Untitled [Anti-Soviet Political Board Game for Yugoslavian Children]
- Title:
- Untitled [Anti-Soviet Political Board Game for Yugoslavian Children]
- Alternate Title:
- Anti-Soviet Political Board Game for Yugoslavian Children
- Collection:
- Persuasive Maps: PJ Mode Collection
- Creator:
- Trpin, Janez
- Date:
- 1952
- Date 2:
- 2024-04-25
- ID Number:
- 2293.01
- File Name:
- PJM_2293_01.jpg
- Style/Period:
- 1940 - 1959
- Subject:
- Communism & Cold War
Pictorial
Politics & Government - Measurement:
- 47 x 66 (centimeters, height x width)
- Notes:
- This geographical game for children was published as part of the effort to educate Yugoslavian children in the newly-changed status of their nation as a non-aligned communist state independent of the Soviet Union.
In September 1947, responding to the increased success of the Marshall Plan, Stalin imposed a new “Cominform” structure on the communist states of Eastern Europe to tighten Soviet control. In February 1948, Stalin’s iron hand was manifest when the communists seized power in Czechoslovakia in a Soviet-backed coup, followed immediately by the unexplained death of Jan Masaryk, Foreign Minister and son of the nation’s founder. Gaddis 2005, 32-33.
Josip Broz Tito of Yugoslavia was less dependent than other communist leaders on Soviet support, having fought the Nazis largely without outside help, and he was forceful in defense of his nation’s sovereignty. By June 1948, he had broken openly with Stalin. Over the years, Marshal Tito skillfully maneuvered to secure American economic assistance, declare his nation “non-aligned,” and become informally affiliated with NATO. The break was a bitter one on both sides, and Stalin tried repeatedly to have Tito assassinated. Ibid. 33, 124. After Stalin’s death in 1953, Khrushchev reconciled with Tito, but Yugoslavia never re-joined the Eastern bloc.
The years between 1948 and 1955 are known in Yugoslavia as the “Informbiro” period (after the Slovenian name for Cominform). During this period, the country walked a fine line as it moved away from the tight relationship with the Soviet Union that had existed throughout the war and thereafter. On the one hand, Tito moved to strengthen defenses against neighbors allied with Stalin, and he aggressively suppressed domestic Stalinists and Soviet supporters, as well as other opponents. (In 1949, U.S. Secretary of State Dean Acheson remarked that Tito might be “a son-of-a-bitch,” but he had become “our son-of-a-bitch.” Ibid. 33.) At the same time, he avoided becoming too close with western powers and continued to reaffirm his commitment to communism.
This game was designed to teach children the independence of Yugoslavia, encourage their patriotism, and reinforce the state’s socialist values. It starts in the lower left corner, where children take the Pioneer Train (6) to attend a speech by Marshal Tito (22). Afterwards they cross Slovenia to admire a fair in Zagreb in Croatia and attend a meeting of Yugoslavian Socialists (33). At the zoo (40), a large bear has “irritated the lion,” perhaps a reference to Stalin and Tito. Along the way they admire a textile factory (35), coke ovens (76) and a power plant (87). They defend against border challenges by the hostile Rumanians (55) and Bulgarians (61), dance with the friendly Greeks (68) and rescue a colleague wounded by the Albanians (71). After celebrating the “creation of a new Yugoslavia” (93) they end the game greeted by the Slavic version of Father Christmas, Dedek Mraz (100).
One stop is of particular interest, a famous football match on July 22, 1952, at the Olympic Games in Finland (50), in which Yugoslavia defeated the Soviet Union 3 to 1. For Yugoslavians, the match was one of the most famous of the 20th century, not only a sporting event, but a fight for honor between Tito and Stalin. As the outcome became increasingly clear, the deliberate Russian fouling grew so bad that the match nearly “degenerated into a brawl.” When “the Yugoslavians lined up for the customary handshake after the match . . . the Russian team would have none of that.” New York Times, July 23, 1952, p.28. The Yugoslavian press “hailed” the victory as disproving “the myth of the Soviet sportsmen, which had been artificially made by the Soviet rulers” and concluded: “let Moscow, which for years has . . . maintain[ed] they were the best at everything, now explain the situation to its disappointed public.” Ibid., July 24, 1952, p. 22.
The board game was designed by a Slovenian illustrator, Janez Trpin (1908—1973). He was schooled in Germany before WW II, and worked as poster designer and book illustrator in Yugoslavia from the 1940s on. The board game was published by the newspaper Slovenski Porocevalec. Ljubljanski dnevnik, which started during the WWII as an underground Partisan newspaper. Its name is repeated in the design of the game’s border.
Much of the foregoing is adapted from Antiquariat Dasa Prahor, http://www.pahor.de/maps-and-prints/20th-century-maps/yugoslavian-anti-russian-political-board-game-for-children.html, accessed March 1, 2017.
For similar game maps in the collection in Chinese, English, Italian, Japanese, and Yugoslavian, Search > “game board”.
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:
- Slovenski Porocevalec/Ljubljanski dnevnik
- Format:
- Image
- Rights:
- For important information about copyright and use, see http://persuasivemaps.library.cornell.edu/copyright.