb symbols, even where a city had been attacked only once, and by coloring these symbols bright red. Moreover, the map "does not tell us what the bombs represent" and "there is no comparative information on Germany's bombing of England and France. Without this comparison, we don't know whether the bombing pictured here represents more or less than what Germany was throwing against the Allies." Ibid.
For further information on the Collector’s Notes and a Feedback/Contact Link, see https://persuasivemaps.library.cornell.edu/content/about-collection-personal-statement and https://persuasivemaps.library.cornell.edu/content/feedback-and-contact - Source:
- Air Ministry. 1941. The Air Offensive Against Germany. s.l.: s.n.
- Cite As:
- P.J. Mode collection of persuasive cartography, #8548. Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library.
- Repository:
- Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library
- Archival Collection:
- P.J. Mode collection of persuasive cartography
- Format:
- Image
- Rights:
- For important information about copyright and use, see http://persuasivemaps.library.cornell.edu/copyright.